Smoky Ribs and Raw Zucchini and Corn Salad

Ever have a weekend that you needed a rest from? Well last weekend we shopped, and planted and planted and attended 3 other events, it was a relief when Monday showed up.  But all our hard work paid off; the flower pots are planted, the vegetable gardens are planted and watered and much of the yard clean up is done so now we can relax a bit.

I went to the Herbivorous Butcher again - I had to Dan had never been there and he really, really wanted to go. This time we purchased Smokey BBQ ribs, Siracha brats, deli ham, teriyaki jerky and maple sage breakfast sausage. I love having those little white packages in my fridge/freezer.

On Sunday night we tried the Siracha brats – very tasty. Last night we tried the Smoky BBQ ribs which were amazing. The smoky taste, the texture, the spices, it all comes together perfectly.  And heating them is as simple as putting them in foil and in the oven at 400 for about 15 minutes. 

Now for the side dish something that would compliment the ribs but not overpower them. We had zucchini in the fridge and I had an idea. I like zucchini, it's flexible you can roast it, steam it, saute it or eat it raw and it's good. It's secret is that it easily absorbs the flavors around it. I'm teaching a spiralizer class in July so I've been testing out recipes lately adn this one could be a candidate for the class. It comes together in about 15 minutes and no cooking is required which is perfect for hot summer days when turning on the oven is not an option.

You will need:

For the salad

1 medium zucchini

2 small yellow summer squash

1 ear of corn

1 ounce of feta (I use sheep feta)

fresh basil

For the vinaigrette

½ cup olive oil

3T fresh lemon juice

1 tsp. spicy brown mustard

2 cloves of garlic minced

1T fresh basil – torn

1 tsp red pepper flakes

salt

pepper

Combine all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar, shake well and set aside.  Using a spiralizer (can be Paderno, Pampered Chef or any other) with the ribbon blade spiralize the zucchini and summer squash, then cut them into smaller pieces. Place in a serving bowl.

Remove corn from the cob, add to bowl, then toss in 1 ounce of cheese (goat, feta or what ever you like) add some black beans and then toss with vinaigrette (you will have leftover vinaigrette, use it for your salad then next night).

Done, dinner is ready and you didn't even break a sweat. Stop back next week, I'm making cashew cheese over the long weekend. Have a great Memorial Day weekend, take some time to relax and connect with friends and family. 

Ciao

The Wonders of Cauliflower

Growing up I never really gave cauliflower much thought – it wasn't part of our regular routine maybe my mom didn't like it. We did have a lot of salads tho, actually I once threatened to run away from home if I had to make ONE MORE SALAD. To which my mom replied "Would you make a salad before you leave" – funny girl.

I didn't really start eating cauliflower until I was in my 30's and I usually steamed it with broccoli, carrots and zucchini and that was great for a long time. In the last 8+ years however, I've become known as the veggie queen by my husband's family and I roast veggies and it is my  favorite way to eat them.

With a head of cauliflower in the fridge I wanted to try something different. I've done the grilled cauliflower steaks, which are good, but I wasn't in the mood for that I was thinking sweet and savory. I recalled seeing a whole roasted cauliflower recipe online so I dug that out and altered it (because I never have everything they call for in my pantry/fridge but I'm good at substitutions) it was simple and delicious.

I started by removing the leaves and stem from the head of cauliflower so that it will sit firmly on a flat surface. Rinse the cauliflower and pat dry.

Combine 2 T. spicy mustard (I used a spicy brown mustard), some olive oil and a splash of maple syrup in a small bowl.  Using a basting brush cover the head of cauliflower and then liberally add salt (pink sea salt) and fresh ground black pepper.

Place the cauliflower on a baking sheet or a stone and bake for about an hour in a 450-degree oven. It's done when you can stick a knife in it and it no longer feels hard. Remove it from the oven, add a sprinkle of vegan parmesan cheese and if you have any of the basting sauce left over drizzle it on top and bake for an additional 5 minutes. 

You can pair this with a nice green salad (we did) or some vegan sausages, or whatever sounds good. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Warming up on a Cold Spring Day

It's been one of those days – some good things, some not so good things – all I can say is it's over – and as my friend Irene says "Onward and upward."

I know that talking about the weather is one of those boring topics but it's been nasty and rainy here all week; I keep looking out the window to see if Noah has parked his ark in the driveway and is waiting for me to board. I mean seriously my squash plants (which I started from seed in late March) are flowering but it's too cold to put them in the ground.

All I can say is cold weather calls for warm food and I've been waiting for a day exactly like today to make some Moroccan eggplant; onions, eggplant, carrots and tomatoes with cumin, cayenne and chili pepper the house smells wonderful.  

Let's get started:

Moroccan Eggplant

1 T olive oil

1 medium onion – finely diced

4 cloves garlic – peeled and crushed

1 tsp cumin

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cayenne

¼ tsp ground chili

3 T tomato paste

2 large eggplant – chopped into small cubes

2 – 14 ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 cup vegetable broth

2 cans beans – I used 1 white kidney and one great northern (which was what I had) but you can use chickpeas too

Heat 1 T olive oil in pan and add diced onion and garlic, sauté for about 5 minutes until translucent. Add spices and stir to combine. Add all other ingredients (except beans) and sauté 15 – 20 minutes until the eggplant is cooked through. Add beans and cook an additional 5 minutes. Serve with brown rice, couscous, quinoa or your favorite grain. 

We served it with a fruit salad of strawberries, grapes, mango and bananas.

Enjoy!

Cheese Glorious Cheese!

Yikes I noticed that it's been a while since my last post – what have I been up to? I've got a lot going on in my life these days, a career I enjoy, working out with a personal trainer, I'm taking a pottery class, reading and now that Spring is kinda here just doing more outside.

All that aside it doesn't mean I haven't been cooking and trying new recipes – we have. I've been wanting to make my own vegan cheese for a while now and last weekend I finally gathered together all of the ingredients to do it. Besides, it was cold and rainy and doing something in the kitchen seemed like a nice distraction from the crummy weather.

I decided on 3 small ramekins of almond cheese; garlic, onion and chive, roasted red pepper and basil and my favorite red pepper and rosemary. You can find the recipes for these cheeses here (well except in these recipes it called for sundried tomatoes – yet somehow I came home with roasted red peppers – don't ask).

While the small batch theory is good, especially if it's your first attempt at cheese making, the process is a bit putzy for the end result. But as I said it was a cold day and being outside wasn't an option.

The results were mixed. The onion, garlic and chive were a bit bland and the flavors didn't really come through. The chives were fresh from the garden but I would opt for fresh garlic instead of the garlic powder next time to enhance the flavor. 

The flavor of the roasted red pepper with basil was good, next time I might actually roast my own peppers first to add a smoky flavor to it or use sundried tomatoes. Either way it was a nice flavor combination.

The final cheese; pepper with rosemary was my favorite; although I made a slight error when making it. The recipe called for a ½ teaspoon of agar powder and I inadvertently put in 1 teaspoon so it was a bit firmer than the others but the combination of the red pepper flakes and the rosemary was delicious. 

All in all it was successful and dinner became appetizer night, which is one of my favorite dinners – all those flavors rolled into one meal. My next cheese-making attempt will be with cashews and after that vegan sausage – looking forward to more experiments in the kitchen.

Gardening season will be starting soon – I've already started my acorn squash, it was our best crop last year – over 25 squash; yes we were those people who were leaving squash on the neighbors doorstep. No one seemed to mind tho.

Saturday Morning with Elaine in the Kitchen and the Herbivorous Butcher

I know the concept of a "vegan butcher" is not intuitive but as someone who is mostly vegan the concept of "fake meat" also makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up – until I took a trip to the Herbivorous Butcher, a sweet brother and sister "vegan butcher shop" in Minneapolis, MN.

On Saturday morning I headed off to meet my friend Elaine, from Elaine in the Kitchen and her daughter Lisa to check out this new venue and to see if the marketing hype matched the product and from my perspective – this venue is a must shop.

A bit off the beaten path, the cleaver door handle is your first indication that this is not your ordinary butcher shop. They have a great selection of ribs, sausages, deli meats, and bacon and vegan cheeses to delight your palette.

I arrived just after they opened and had the opportunity to browse the shop and chat with one of the staff about their products, ingredient and processes. Within 30 minutes the place was busy, numbers were taken, orders were placed and happy customers headed home to sample their wares.

I had carte blanch from my sweetie on purchases so I did a bit of splurging. I tried Korean BBQ ribs, spicy Italian sausage, maple flavored bacon, deli turkey meat, spicy pepperoni and some dill Havarti cheese.

We've sampled the ribs (which were sweet, sticky, the perfect texture and taste), maple flavored bacon (perfectly flavored), turkey deli meat (the texture and flavor almost like the real thing) and spicy Italian sausage (my personal favorite) all had excellent texture and flavor – would definitely purchase them again.

I have to say my personal favorite was the spicy Italian sausage – we invited my friend Carolyn over to help us taste test it tonight and it got a 3 thumbs up. The sausage was spicy with hits of fennel and spicy red pepper. We paired it up with onions, red and yellow peppers, carrots, broccoli, asparagus and mushrooms in a simple garlic and ginger stir-fry served over brown rice and a fresh fruit salad. 

If you're in the neighbor, or looking to try something new go to the Herbivorous Butcher you won't be disappointed.

Ciao

Zoodles Glorious Zoodles

I spent last weekend with my sister; we drove to Fargo to visit my dad. We chatted, laughed, shopped and had dinner with family and friends; it was a great adventure and a very nice weekend. Back at the ranch, Dan continued to take his meds and recover – seems like he is on the mend. I haven't heard a lot of coughing and sneezing since I've returned which is good because I threatened to make a doctor's appointment for him if he was not better by the time I returned.

I've been saving this recipe for asparagus season – the thought of lightly roasted asparagus, fresh spring peas, spiralized zucchini with an avocado sauce shout SPRING! This recipe can be raw or you can cook it – the choice is yours; we opted for cooking this go around but I have to say I ate the leftovers for lunch today cold and it was just as delicious :-)

I used this vegan spiralizerrecipe but to be honest a little bacon and some caramelized onions would add a savory dimension to the recipe – not that I'm eating bacon these days however, every once in a while it sounds good even though I don't partake.

Did I mention that I will be teaching a spiralizer cooking class this summer at the local community ed program? I am and I'm very excited – we'll be doing 3 - 4 dishes; some raw and some cooked – and this will be one of the recipes so if you are in the neighborhood and so inclined – register and come learn about the wonders of spiralizing and tasty food.

I started this recipe by chopping some asparagus (the recipe calls for 10 stalks of asparagus but since the stalks were slender I added more – a lot more.) After cleaning and trimming, I spritzed them with olive oil and roasted them at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. While the asparagus was roasting I spiralized 3 zucchini and mixed up the avocado sauce; 2 avocados, the zest from 1 lemon, the juice from ½ lemon, fresh oregano and some sea salt and black pepper. Put it all in a high speed blender and mix until think and creamy.

When the asparagus was done I transferred it to a bowl and put the zoodles (zucchini noodles) on the stone, spritzed with a little oil and roasted until crisp tender (approx. 15 minutes – checking every 5 minutes). While the zoodles were cooking I microwaved the peas with a little water until done.

In a large bowl, combine peas, roasted asparagus, zoodles and avocado sauce – season with salt and freshly ground pepper, toss and enjoy. We served it with garlic and ginger fried tofu and a fruit salad of strawberries, grapes and kiwi - the result was - well I'll let you decide. 

Enjoy the fresh and wonderul tastes of spring. If you have favorite raw or cooked recipes send them my way, I'm always in the mood to try something new.

Enjoy!

Winter, Spring, Winter, Turkey!

For those of you Minnesota peeps battling the snow on your commute – I'm sorry. I knew it would have to snow at least one more time especially since Dan was bold enough to uncovered the deck furniture and we used the grill on Monday; it was inevitable.

Mother Nature has been teasing us the past few weeks enough so that two very large turkeys were spotted walking down the middle of Minnetonka Blvd last week. Actually they were chasing cars – it was hilarious. And today, I saw one of those fat turkeys walking in our backyard right outside my window – Camille was going crazy running up and down the hall; some days in the hood are more interesting than others – but I digress.

Speaking of Spring, I've been loving the light in the morning and after I get off of work and I've been taking advantage of it by walking. It's a great way to start my day; gets my heart pumping, the cool air wakes me up and it helps me collect my thoughts - I feel energized and ready to start writing when I sit down at my desk.

I've been in a no chips, no cookies and no bread mode (with the exception of multi-grain wraps). I definitely have a weakness for chips and if I could find a way to have a bag in the house that didn't call to me every 15 minutes I would, but I can't so I don't. While I was walking on Monday and pondering dinner I recalled we had portabella mushrooms in the fridge so I decided a nice marinade and then grilling sounded good (hence the snow). I wasn't looking for a complicated dinner so I made some wild rice and roasted some broccoli – simple. 

I marinated the mushrooms in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, garlic, and chili powder for about a half an hour and then grilled them for 10 minutes on each side. The broccoli was a simple olive oil, pepper and Himalayan sea salt and roasted at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, turning once half way through. And the wild rice was cooked in vegetable broth. Dinner done in 45 minutes.

On Tuesday I was looking for something a bit more complicated so I roasted an acorn squash at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. While the squash was roasting I sautéed an onion in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil until it was translucent. To the onion I added  ¼ red pepper and ¼ yellow pepper and sautéed for about 5 – 7 minutes, then added 2 handfuls of spinach, a 10 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes, ½ can of black beans and some leftover portabella mushrooms and wild rice and cooked until everything was heated through. 

When the squash was just about done I filled the cavity with the onion, pepper, etc. mixture, topped it with a small amount of feta and put it back in the oven and baked it until the feta was brown on the edges. I removed it from the oven topped it with fresh avocado and added some sliced kiwi on the plate for garnish. I got rave reviews from the husband, which I do appreciate.

We'll be spending Easter with Dan's family this year; looking forward to good food, lively conversation and fun.