Browsing Tag

vegetarian

Comfort Food

Grown-Up Comfort Food!

March 12, 2019

Sometimes you need the comfort of a good, warm, creamy Mac ‘n Cheese, but with an adult flair.  My creamy Mushroom Risotto with white wine and parmesan fits the bill.  And it was SO easy!

I started mine on the stove top — and you can complete it here —  too. But I popped my mixture into an electric pressure cooker for 8 speedy minutes and … voila! Creamy, mushroom risotto as comforting as any mac ‘n cheese, but with a grown-up taste.

ALL YOU NEED: Pressure Cooker OR Stove Pot

All the measures below were actually estimated by me. This is pretty forgiving!

  • 1 cup of rice (Arborio Rice OR White Rice. I used 50-50 Basmati and Quinoa
  • 3/4 cup chopped mushroom
  • 1 tooth of chopped garlic
  • some butter
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, depending on your taste
  • A few sprigs or fresh thyme or 1/2 a tsp dry thyme
  • cream
  • salt & pepper

HERE IS WHAT I DID

  1. In a tablespoon of butter, I sautéed 1 smashed tooth of garlic with 1 cup of 1/2 Rice, 1/2 Quinoa. (You can use 1 cup of all Arborio rice, or regular rice, or a mixture.)
  2. To this, I added 3/4 cup of chopped mushrooms.
  3. Then I added a  1/2 cube of chicken or vegetable stock.
  4. Sautée on medium high until the rice begins to turn whiteish and your mushrooms soften, about 2 – 3  minutes.
  5. I put the mixture  in a pressure cooker and added 3/4 cup of white wine, 3/4  a cup of water. To be honest, I eye-balled the liquids to about 1-1/2 cups.If you are doing this on the stovetop, just add your liquid to your pot, cover and steam on medium low for about 17 minutes.
  6. Into the pressure cooker, I added a few whole, fresh sprigs of fresh thyme (or 1 tsp of dry thyme).
  7. I set my cooker on high for 8 minutes. (Again, on a stovetop, cover for about 17 minutes on low-medium.)
  8. When you release the pressure, stir in 1/4 cup of cream, a few dots of butter, salt and pepper to taste, and top with few tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese.
Comfort Food

20 Minute Lentil Heaven

January 26, 2018

These days, it’s a challenge to find a dish you can serve to everyone, from your manliest meat-eater to your weight-watcher, the animal-conscious vegan or even a diabetic. Here’s a fast and tasty way to provide bowl full of heavily health in only 20 minutes that’s good enough and healthy enough for almost any diet!

Red Lentils are low in fat, loaded with protein and fiber, and chock full of heart-healthy folate and manganese. They are also pretty to look at, which makes them festive enough for company. The best part? They are extremely easy to prepare because, unlike green or brown lentils, red lentils are very quick cooking, i.e., no soaking,  no waiting.

With it’s fresh splash of lemon and bright mint, this recipe will bring a bit of the Mediterranean to your soup bowl and it will keep you feeling full for hours.

EASY RED LENTIL SOUP

In a small soup pot, boil 2 cups of salted water and add to it:

  • 1 Cup red lentils
  • 1 large, or 2 small, minced garlic teeth
  • 1 Tsp. dried, flaked onion

Simmer about 15 minutes, until lentils are soft. Now add:

  • 1 Can “no salt” diced tomatoes. Your choice, but I prefer to add & control my own salt.
  • 1 Tsp. fresh Italian flat parsley, chopped
  • 1 Tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
  • 1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
  • 2 Tsp. fresh or jarred lemon juice. Use more or less, to taste.

Simmer soup about 5 more minutes. Add salt to taste and serve.

Notes:  Garnish with fresh Mint or Parsley. Use fresh tomatoes, if you like. Add carrots if that appeals to you.  I did not need to use any type of flavor “cute” or powder as the lentils, garlic, salt I used and fresh herbs created a lot of flavor!

Comfort Food

You Won’t Believe it’s Vegan!

October 12, 2017

Okay people. I’m not gonna lie.
I can’t believe I made this and I also I can not believe it is vegan, gluten-free, low-cal, spicy and deliciously filling!

This soup was inspired by my beautiful friend, Sanchia, who, as a “Taoist Vegan,” abstains from eating the five pungent vegetables; green onion; garlic; onion; chives; and leeks.

I am not nearly as evolved as my friend so as I said, this is a “Sanchia Inspired” dish.
I did use quite a bit of garlic and even some cheap,  dried onion flakes.
I’m just not ready to give up the pungent…

Also, for meat-eaters who have a hard time getting excited about diving into a pile of vegetables, this is a truly delicious way to fill up on healthy squash that tastes smokey, spicy, and dare I say it? more than a tad Manly!

NOTE:  If you’re a vegetarian who consumes dairy, go ahead and use regular sour cream and even add some Monterrey cheese at the end, melted on top!

HERE IS WHAT TO DO:

  1. Turn your oven on to 400.
  2. Into any oven-friendly dish or tray of your choice, place:
    1 Spaghetti Squash (or any type of Squash of your liking), crudely cut into about 3 or 4 pieces, skin on. That’s right. No fussing with peeling.
    1 Large, Red Pepper, cut into about 3 chunks, pith and seeds removed.
    3 Large garlic teeth, skin on (you will easily remove the skin once roasted).
  3. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of White Truffle Oil OR Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the vegetables, and some Sea Salt.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, or until fork-tender.
  5. Now, using a cloth to hold the hot squash, scrape out your softened squash meat with a large, sharp-edged spoon into a large soup pot.  This is going to go onto the stove.
  6. Pop the softened, roasted garlic teeth right out of their skin and toss them into the soup pot.
  7. Place the roasted peppers into the pot as well.
  8. Add 2 cups of water and two teaspoons of vegetable broth base or cubes.
  9. Now, into the pot with the Squash, Peppers, Garlic & Water, ADD:
    1/2 teaspoon of Chipotle Powder (or a teaspoon of Chipotle Chilis from a jar or can)
    1/4 teaspoon of Chili Powder
    1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated ginger root
    1/4 teaspoon onion flakes (mine, no kidding, are from a Dollar Store)
  10. Take out your hand blender (or toss the concoction into a good blender) and blend until very smooth.
  11. Simmer on low until you are happy with the flavor, about 20-30 minutes.
  12. Ladle your soup into a bowl.
  13. Swirl of Dollop a tablespoon of Vegan Sour Cream.
  14. Shed a few fresh Thyme Leaves onto the top. If you don’t have fresh thyme, that’s ok. Just sprinkle fresh parsley or oregano for decoration and a bit of flavor.
    I have a sense that a bit of Fresh Mint could be very interesting!

TIP: To create my “swirl” design, all I did was spoon some of my sour cream mixture into a small plastic baggie. Then I snipped a corner and piped! Easy, breazy!

This would be lovely served with some warm, grilled herb bread.

SUBSTITUTIONS:

If you are not vegan, just use regular sour cream!
If you don’t have fresh ginger, use powder ginger! Ditto for the thyme, but try to grind it up before adding if it’s dry. This will bring out the flavor.

 

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