Vegetarian – Page 8 – Kara Cooks and Eats

Radishes and turnips two ways (braised and pickled)

I had a super fun weekend in West Virginia with some great friends and food, including grape-flavored moonshine and biscuits ‘n’ gravy from Tudor’s Biscuit World. On my way home, I couldn’t help but think about all of the veggies waiting for me in my refrigerator. I decided to tackle all of these guys at once:

Gilfeather, kohlrabi, radishes, turnips

I came across a recipe for radishes in butter that called for 20 radishes and 6 Tbsp butter. This inspired me to look for a recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking…and voilà, a recipe for turnips braised in butter. I chopped up and mixed together the radishes, turnips, gilfeather, and kohlrabi and used half in Julia’s recipe and did a quick pickle for the other half, recipe (for pickled green beans) courtesy of Martha.

Navets à l’étuvée (turnips braised in butter)
Source: Mastering the Art of French Cooking, volume 1
Serves: 6

Ingredients
2 lbs turnips, peeled and quartered (7-8 cups)
2 Tbsp butter
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef or chicken stock, or water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Blanch the turnips for 3-5 minutes in boiling salted water to cover. Drain, and place them in the saucepan with the butter and enough liquid (stock or water) to barely cover them. Season lightly. Cover and boil slowly for 20-30 minutes or until they are tender but retain their shape. If the liquid has not evaporated, uncover and boil it off. Correct seasoning.

Braised

Spicy pickled green beans
Source: Everyday Food, September 2012
Makes: 2 pints

Ingredients
3/4 pound green beans, trimmed
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 cups white vinegar
2 Tbsp coarse salt
1 Tbsp black peppercorns
2 tsp sugar
2 dried red chiles

Directions
1. Arrange green beans and garlic slices in clean glass jars.
2. In a saucepan, bring white vinegar, salt, black peppercorns, sugar, and dried red chiles to a boil. Carefully pour mixture into jars, secure lids, and let cool to room temperature.
3. Refrigerate, up to 1 month.

Pickled

Oat and almond breakfast bars

I love these oatmeal bars, and they are a staple for me when I run Reach the Beach (a 200-mile relay in NH, MA, and now NJ)…just completed my fourth relay this month!

Team Massakruliks

I won’t get on my anti-raisin soapbox, I will just say that I usually substitute dried cranberries. I also sometimes use pecans or walnuts instead of almonds.

Mixin up the dry ingredients

Oat and almond breakfast bars
Source: adapted from Good Housekeeping
Makes: 24 bars

Ingredients
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 cups old-fashioned oats (uncooked)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sliced almonds (or chopped pecans or walnuts)
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/2 raisins (or dried cranberries)
3/4 tsp salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 13″ by 9″ baking pan with nonstick foil.
2. In 2-cup liquid measuring up, stir oil, honey, vanilla, and egg until mixed. In large bowl, mix oats, flour, sugar, nuts, wheat germ, raisins (or cranberries), and salt with fork until combined. With rubber spatula, stir honey mixture into oat mixture until blended; scrape into prepared pan. With wet hand, pat oat mixture evenly into pan.
3. Bake about 20 minutes or until pale golden around the edges. Cool completely in pa on wire rack, about 1 hour.
4. When cool, transfer using foil to a cutting board. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 6 pieces. Store in tightly sealed container at room temperature up to 2 weeks.

Perfect for breakfast or a snack!

Beet, ricotta, and goat cheese pizza

Confession: there have been CSA beets hanging out in my vegetable drawer since last fall. Since this year’s CSA will be starting up again next month, I decided it was time to roast them up for this pizza recipe. Most of the beets survived the winter just fine, but I had already cut the beet greens off…so no greens to wilt on top (the greens would never have survived the winter).

I usually buy whole wheat dough to make pizza, but lately I’ve been really digging these frozen corn meal crusts made by Vicolo (despite the name, they are not gluten-free). You may need to adjust the amount of ricotta/goat cheese mixture, depending on the type and size of crust you use. For example, I used about two-thirds of the mixture for one Vicolo pizza crust. I also used about 1/4 of a sliced red onion and 2 medium beets.

Beets and red onion

Getting ready to go in the oven

Beet, ricotta, and goat cheese pizza
Source: Adapted from Runner’s World, February 2013
Serves: 4

Ingredients
Pizza dough, crust, or naan
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 ounces goat cheese
Roasted beets, sliced
Red onion, sliced
Beet greens or arugula
Olive oil
Vinegar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
2. In a small bowl, mix together ricotta and goat cheese until smooth and spread on pizza dough, crust, or naan. Toss sliced, roasted beets and red onion in olive oil and add to pizza.
3. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until crust lightly browned.
4. Top with beet greens (or arugula) dressed in olive oil and vinegar; let wilt on the hot pizza.

Lunch (or dinner or breakfast) is served!

Baked tomato and eggs

I decided to make breakfast for dinner, with this recipe and a nice batch of buttermilk pancakes (I used my pancake recipe and substituted 1 cup buttermilk and 1/2 tsp baking soda for 1 cup milk). If you like a runny yolk or plan to reheat them, definitely go for the shorter cooking time (8 minutes).

Mise en place

Tomato sauce

Baked tomato and eggs
Source: adapted from Marcus Samuelsson
Serves: 2

Ingredients
2 eggs
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 Tbsp olive oil
Olive or canola oil cooking spray
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat olive oil in a pan, then add the garlic, pepper, and onion and saute for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer.
2. Coat 2 ramekins with olive/canola oil cooking spray, then add the tomato mixture (evenly divided between the two ramekins). Crack an egg into each, on top of the tomato sauce, and then top each with 1/2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese.
3. Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on how runny you like your yolks. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

Breakfast for dinner

Roasted asparagus

Spring has sprung, which means asparagus! I am a big fan of asparagus…confession, I used to like eating it cold out of the can. That probably stopped once I discovered how delicious fresh asparagus can be. And I love the way it grows.

Are you one of the people who has smelly pee after you eat asparagus? Apparently only about 25% of the population can smell it, according to WebMD.

Want more info on asparagus? Check out this article on How to Cook Asparagus by QuickEasyCook.com.

Ready to go in the oven

Roasted asparagus
Serves: 2-4

Ingredients
1 bunch asparagus
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Rinse asparagus and snap off the tough end of each stalk. Toss with olive oil and spread on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. Cook for about 10 minutes. Rotate the spears and cook for another 5-10 minutes, until cooked (I like them slightly charred).

Delish!

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing

Well I managed to burn all of the cupcakes in this recipe. I’m going to call it a “fail” since I’ve used this recipe before without any problems. I’ll have to check my oven to see if it’s running hot. I had a plan to salvage them by slicing off the bottoms, but they looked so short and silly I could not convince myself that they deserved an appearance at Easter dinner.

I was fortunate to snag an invite to the Conforti-Lawson-Pugliano Easter dinner, and lucky for me they weren’t counting on my dessert. It was a good thing I had also picked up a couple of bottles of wine to bring. My Easter dinner included gnocchi with meatballs, chicken braciole, ham, ham pizza (like a quiche), kielbasa, green beans, and sweet potatoes. Then we had pineapple squares, ricotta cheesecake, red velvet cake, and pizzelles. What an amazing feast…thank you Mrs. Conforti!

Mixing in the carrots, walnuts, and coconut

Everything looked fine up to this point…

Carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing
Source: Everyday Food
Makes: 12-14 cupcakes

Ingredients
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp orange juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut, plus more for garnish
8 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a standard 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners. In a bowl, combine sugar, vegetable oil, orange juice, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, and eggs.
2. Stir in baking powder, baking soda, allspice, and salt. Add flour; mix. Stir in carrots, walnuts, and coconut.
3. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (about 2 Tbsp batter per cup). Bake until toothpick inserted in centers comes out clean, 25 minutes. Let cool completely before frosting.
4. While cupcakes are baking, combine cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar, and remaining 1/2 tsp vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Whisk until smooth.
5. Frost cupcakes, and garnish with shredded coconut.

Irish soda bread

I remember making Irish soda bread in home ec class. It’s been quite some time since middle school so I decided to give it another shot. The results were pretty tasty, though I think three cups of raisins is a bit excessive.

Irish soda bread
Source: allrecipes.com
Makes: 1 loaf

Ingredients
1/2 cup white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups raisins
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup sour cream

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch round baking or cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tablespoon), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 strokes. Dough will be sticky.
3. Place the dough in the prepared pan and pat down. Cut a 4×3/4 inch deep slit in the top of the bread and dust with reserved flour.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 65-75 minutes. Let cool and turn bread onto a wire rack.

It was a fun St. Patrick’s day weekend…got to see the Celtics beat Charlotte and the Southie parade.

Go Celtics!

Everyone loves a parade

Spinach chickpea salad with tahini vinaigrette

Happy Registered Dietitian Day…be sure to hug your favorite RD today! This is a very healthy recipe that I thought was a perfect way to celebrate my holiday. You might think this is a lot of effort to put into a salad, but it sure looked purty and tasted delish. Salads deserve some time in the spotlight too.

It is also a way to show how easy it is to make homemade salad dressing. One of the ingredients in the vinaigrette is tahini, which is a paste made from sesame seeds and a key ingredient in hummus. If you’re like me, and don’t like to ask for directions (even in the grocery store), I found it in the “international” section of Shaw’s…between Greece (olives) and Spanish Rice-a-Roni.

I spy tahini

Feel free to add other salad ingredients that you like or have on hand…mushrooms leftover from a chicken quinoa soup recipe, for example. I included mushrooms, sliced avocado, and black olives.

If you want to make single portions at a time, you can prepare the vinaigrette and the chickpea mixture, then assemble an individual salad.

Tahini vinaigrette
Source: adapted from Shape magazine, June 2012
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
Pinch cayenne pepper
1/4 cup tahini
1/3 cup olive oil

Directions
1. In a small bowl, mix together garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, and cayenne pepper; let sit for 5-10 minutes.
2. Whisk in tahini and olive oil.

Purty salad

Spinach chickpea salad with tahini vinaigrette
Source: adapted from Shape magazine, June 2012
Serves: 4

Ingredients
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp fresh chopped flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp fresh mint, roughly chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
Black pepper to taste
5-1/2 ounces baby spinach
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
2 ounces feta, crumbled
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions
1. In a small bowl, ombine chickpeas, parsley, and mint. Season with black pepper to taste. Mix in 2 Tbsp of the tahini vinaigrette and set aside.
2. Divide spinach, carrots, onion, and other salad veggies onto four plates. Top each plate with chickpeas and crumbled feta. Lightly drizzle 2 Tbsp tahini vinaigrette over each plate; serve immediately.

Egg salad

I decided to go back to basics with a good old fashioned egg salad. Even when I haven’t had a chance to go to the grocery store, I usually have eggs and the other ingredients for this recipe on hand. It’s also quick and very easy, and having an egg slicer makes it even easier!

I like the celery and red onion because it gives it some color and crunch, but it’s also tasty without. I sometimes substitute plain Greek yogurt for half of the mayonnaise. As you can see, I usually cook four eggs at a time and halve the egg salad recipe.

When I pack this for lunch, I put the egg salad in a separate container and assemble a sandwich when I’m ready to eat so the bread doesn’t get soggy.

Boilin some eggs

Hard-cooked eggs
Source: Everyday Food
Makes: 1 dozen

Directions
Place 12 large eggs in a large saucepan; add cold water to cover by 1 inch, and bring to a rolling boil. Cover pan and remove from heat. Leat stand for 12 minutes, then drain and rinse under cool water. To store, keep eggs, unpeeled, in the refrigerator, up to 4 days.

Egg slicer magic

Egg salad
Source: Everyday Food
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients
1/2 cup light mayonnaies
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp white wine vinegar
8 hard-cooked eggs, peeled and roughly chopped
1 celery stalk, minced
1/4 small red onion, minced
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
In a medium bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, and vinegar until smooth. Add eggs, celery, and onion; season with salt and pepper, and mix to combine.

Open-faced sammie

Roasted butternut squash soup

I braved the grocery store pre-Nemo just to get the ingredients for this soup. My storm essentials list consisted of butternut squash and cream cheese. This is the first time I used frozen butternut squash…and I did some advanced math to figure out 6 cups was about 2 bags of frozen, cubed butternut squash.

The original recipe called for cooking the butternut squash in the broth mixture at a simmer for about 20 minutes, but I like the added flavor from roasting it. If using fresh butternut squash, the roasting part would probably take about 45 minutes. It also called for a half-stick of butter, but I thought that was a little excessive and decided to use olive oil instead.

The cream cheese gives it a thick, creamy texture without using actual cream and the cayenne pepper gives it a little kick. This can also be made vegetarian by using vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Mise en place

Roasted butternut squash soup
Source: adapted from allrecipes.com
Serves: 6

Ingredients
6 cups peeled and cubed butternut squash
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 (8-ounce) package reduced fat cream cheese

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss butternut squash with 2 Tbsp olive oil and spread on rimmed baking sheet. Bake until cooked through (about 15 minutes with frozen butternut squash).
2. In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and saute onions and garlic until soft. Add roasted squash, broth, marjoram, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Bring to a boil.
3. Puree squash and cream cheese in a blendr or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

Yummy soup