Tag Archives: vegetarian

Tofu with Snow Peas and Bean Sprouts

13 Jun

Making this Korean Seasoned Tofu recipe made me think of the first time I ever made tofu. It was a Martha Stewart recipe I had seen on her show. My mom and I weren’t even declared vegetarians yet. What surprised us the most about this recipe is how much it didn’t taste like the idea we had of tofu in our minds… rather, it tasted exactly as the imprint we had of what chicken tasted like. Weird…

Since that day, my mom and I remember and reminisced about that recipe. And one day recently we found, at the Pulguero, a bag of snow peas and some bean sprouts. Armed with my “emergency” block of tofu I always have on hand, the rest is history…

TOFU WITH SNOW PEAS AND BEAN SPROUTS

3 tbs toasted sesame oil
12 ounces extra-firm tofu,
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup bean sprouts, about half a plastic container
1 cup snow-pea pods, trimmed, strings removed, and sliced into thirds on long diagonal
3 tbs soy sauce
2 tbs toasted sesame seeds
  1. Cut tofu into 1/4-inch slices and press in between a bunch of paper towels for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
  2. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add tofu and cook until well browned on both sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
  3. Raise heat to high and add sprouts and snow peas. Stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
  4. Season soy sauce. Remove from heat, transfer to serving dish, and garnish with sesame seeds.

 

Serve over steamed brown rice or even my version of Leek Rice. I think Martha would be proud of our rendition… don’t you think?

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Ricotta and Berries

10 Jun

My favorite breakfasts include fruits… especially now that we’re starting summer and the berries are all in season.

Last week we spent a few days at my sister’s home and I love going to the farmer’s market to get a bunch of berries to serve at breakfast. But eating strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries on their own may seem to you a little boring. Why not mix them up with a little cheese??

Italians use ricotta cheese in both savory and sweet dishes… morning, noon and night. So taking a little inspiration from the land of the mammas, here’s my latest breakfast concoction.

RICOTTA AND BERRIES

Mix your favorite fresh berries – strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, sometimes you could even add grape tomatoes. Hey, they’re berries too!!
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tbs agave nectar, plus more to drizzle on top
  1. Mix in a bowl the ricotta cheese and the agave nectar to give it some sweetness.
  2. Add your favorite mix of berries.
  3. Drizzle some additional agave nectar on top.

 

It’s creamy and tangy at the same time… you could also use honey if you prefer instead of the agave nectar.

Berries and Tomatoes... go well together!!!

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Garlic Parsley Bread

8 Jun

I loooooove garlic bread… I know it’s not the most intelligent thing to eat when on a date, but I really do not care. I go by Rachael Ray’s philosophy that 2 garlics cancel each other out. Hey… the computer surfer guy who opted not to kiss me because of the garlic mushrooms we BOTH ate, missed out!!

I made this recipe as an easy side to accompany my Spinach Cannelloni for my BIL’s birthday party… it also works extremely well to use up those parsley stems too rough to put inside the cheese filling. It’s all about using everything in the kitchen and minimizing waste… just like in a restaurant.

GARLIC PARSLEY BREAD

1 whole-wheat baguette
5-6 garlic cloves, chopped in large pieces
Stems of fresh Italian parsley… I used the stems left-over from the parsley chopped for the filling in this recipe
2 tbs of softened butter
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper to taste
  1. In a small food processor blend together the garlic cloves and parsley stems until you create a green paste.
  2. In a small bowl, add the green garlic/parsley paste, butter, olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix well to combine.
  4. Cut the baguette into a top and bottom half. Spread the garlic/parsley spread onto both halves. Place them one on top of the other back again and wrap in parchment paper before wrapping in aluminum foil.
  5. Place in a 425F oven… the same one you’re using to bake the cannelloni. Bake and allow the flavors to penetrate the bread for about 20-25 minutes. I usually just place it in the oven with whatever I am making and leave it there until we’re ready to eat.

Slice the bread into 2” slices and serve warm…

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Spinach Cannelloni

6 Jun

My sister invited us to a full long weekend of merriment to celebrate my BIL 40th birthday… It was jam-packed with surprises and food.

I traveled with the excuse of spending time with my nephew, Ale. So he never ever suspected the conga-line of people that would appear each night to celebrate the weekend. First, we started the celebration last Thursday, the official birth date, with his mom and brother coming in by surprise. I had to buy groceries and make everything that same day because I couldn’t let the birthday boy know we were cooking for 12 that day…

I was planning to make a taquiza/taco bar menu for dear BIL, something he had enjoyed a lot once before. But when he insisted all he wanted was his favorite tiramisu for a birthday cake, the menu quickly shifted to Italian and the poblanos and corn were set aside for another day.

Make a crepe and fill it with Nutella or gruyere cheese and you immediately think Paris or French… But take the same crepe and fill it with ricotta and spinach and what do you get? Cannelloni…

I know… there are a lot of ingredients in the list, but it’s really an easy assembly recipe. This recipe is very easily halved for a smaller crowd.

SPINACH CANNELLONI

Makes about 24 cannelloni to serve 12 people

24 crepes
24oz of ricotta cheese
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
4 cups of Italian-Blend shredded Cheese
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
1 bag of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry as much as possible
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 tbs of chopped fresh Italian parsley
2-3 tbs of chopped fresh basil leaves
3 tbs of olive oil, divided
2 packs of Pomi chopped tomatoes
2 cups of half and half
2 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano
Garlic Salt, Salt and freshly cracked Black Pepper to taste
  1. I make my own crepes using this batter recipe right here. I make the batter the night before and allow it to rest in the fridge overnight.
  2. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, add a few drizzles of olive oil, onions and garlic. Season them liberally with salt and pepper. Cook for a few minutes to allow the onions to release their moisture, but do not brown them, just until they’re soft. Set aside.
  3. Pre-heat oven to 425F.
  4. To make the filling… In a large bowl combine ricotta cheese, the cooked onions/garlic mixture, 2 cups of the Italian cheese blend, ½ cup parmesan cheese, the chopped fresh parsley and basil and the chopped thawed and squeezed spinach. Season it with salt, pepper, garlic salt and a few drizzles of olive oil. Mix well to combine. Set aside. If you want to make some cheese cannelloni without the spinach, just omit the spinach or set some cheese mixture aside before adding the spinach. The flavors will work really well.
  5. To make the sauce… mix together in another large bowl the chopped tomatoes, half and half and season with salt, pepper, dried oregano and basil, garlic salt and a few drizzles of olive oil. Mix together well to combine and create a pink sauce and set aside.
  6. Now we assemble… I had to use 2 large 9” x 13” glass oven-proof dishes for this amount of crepes. Pour 1/4 of the sauce in the bottom of each baking dish. Take each crepe and smear about 1 large soup spoonful of cheese/spinach mixture and roll into a cannelloni. Place on top of the sauce. Repeat with all the crepes and place them side by side on the baking dishes.
  7. When you’re done assembling the crepes in the baking dish, spoon the sauce that’s left on top of the crepes. Sprinkle the rest of the Italian blend cheeses, the mozzarella and the parmesan cheese on top of the cannelloni to create a cheesy crust on top.
  8. Bake in oven for about 30 minutes to allow the tomato sauce to cook and for the cheese on top to melt and brown. If the cheese is not browned to your liking, you can always turn on the broiler on low and watch it for 10 minutes or so until it’s brown and beautiful.

You can certainly make this for a large crowd like I did, or make it into individual dishes and serve for a smaller group or even just one. I did some filled with just cheese and some with the spinach… the kids ate the ones with spinach even though I had mentioned I had ones with just cheese. They were skeptical at first, but they ate it all in the end.

And if you have any creamed spinach leftover from another side dish or from making a stack of crepes…  you can indeed use it and skip the step of cooking onions and garlic beforehand.

We served these cannelloni with a caprese salad and delicious garlicky bread…

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Leek Rice

1 Jun

My friends, Ana Yolanda and Angie, have a new found appreciation for cooking. Maybe a little bit inspired by me, who knows.

Lately they’ve invited me a few times to taste a few of the new learnings they’ve had in their weekly cooking class. However, something I have noticed every time they invite me over to taste these recipes is the amounts of butter and calories these recipes have.

This Leek Rice was something they created for me one night… it was the ONLY THING I could eat that night, but I get it. They’re not vegetarians and the menus they learn aren’t either. When I asked how the rice was made, I’ll be honest I can’t fully remember the amount of rice in the recipe, but I do remember that they “needed” to cook the leeks in 2 sticks of butter. WHAT???? 2 sticks of butter!!!!!!

I told them I could certainly be able to replicate this recipe and make it in a much healthier manner – without sacrificing flavor or texture in any way.

You be the judge…

LEEK RICE

3 cups of cooked brown rice, I use Texmati
2 medium leeks, washed and sliced finely, both the white and light green parts
1 tbs olive oil
2 ½ tbs of butter
Salt and Black Pepper to taste
½ cup toasted walnuts
  1. I cooked the rice in a rice cooker… I only seasoned lightly with a little bit of olive oil and salt. When the rice finished, I started on the rest of the dish.
  2. In a large skillet with high sides over medium heat, add the oil and butter. When the butter is melted, add the leeks and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, moving them occasionally, until they’re soft. .
  3. Add the rice to the pot where you’re cooking the leeks. Toss well for the rice to be well coated with the leeks and butter. Add the walnuts and mix one more time really well.

That’s it… In my opinion, the rice still has that silky unctuous sensation in the mouth without having to melt 2 full sticks of butter. About ¼ of a stick will do, IMHO.

My mom never had the original version and she loved this one.    What’s your verdict???

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