Birthday dinner #2: Oaxacan Tlayuda with Guacamole

Birthday dinner with Dave this time! He doesn't like serious cooking (aka with recipes) very much but went all out for my birthday :). According to my Moosewood cookbook, tlayudas are tortillas baked or grilled with all sorts of toppings, like Mexican pizzas. There are a bunch of steps involved but, very tasty!

1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup diced onions
3/4 cup diced bell peppers
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 15-oz can pinto beans (1/4 cup of liquid reserved)
2 whole grain tortillas (or 4 small ones)
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded green cabbage or slaw mix
1 cup diced fresh tomatoes
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Warm the oil in a skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, bell peppers, salt, cumin, and cayenne and cook, stirring often, until soft, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Drain the pinto beans, reserving about 1/4 cup of the liquid. In a food processor or blender, puree the beans, cooked onions and peppers, and just enough of the reserved bean liquid to make a thick, creamy spread. Add more salt and cayenne to taste.

Place the tortillas on an unoiled baking sheet. Spread each with half of the pureed beans (or 1/4 if you use 4 small tortillas) and top with cheese. In a preheated 450 degree oven, bake until the cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Spread 1/2 cup (or 1/4 cup for 4 tortillas) of the cabbage or slaw mix on each tortilla and bake for another 5 minutes. Toss the tomatoes with the cilantro and sprinkle on top of the cabbage. Bake for a couple of minutes, just until the tomatoes are hot.


Optional (but highly recommended!): Simple Guacamole

2 large ripe Haas avocados
2 tbsp lemon or lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tbsp minced red onions (optional)
pinch of cayenne or dash of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce (optional)

Slice lengthwise around each avocado down to the pit. Twist the halves apart, and remove the pit. Scoop out the flesh and mash it in a bowl. Stir in the lemon juice and salt, adding more to taste. Stir in the red onions and cayenne, if using. Serve immediately.




Both recipes from "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Southwestern Black Bean Burgers

This recipe received this comment from my number one top taster (Dave):
"This is the best thing you've ever made."

Yes, I was shocked too. From the man who loves meat - the best thing I've ever made is a VEGGIE BURGER?! You heard it here first.

I swear I'm going to have to try every recipe in the Moosewood cookbook, because every single one I have made so far has been so amazingly delicious (and healthy!).

If you want to try making your first veggie burger - start here. But use a food processor for the chips. An immersion blender doesn't work well for solids (unless you really enjoy having pieces of tortilla chips in every corner of your kitchen. That's when I decided I needed to ask for a food processor for my birthday. Oops.).


2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash of ground black pepper
1 cup finely chopped mushrooms
1 cup grated carrots
1 fresh chile, minced; or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup ground tortilla chips*
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 large egg, lightly beaten

*Whirl tortilla chips in a food processor until they reach the consistency of coarse meal.


Warm the oil in a skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper and cook until the onions soften, a couple of minutes. Add the mushrooms, carrots, chiles, and orange juice, lower the heat to medium, cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 8 minutes.

While the vegetables cook, combine the ground tortilla chips, beans, and egg in a large bowl and mash well with a potato masher, or pulse in a food processor and then transfer to a bowl. When the vegetables are tender, drain, and stir into the bean mixture.

Form the burger mixture into six patties and place on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 25 minutes, until firm and lightly crusted.



From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Root Vegetable Hash

I swore off cooking beets for a while...but I had to try this recipe. And I discovered that if you peel the beets before cooking them, they create much less of a mess. All of the other times I've cooked them, I followed Mark Bittman's advice that the best way to cook them is to bake them unpeeled and wrapped in tin foil - but they are a disaster to peel afterwards.

I made this a few weeks ago and have been pretty lazy about blogging lately. Oops! This recipe did last me a good week though - and it's very delicious! Maybe not a good summer recipe, but it was appropriate a few weeks ago when it DIDN'T feel like summer...remember that? (I don't really.) This was another great find from the Moosewood cookbook - and it even says you can eat this for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner!



Seasoning Mixture:
2 teaspoons dried marjoram
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Hash:
3 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 cups chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 cups carrots cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups beets peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups turnips and/or rutabaga peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 tablespoons water


Stir together all of the seasoning ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

In a 10-inch or larger skillet on medium-high heat, warm the oil. Cook the onions and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add all of the vegetables and stir well. Sprinkle with the seasoning mixture and water and stir well. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and cook, stirring every 10 minutes or so, until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes.


From "Moosewood Restaurant Cooking for Health"

Quinoa and Sweet Potatoes

I unfortunately only got a blurry picture of this one, but it still looks pretty all the same. I used a quinoa mix I got at Trader Joe's - that's why there's some multi-colored grains going on in there. I didn't have currants or scallions, so I left those out, but they would probably be a nice for additional flavor (without them, I felt like I was lacking a spice or something). Definitely an easy recipe and good for lunches! I'm beginning to think I need to cook through the Moosewood cookbook, since every recipe I've made from it has been awesome....


Basic recipe:
3/4 cup quinoa
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onions
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups diced, peeled sweet potatoes
1 2/3 cups water

Moosewood's favorite elaboration:
2 cups lightly packed finely chopped fresh spinach
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup currants
1 tbsp minced scallions
1 tbsp lemon juice
salt and ground black pepper


Rinse and drain the quinoa in a fine-meshed strainer to remove any residue of the grains' bitter coating.

Warm the oil in a covered saucepan. Add the onions and salt and cook on low heat, stirring now and then, until the onions are transparent, about 8 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, water, and drained quinoa, cover, and bring to a simmer. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 15-20 minutes, until the sweet potatoes are tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Remove from the heat. Stir well and add salt and pepper to taste.

To prepare Moosewood's favorite elaboration, just before removing from the heat, stir in the spinach, pine nuts, currants, scallions, and lemon juice. Let sit for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Fruit and Nut Truffles

 

This is a really interesting dessert recipe from Moosewood. I thought they were really date-y/apricot-y, so only try this if you like dates and apricots! This makes at least 20 truffles, so be prepared to share or eat these every day. I kept them in the fridge for a long time and ate them for snacks, but ended up throwing away a few because there were so many! (Note: these can be dessert or snack food. I chose snack most of the time.)


1 cup pitted dates
1 cup unsulfured dried apricots
1/2 cup dried cranberries, dried cherries, or raisins
1 cup water
1.5 teaspoons grated orange zest
1.5 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1.5 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup ground toasted walnuts
1/2 cup ground toasted almonds
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar, sifted
1/2 cup toasted unsweetened shredded coconut

(I toasted the walnuts, almonds, and shredded coconut in a skillet. I just put them each in a nonstick skillet on medium(?) heat and stirred until toasted. Then I used a food processor to grind the walnuts and almonds.)

Place the dates, dried apricots, dried cranberries, and water in a saucepan, cover, and simmer on medium-low heat until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid. Puree the cooked fruit in a food processor, adding only as much of the reserved liquid as needed to make a smooth thick paste.

In a mixing bowl, combine the orange zest, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Add the pureed fruit and the walnuts, almonds, cinnamon, cocoa, and confectioners' sugar and mix well. By the tablespoonful, form the fruit and nut mixture into balls about an inch in diameter. Roll each ball in the toasted coconut and arrange the truffles in a single layer on a serving platter.

Chill for at least 20 minutes before serving. With longer chilling, the flavor develops and the truffles become more firm.

Eastern European "Minestrone"

 

I just noticed that I only had one post in the month of November - how time flies! I have a few recipes on the to-do list, but I am shocked that I only posted one recipe last month. At least it involved pumpkin beer, I guess.

Thankfully, it's now Christmas cookie season, so I'll be getting on that as soon as I can. I have a work trip to DC next week (two days of meetings, then visiting a friend for the weekend), so I might have another lag. But then cookie season will be in full force.

Back to the recipe for this post. This soup is really interesting and delicious - and it makes a lot. And it's super easy! I had this for lunch every day for one week, and it was tasty, but a bit much. I suggest sharing! This is another recipe from the Moosewood cookbook.

1.5 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
1/2 cup thinly sliced celery (I left this out, since I wasn't able to buy 1 piece of celery)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2.5 tablespoons sweet paprika
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds (I left this out since we didn't have them)
1 cup diced carrots
3/4 cup green beans cut into 1/2 inch pieces (I definitely used more than this)
1/2 cup diced peeled beets, turnips, or parsnips (I used parsnips, 'cause I love 'em!)
3/4 cup diced red or yellow bell peppers (I just used one full pepper)
1 15-ounce can white beans, drained
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes
1 quart (4 cups) water or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 ounces whole grain linguine or spaghetti, broken into 1 inch long pieces
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

In a large soup pot on medium heat, cook the onions, garlic, and celery in the olive oil for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the paprika, bay leaves, and caraway and stir for a minute. Add the carrots, green beans, beets, and bell peppers, cover, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the white beans, tomatoes, water, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir in the pasta pieces, cover, and simmer on medium heat until the pasta is al dente, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the dill. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Tex-Mex Stuffed Portabellas

(I promise there's a mushroom under there!)

I'm a bit behind on posting recipes....but I made this recipe a few weekends ago with Dave, and it was pretty easy and absolutely delicious! Surprisingly, being a vegetarian, I don't think I have ever cooked portabella mushrooms before. I like them, and have ordered them in restaurants many times, but haven't ever cooked them on my own. This is definitely a good introduction to portabellas for people who haven't tried them before - you can't dislike them in this recipe! (This is another great find from the Moosewood cookbook!)

Each mushroom is supposed to be one serving, but Dave and I each had one and split a third one. So, I would say this makes about 3-4 servings, unless you have a side dish as well.

1.5 cups chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 canned chipotle in adobo sauce, minced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 fresh plum tomatoes, seeded and finely diced (about 1 cup)
6 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, grated (about 2 cups)
4 large portabella mushrooms (4 to 5 inches in diameter)
minced scallions

1. In a skillet on medium-high heat, cook the onions and garlic in the olive oil for a couple of minutes. Add the chipotles and bell peppers and cook for 2 minutes. Add the coriander, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the peppers are tender but still firm. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cilantro and tomatoes and two-thirds of the cheese.

2. Break off the stems of the portabellas and save them for another use or discard. Rinse the caps (gently, so they don't break), and place smooth side down in a lightly oiled baking dish large enough to hold them in a single layer. Mound each mushroom with about a cup of the filling. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover the baking dish with foil folded lengthwise to form a little tent so that the foil won't stick to the cheese. (This was a little tricky....but it doesn't need to be perfect.)

3. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until the cheese browns, 10-15 minutes. Serve topped with scallions.


Dave and I were so excited to eat these, we forgot the scallions! They aren't necessary for the recipe if you don't want to buy them or don't like them.

"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.)

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!]