Beet and Yogurt Salad

This is a pretty simple and nice salad, but I am totally over cooking beets. I ended up with beet juice mostly everywhere. I roasted the beets according to Mark Bittman's technique (wrap in tin foil and peel them afterwards), but peeling the beets after they cook is always a disaster. I may try a different method of roasting (there are a few), but I'll probably be taking a rest from beets for a while - canned beets aren't SO bad.


4 medium size beets, roasted
1.5 tablespoons sherry vinegar, white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 to 2 garlic cloves (to taste)
1/2 cup thick Greek style yogurt or drained yogurt
2 tablespoons minced dill

1. Roast the beets, peel and cut in wedges or slice into half-moons. Stir together the vinegar, sugar, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss with the warm beets and allow to marinate for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or in the refrigerator.

2. Place the garlic in a mortar and pestle, add 1/8 teaspoon salt, and mash to a paste. Stir into the yogurt. Stir in half the dill. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain the beets and stir some of the marinade into the yogurt (to taste). Toss with the beets, or arrange the beets on a platter and drizzle the yogurt over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining dill, and serve.


Original recipe here 

Harvest Cake

This is the most savory cake I have ever eaten. It doesn't taste like cake - it is full of veggies, and the vanilla "cream" frosting is made from cashews. I didn't enjoy the first bite I took, because I was shocked at the flavors, but ended up really loving this cake! Only downside is that a small bag of almond flour costs about $10 (even at Market Basket!).


Harvest Cake
(Makes 1-9inch cake)

3 cups almond flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup ghee (or oil of your choice) if you use ghee make sure it is melted
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup grated carrot
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chopped apple

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9inch cake pan (you can use a regular or fluted cake pan). In a bowl combine dry ingredients. In a seperate bowl combine wet ingredients. Pour wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to incorporate. Pour into prepared cake pan and cook in oven for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Vanilla Cream 
(makes almost 2 cups)

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for three hours, water discarded
1/2 cup fresh apple juice
2 Medjool dates, pitted
1 TBS honey
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped and pod discarded (or 2-3 teaspoons vanilla extract)

In a high speed blender combine ingredients until very smooth. Spread on cake or muffins.

Cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 4 days or in the fridge for 1 week.

Original recipe here 

"Vegan" Cornbread

Another great Moosewood find. I don't know if I've ever had vegetables in my cornbread - but I definitely don't hate it! You can leave out the veggies and just make a regular cornbread (if you do this, the bread will likely bake in 20-25 minutes). This recipe is supposed to be vegan and use soymilk - but I didn't feel like buying soymilk just for this, and used regular skim milk instead.

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup whole grain cornmeal (I just used regular cornmeal)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon olive or vegetable oil
1/4 cup packed brown sugar or maple syrup
1.5 cups soymilk (or milk)

1/2 cup finely chopped scallions or chives
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell peppers
1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Lightly oil an 8-inch square baking pan or a 9-inch pie plate.

2. Sift the dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients, pour in the wet ingredients, and add the scallions, peppers, and corn. Stir just until mixed. (I generally don't mix the wet and dry ingredients separately when I bake, and it has always been fine. I did stir the dry ingredients together first, then add the wet.)

3. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and the bread pulls away from the sides of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes.

Sweet Potato, Apple, and Chipotle Soup

 

Another choice from my Saturday of cooking (see Silken Chocolate Pudding post). This soup is very spicy - so beware. It's not an overwhelming spicy, but if you don't like spicy food, leave out the chipotle pepper. (It's another Moosewood cookbook find.) I am psyched that it is finally soup season!! (though it was 80 degrees yesterday...)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2.5 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1 cup thinly sliced celery
5 cups thinly sliced peeled sweet potatoes
2 cups chopped apples
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 quart (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 cup water
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup unsweetened apple juice

1. Warm the oil in a soup pot on high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring continually, until the onions begin to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, sweet potatoes, apples, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, vegetable broth, water, salt, cinnamon, and black pepper. Cover and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat, and simmer gently until the sweet potatoes and apples are soft, about 20 minutes.

2. Add the apple juice to the pot. Puree the soup in a blender in batches until smooth and creamy. Blend in more chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and/or black pepper to suit your taste.

Silken Chocolate Pudding

Sticking to my habit of cooking when the weather is bad - I cooked most of the day yesterday because it was rainy/hot and sticky outside, and I didn't have much else going on (except work that I should have been doing....). I decided to try a few new recipes and one old one: basil pesto; this pudding; sweet potato, apple, and chipotle soup; "vegan" cornbread; and tofu stir fry. Most of the new recipes are from the Moosewood Cooking for Health cookbook, which I am slowly falling in love with. The base of this pudding is TOFU, so how could I not try it? I thought this would be a very healthy dessert - but it is in fact very rich and high in calories. This makes about 6 servings (2.5 cups), and each serving has about 245 calories.

1 cake of silken tofu (about 16 ounces)
3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
8 ounces semisweet chocolate
6 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a food processor, whirl the tofu and confectioners' sugar until well blended. In a double boiler, a small pan on low heat, or in a microwave oven, warm the chocolate, water, cocoa, and vanilla until the chocolate melts. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Pour the chocolate sauce into the food processor with the sweetened whipped tofu, and whirl again until very smooth and silky.

2. Spoon the pudding into 6 serving sups. Chill for at least an hour.

(I just put all of the pudding into one tupperware and served it later.)

Feta, Mint, and Strawberry Salad with Green Beans and Pistachios

Don't judge a book by it's cover - the above image isn't very pretty, but this salad is delicious! I generally don't enjoy strawberries on their own - but they are incredible in this salad. This was really easy to make and a great summer salad. The recipe is from the Organic Seasonal Cookbook, which I received from a college friend as a Secret Santa gift. She knows me well :)

Salad:
1 lb 2 oz/500 g fine green beans
1 lb 2 oz/500 g strawberries
2-3 tbsp pistachios
1 small bunch fresh mint leaves
1 lb 2 oz/500 g feta cheese

Dressing:
2 tbsp raspberry vinegar (or strawberry or red wine vinegar)
2 tsp superfine sugar
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
pinch of salt
1/2 cup olive oil

1. To make the dressing, mix the vinegar, sugar, mustard, and salt together in a bowl until smooth. Slowly pour in the oil, whisking constantly until the mixture has emulsified. Cover and refrigerate until required.
2. Blanch the beans in a large saucepan of salted boiling water for 1-2 minutes, so that they retain plenty of crunch. Drain and quickly toss in a large, cool bowl. Hull and half the strawberries, then add to the beans. Stir in the pistachios and mint leaves. Toss the salad with enough of the dressing to coat lightly.
3. Break the feta cheese into chunks and scatter over the salad. Add a good grinding of pepper and serve immediately.

Japanese Lunchbox

This is a delicious, healthy, easy-to-make salad. I generally don't enjoy rice - but it really makes this salad. I found this recipe in the Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health cookbook - which my mom gave to me a few years ago, but I have barely every used. I just opened it the other day and realized how great it is! There are a ton of great vegetarian recipes - and all are very healthy. (I'll be posting a fruit and nut truffle recipe soon...even the desserts are healthy!) I've made this salad twice in the past two weeks - it makes quite a lot of food, but is very light and has about 4 meal-sized servings.

Japanese Lunchbox Salad

Lemon Ginger Dressing:
2 tablespoons peanut oil or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon dry sherry
1 tablespoon grated peeled ginger root
1 garlic clove, minced

Salad:
4 cups loosely packed salad greens, baby spinach, or frisee
2 cups cooked brown rice
16 ounces seasoned tofu, sliced or cubed
1 cup carrot matchsticks
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 ripe hass avocado
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds or flaxseeds

1. In a blender, whirl all of the dressing ingredients until smooth.
2. On a large platter or on individual serving plates, spread out the greens and mount the rice in the center. Arrange the tofu, carrots, and tomatoes on the greens and rice.
3. Just before serving, slice around the avocado lengthwise, twist the halves apart, and remove the pit. Cut the flesh into thin slices right in the skin, scoop the slices out with a serving spoon, and place them on the salad. Drizzle the dressing on the salad. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

[NOTE: I just cut the avocado into chunks, and mixed everything together in a bowl, including the dressing. No need to get fancy! I also didn't use sesame seeds or flaxseeds, as I didn't have them on hand.]

For the tofu, the cookbook suggests a few ways to prepare it, or you can buy it prepared from a grocery store. I used the following recipe, which was really easy and delicious!

An Easy Baked Tofu

1 cake of extra-firm tofu
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup

Cut the tofu into bite-sized cubes and place in an unoiled baking dish large enough to hold a single layer. Stir together the sesame oil, soy sauce, and ketchup and drizzle over the tofu. With a rubber spatula, gently turn to coat thoroughly. In a 400 degree oven, bake uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the tofu is browned, firm, and chewy.

[NOTE: The first time I cooked the tofu, there was a lot of extra sauce on the pan, and it burned (not a huge deal, but it did burn the cookie sheet I was using). The second time, I combined the tofu and sauce in a bowl before putting it on the pan, and used aluminum foil over the cookie sheet. This worked much better - the sauce still burned a little bit, but didn't burn the pan!]

Rainy day bread making

What better to do during a hurricane than...make bread?? That's what I thought.
I was at home with my parents during Hurricane Irene, and I decided a few days beforehand that I really wanted to make bread (so that I wouldn't have to get any ingredients in the storm). It has been far too hot to bake anything for the past few months, and I have been itching to make more bread since I made challah! My mom has a recipe from one of her Armenian friends that she used to make when she was in her 20s. It calls for a rare spice that can be found at a market in Watertown, but I didn't plan far enough in advance to pick it up. We found online that cardamom was a good substitute, so I used that instead. This bread is even better than the challah I made a few months ago. It's moist but flaky and absolutely delicious. It also makes a TON - I made 2 large loaves, a medium sized loaf, and a small twist (I didn't have enough left for a braid). The recipe supposedly makes 5 loaves, but it varies based on how thick you make your braids, etc. The bread also freezes well, which makes the whole process worthwhile (though I would argue it is anyway)!
(I currently don't have the recipe on hand, but will gladly send it by request)

Pan-Cooked Summer Squash With Tomatoes and Basil

A quick, easy side dish. Doesn't taste as good cold or reheated - so plan to eat immediately!


2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds medium or small zucchini or other summer squash, thinly sliced or diced (depending on what shape squash you use)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ripe tomatoes, grated on the large holes of a box grater, or peeled, seeded and diced (I cheated and used canned diced tomatoes)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons chopped or slivered fresh basil (to taste)

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide, heavy skillet. Add the zucchini. Cook, stirring or shaking the pan, until the zucchini is lightly seared and beginning to soften, three to five minutes. Remove from the pan, and set aside.

2. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan, then the garlic. Cook, stirring, just until fragrant -- less than 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes. Cook, stirring, until the tomatoes have begun to cook down, about five minutes. Return the zucchini to the pan, add salt and pepper to taste, and reduce the heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until the zucchini is tender and translucent and the tomatoes have cooked down to a fragrant sauce. Stir in the basil, and taste and adjust seasonings. Remove from the heat and serve hot, or allow to cool and serve at room temperature.

Original recipe here

Soba Noodle Salad

I've made this salad many times this summer - it's very easy to make, is delicious, makes a large quantity, and keeps well. Highly recommended for someone who likes leftovers! The first time - I made this with both the jalapeno and the full amount of chili flakes - and it was SPICY. Not bad spicy, but a bit much for a summer day. Since then I have skipped the jalapeno (more out of laziness than anything) and have cut the chili flakes to 1 teaspoon - which is more manageable. The original recipe calls for 8 ounces of soba noodles - I don't even check the size - I just use a whole package.


Soba Noodle and Raw Veggie Salad

8 ounces soba noodles
1/2 cup reduced sodium tamari (or soy sauce)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 bunch green onions, chopped (3 or 4)
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/4 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced (I actually used about 1/2...so as not to waste the cabbage)
3 whole carrots, shredded with vegetable peeler
2 cups shelled edamame, steamed
1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

For even more flavor, try adding:
one lime, juiced
1 jalapeño, finely chopped
peanut butter

1. Cook soba noodles according to directions, and rinse in a colander.
2. Chop up all your vegetables, and toss into a bowl with the soba noodles.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the tamari, sesame oil, canola oil, rice wine vinegar and red pepper flakes.
4. Pour the dressing into the pasta and veggies and toss well to combine. Enjoy!

Original recipe here