Friday, August 16, 2013

Julia Della Croce's Fusilli With Zucchini And Goat Cheese

Last night on the way home, Matt was listening to NPR and heard about some zucchini recipe ideas. He got a craving for one particular dish and we went to the store to pick up what we needed to make it. He was so excited and took care of cooking dinner. It was cute seeing him follow the directions so precisely! Totally opposite of me! But it paid off, because dinner was totally delicious! Okay, it requires a ton of cheese and it's not exactly healthy (except that there are veggies in it) but it's very good and it's a recipe I hope we'll make again! Maybe next time we'll find a way to make it without the cheese, or maybe just mix in some crumbles rather than making a cheesy sauce. I have a feeling we'll get a lot of opportunities to try out different things with this recipe! Find this recipe and other zucchini recipes here: http://www.npr.org/2013/08/15/211473928/drowning-in-zucchini-three-recipes-can-help

Flatbread Crisps

Matt and I are slightly addicted to Flatbread Crisps! We love dipping veggies like carrots into our hummus, but sometimes you just want some crunch! We also love using Pretzel Crisps, but it's hard not to eat the whole bag! So a while ago we bought some flatbread crisps, and somehow got the idea to dip it in the hummus. Now it's a must have for our pantry! We have two empty boxes in the recycle bin and I just opened a new box this morning. Like I said - slightly addicted! I love it because it's a quick snack. One serving is 18 crackers, but since I'm dipping them in hummus I usually eat about half that. Sometimes it just becomes my lunch (and Matt's too!).

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Portabello Wellington

Okay, maybe not healthy but this recipe is possibly the best thing I have ever found on Pinterest! I've never had much luck with wine sauces, but I did pretty well on this one! In fact, it's the sauce that I am most excited about! The portabello wellington was okay, but it was nothing without the sauce! You can find the full recipe here: http://virtuallyveganmama.com/2011/05/portobello-wellington-vegan-dinner-party-time.html It will explain how to prep the portabello and wrap it in puff pastry with the filling of more mushrooms and seasoning, etc. For the sauce, I started by following the recipe with red wine and veg stock. I didn't have date syrup so I think I added honey (or maybe it was brown sugar?). Simmer together. As it simmered, I thought back to our trip to Montreal a couple years ago, when I ate the GREATEST meal ever! Seriously, I dream about that dinner and would go back to Montreal again just to go to that restaurant! The complexity of the flavors in that sauce will haunt me forever! So I looked at my photo of what I ate in Montreal (of course I still have a photo of the greatest thing I've ever eaten on my phone). I looked at the ingredients, and though I didn't have everything that was in there I used it as my inspiration. I didn't have shallots, but I tossed some chopped onion into the wine sauce. I also had a zucchini, so I chopped it up and tossed it in as well. Some rosemary and thyme. I'm sure I put some garlic in there as well (powder and minced both?). I watched it all simmer together and prayed that I didn't just screw up the sauce that I made with a decent bottle of wine from one of our wine clubs (I think it had been opened for a couple days, so no harm). After a while I gave it a little taste and it was coming together nicely! I cleaned a couple carrots and tossed them into the oven with the portabello and also sauteed some spinach. In the end, it was all so delicious, but WAY too much food! If you make the portabello wellington, I definitely recommend cutting it in half and sharing. It is massive! But wow... the sauce soaking in to the puff pastry was out of this world amazing! I'm almost scared to try this again for fear of ruining the memory of the one time I got a wine sauce right! : )

Mongolian Tofu

You have to love Pinterest for recipe ideas! I think my "cookbook" board is the only one that I get ideas from that I actually USE! Although some day maybe I'll make that bookcase secret door! : ) One of the recipes I love is the Mongolian Tofu found here: http://themightyvegetarian.com/mongolian-tofu/ I think we followed the recipe pretty straight on (it was a while ago that I made it so I don't remember). I may have tossed in some sriracha for heat and I didn't make quite as much sauce (a mistake I won't make again!). It was really delicious and we put it on top of some broccoli and bean sprouts. I just bought another pack of tofu yesterday, so we may need to make this one again soon!

Grilled Avocado

We had this at a restaurant in south Florida, and it's one of my favorite things to eat. Well, anything with avocados is my favorite thing to eat! For this, we sliced avocados in half and spritz with olive oil and cook on the grill (flat part down, of course). Meanwhile, we pan fry some corn (I've tried it with frozen and canned and they both work). I do this by putting some olive oil in the pan and getting it hot. I also like to add some chipotle peppers in for flavor! When it's almost finished, I add some green chiles for more flavor. Chop up some red onion, tomato, and cilantro and mix with the corn and top the grilled avocado halves (or dice up the avocado if you'd like). We top it off with some sriracha. The restaurant also added some tortilla crumbs for texture. We usually skip this because we don't usually buy tortilla chips. : )

Hot Pot

After our trip to Portland last February, we've become addicted to hot pot! Hot pot is kinda like fondue (not the thick cheesy or chocolate kind)! We made ours in our electric fondue pot with a vegetable broth base with some sesame oil, garlic, and ginger and chopped up some broccoli, bok choy, mushrooms, zucchini, and snow peas (okay, we didn't chop the snow peas!). You toss a few pieces into the broth to cook and then take them out and eat them. We made a dipping sauce with soy, garlic, ginger, hoisin, and sriracha. We also made some rice vermicelli, and at the end of enjoying our veggies we tossed the noodles into the broth and ate them. Of course, we were so full by then that we didn't need the noodles. Eating at such a slow pace means filling up on less food. It's also a ton of fun!

Kale and Mushroom Fried Rice

We made this a while ago when we were going to the drive in theater! Okay, maybe it's not your typical movie food, but it was yummy! This works best if you cook the rice ahead of time and chill it in the refrigerator. Heat a pan with some sesame oil. Chop up the kale and mushrooms and add to the oil when it's hot (really hot). Stir fry for a few minutes until the kale gets crispy (mine never did, but I think that's because I didn't get the pan hot enough). When it's just about done, add the rice and flavor it with soy or tamari. I also throw in some minced garlic and ginger frozen into cubes for convenience (you can usually find these at the store). We made this again earlier this week. Definitely one of our new favorites! Based on the recipe found at http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/crispy-kale-and-mushroom-fried-rice.

Brussels Sprout Salad

We eat Brussels sprouts on a weekly basis. We are kinda addicted to them! Usually we make them as a side, but Matt decided to make them as a salad topper! They taste delicious on top of a bed of lettuce and other veggies with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar! We vary how we make our sprouts. Matt like to cut them in half and I like to shred them. But we both saute them in a pan with olive oil until they get nice and brown. We season with salt and garlic powder. Lately we've also been adding some white truffle oil in while cooking (soooo yummy). I like to add capers and Matt likes to add bacon. I could probably eat sprouts every day!

Avocado Salsa

I think I found this recipe on Pinterest. It's pretty similar to guacamole, but not all mashed up! I like this chunky dip better. It's just avocado chunks, red onion, tomato, corn, cilantro, a little lime juice, garlic powder and sea salt. Easy and yummy!

Avocado Grilled Cheese

Where have you been all my life?! This is the greatest grilled cheese sandwich EVER!!! Tomatoes, avocado, basil, cheese - heaven between two slices of bread!