Tag Archives: mustard

Work-Week Vegetarian Favorite Recipes

30 Jan

As a follow-up from last week’s post on my friend Kate’s experience on transitioning to a more veggie-full lifestyle, I asked her to please share with us her fave KarmaFree Cooking recipes.

Something I always tell my non-vegetarian friends, whom are many… is that you do not need to be a vegetarian to enjoy the recipes in KarmaFree Cooking. Most of the recipes are made with ingredients easily available in your neighborhood supermarket. Only a few are made with “fake meats” and even those, could works without them either.

Here are 3 of Kate’s, the workweek vegetarian, favorite KarmaFree recipes… maybe it’ll give you a chance to give some of these recipes a second chance too.

Kate and her handsome husband, Alessandro

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One thing about eating vegetarian that I didn’t realize was a factor is that there is a LOT of fried food recipes. I mean WOW. Really? I went vegetarian during the week to help my high cholesterol! So I suppose that one has to be picky and choosey in any diet scenario.    KFC – Kate, remember KarmaFree Cooking is written by a Puerto Rican, and “frituras” are part of our culinary vernacular. Sorry about that…

KarmaFree Cooking really gives me great ideas. I use the recipes posted, but I bookmark many that are easily adaptable. One that I have actually printed out and keep in my cookbook is the Cauliflower Cheese and Mac.  When it’s cold outside and we want something a little rib-stickier I can take out the Cauliflower and sub for potatoes and cabbage!

couliflower-and-cheese-mac

It’s pretty insane that my husband has gotten to the point where he ASKS for certain dishes that are meatless. One that he asks for often are the Yellow-Mustard Fingerling Potatoes.  I usually put them alongside a big omelet (1 yolk for every two eggs) filled with sautéed onions and peppers and mushrooms.

yellow-mustard-fingerling-potatoes

Another recipe that I’ve been able to adapt into just about anything is the Leek Rice.  OH MAN. I LOOOOVE Leeks. I should get that printed on a trucker hat or some mud flaps for my car because I really do. They’re such a misused ingredient. Italians are so NOT into Leeks that they’re one of the cheapest vegetables at the market. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!? Ugh. So I make Leek Rice for just about anyone who comes over for supper. If it’s one of the rare evenings that I eat meat, it’s really perfect to put with anything. I especially like it with poultry, but during the week I pile it high on my plate with some Broccoli Rabe and Walnuts or Cashews.

 

I am so glad to know some of our recipes have changed someone’s perception of vegetarian food and cooking. That someone who before shied away from something vegetarian, now asks for it. I feel like I am accomplishing my goal with KarmaFree Cooking then. Please share your favorite recipes with your family and friends. We would love to have them around to visit us often.

What are your KarmaFree Cooking favorite recipes??? Please share with us too…

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Green Goddess Dressing

16 Jul

This is a dressing I have been making for the Yoga Center Saturday buffets for a while now…  And a new resurgence of retro recipes has made it popular and chic once again…

I make several different version of this dressing, with the pale green color being the common denominator.

 

 Green Godess Dressing

GREEN GODDESS DRESSING

½ cup buttermilk
½ cup plain yogurt
3 tbs of white wine vinegar
2 tsp honey
¼ cup fresh spinach leaves
¼ cup fresh basil leaves
2 scallions, chopped
A handful of fresh parsley, chopped a bit
2 tsp mustard – Dijon or grain mustard will do
¼ tsp salt
A few grinds of black pepper
1 cup canola or olive oil

 

  1. In a blender, mix all the ingredients except the oil.  Blend well and add the oil thru the blender cap while the blender is still running in a thin stream.

 

Use it to dress your salad or as a dip for crudités…  if you’re using specifically for crudités, I may blend also 4oz of cream cheese to make it thicker.

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Green Salad with Meyer Lemon Dressing

28 Feb

Ever since I went to Miami for Xmas, I have been hypnotized by Meyer Lemons…  a friend of mine brought them to our yoga retreat and never used them.  I looked at them everyday – how yellow they were, their soft skins in contrast with regular yellow lemons or limes.   We do not have Meyer lemons in Puerto Rico, so I was mostly intrigued by how they would taste.

meyer-lemons

According to most chefs on the Food Network, Meyer lemons are like a cross between a lemon and an orange, because they taste that much sweeter than a regular lemon.  I have substituted Meyer lemon juice in recipes my mixing lemon and orange juices.  But I had never actually tasted one in real life.  So after a little asking, she gave me some lemons and brought them home…

Meyer Lemons taste a tad bit different than regular yellow lemons – their juice is not as tart, but is not necessarily sweeter.  But now that I have these beautiful lemons, what do I do with them…  let’s see how a vinaigrette will taste like…

 green-salad-w-meyer-lemon-dressing

GREEN SALAD WITH MEYER LEMON DRESSING

The juice of 1 Meyer lemon
2 tsp of mustard with horseradish
About double of the amount of lemon juice you have
Salt and Pepper to taste
5-6 lettuce leaves
½ cucumber, peeled and sliced

 

  1. In a small glass jar mix together the lemon juice, mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper.  Shake well or whisk together all the ingredients until an emulsion forms.
  2. Wash the lettuce well and dry.  Combine with the cucumber slices.  Add a drizzle of the dressing and toss to coat.

 

Enjoy as a side salad with a delicious Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart.

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Yellow-Mustard Fingerling Potatoes

27 Jan

Last year we already established how much I love potatoes with my Potato Festival, celebrating the Year of the Potato…  but I have only shared only a fraction of all the potato dishes I know how to make and love to eat.

I made these potatoes for the first time when I visited my sister in her new Florida home last year.  I wanted to make something with these incredible potatoes she had bought and this is what I came up with.  I ate them with a veggie hot dog, and in my opinion, if you don’t have chips around, these are great with any veggie hot dog or veggie burger.

They’re super easy to make and after you put them in the oven, you can literally forget about them for about an hour.  So they’re great when you have a lot to do and not a lot of time to tend to the cooking.

I like to make these with fingerling potatoes because when you quarter them, they actually look like “steak fries”… don’t’ you think?

 yellow-mustard-fingerling-potatoes

 

YELLOW MUSTARD FINGERLING POTATOES

About 10-12 fingerling potatoes, washed well and quartered lengthwise
2 tbs yellow mustard
1 tbs olive oil
1 clove of garlic minced or grated
1 tsp salt
A few grinds of freshly cracked black pepper
A few sprinkles of Italian Seasonings
  1.  Pre-heat oven to 400 F.
  2. Mix all the ingredients, except the potatoes, in a bowl that can fit the potatoes eventually.  Toss the potatoes to coat well with the mixture.
  3. Place the potatoes in a sheet pan and roast in the oven for about 1 hour.  At about 35 minutes into the cooking, look at them and see if they need turning.  I sometimes turn them, sometimes I do not… but anyway, they turn out great. (it rhymed and I did not planned that…)

 Let them cool a bit before digging in…

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A new twist on MayoKetchup – Wichi’s Version

4 Jan

My brother-in-law made a huge batch of sorullitos de maiz for New Year’s… I had the chance to have some and they were awesome.  But I noticed he made his MayoKetchup different from mine…

Here’s his version – super tasty, really nice twist on the traditional recipe.

 mayo-ketchup-part-21

MAYOKETCHUP – WICHI’S VERSION

¼ cup egg-free mayonnaise, like Vegenaise
2 tbs ketchup
1tsp yellow mustard, I am sure you can substitute with Dijon or even grain mustard
A dash of crushed garlic – Wichi mashes his garlic in a “pilón”, but you can use the one in a jar
A pinch of salt

 

  1. Mix everything together in a small bowl. 

Serve with a nice side of sorullitos de maiz.

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