Testing w. Terry
Chinese Sticky Rice with Seitan Sausage Crumbles
I have been having so much fun testing recipes for Terry Hope Romero’s next cookbook. Everything has been amazing so far. I can’t wait for the book to come out.
My favorite recipe that I’ve tested so far has been the Chinese Sticky Rice with Seitan Sausage Crumbles, which is really 2 recipes in one. I made the Seitan Crumbles one day and the Sticky Rice the next. The Seitan Sausage Crumbles on their own were addicting. I was happy that the Sticky Rice recipe only called for about 1/2 a recipe of the Crumbles because I think I ate about 1/2 a recipe of crumbles before I even started making the rice recipe. I can taste them now while typing this all out. Good thing I’m making the recipe again this weekend at Peter’s request. I think he liked this recipe even more then I did.
Seitan, Almond and Sesame Tagine
Meat and Potatoes, vegan and Moroccan style! This tagine is the perfect winter meal. I wouldn’t mind being stuck in my house all weekend due to a blizzard with a big pot of this tagine waiting to be eaten. It was the perfect combination of savory and sweet that I love in a meal.
Coriander Seitan Cutlets
I made this tester recipe to use in the Tagine above. I love spiced seitan recipes, which is why I use a lot of cumin in my own. The use of coriander in this recipe is perfect. As usual, when these were finished cooking, Reno and I promptly ate one of the cutlets as is. Reno declared them to be “delicious!”.
Again…I can’t wait for this cookbook to be released to the world. Its going to be amazing!
3 comments January 10th, 2012
Quinoa Pasta (recipe)
Quinoa Pasta with Broccoli and Sun-dried Tomatoes
It is known in some circles how much I dislike alternative pasta’s. By alternative I specifically mean whole wheat pasta. Good god that stuff is horrible. Horrible! Some things just need to be made with plain ol’ white/semolina flours. By some things includes baguettes, italian breads, ciabatta’s etc. I like to leave the whole wheat for sandwich bread or on occasion veggie burger rolls. With all that said now…I lost my mind while shopping a few weeks ago and bought a box of Quinoa Pasta made by the company Andean Dream. I let it sit in my food cabinet for quite some time because I was sorta afraid to use it and didn’t quite understand why I purchased it. I then decided at the end of last year to use up almost everything I had in those cabinets before I went shopping again and the day came that I needed to use this pasta.
After a search of the fridge and freezer I found 1/2 a jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil and 1/2 a bag of frozen broccoli. I set a pot of water on the stove to boil. Just as it started to boil I remembered seeing an episode of Top Chef Masters where Zooey Deschanel was a guest and the chefs had to cook her a vegan, wheat and soy free meal. Michael Chiarello ended up buying some quinoa pasta for his dish and I seem to remember it sticking together and he had to pull all the strands of pasta apart. I wasn’t about to do that so once the water started to boil I added a tablespoon or two of oil to the water hoping that would help it from sticking together and it worked! The rest of the ingredients were sauteed in oil and the pasta was added at the end. I brought it downstairs for a shared meal with my parents and everyone liked it including me!
1 box Andean Dream Quinoa Pasta (fusilli)
cook to package directions adding 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the boiling water
1 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 pound frozen broccoli florets
1/4 cup oil packed sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced, reserve some of the oil from the jar
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a medium size saute pan over medium-low heat. Add olive oil. Once heated saute the garlic for 2 minutes making sure not to burn it. Add the red pepper flakes and cook for 20 seconds longer. Add the frozen broccoli and cook until no longer frozen, about 5-7 minutes. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes and up to 2 tablespoons of the reserved sun-dried tomato oil and cook until heated through. Add the cooked Quinoa Pasta. Stir to combine and season with salt and pepper to taste.
1 comment January 4th, 2012
Chickpea-Broccoli Coconut Curry (recipe)
Chickpea-Broccoli Coconut Curry
Curry! It has been AGES since I made any sort of curry/Indian food. I use to make it all the time. My pantry was stocked with all types of Indian ingredients and spices. Then Reno started eating “real food” and I stopped cooking a lot of foods that I liked to cook because I refuse to cook two dinners, one for us and one for her. Well I wanted a curry the other night. Knowing she wouldn’t eat the curry part of the meal I took out some of the broccoli before I added the curry spice. Unfortunately I forgot to take out some chickpeas for her as well. At least she ate the broccoli. Not pictured above was some seared seitan that I served on the side. Made mostly for Reno to have more protein with her meal but also for us seitan loving parents. This is a quick dinner to make on busy weeknights when you want something warm and comforting. I’m definitely adding it to our somewhat rotation of regular meals.
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small-medium onion, small diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
4 cups of broccoli florets
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 Tablespoons curry powder
1 chicken-less bouillon cube
1 15 oz can coconut milk
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil, over medium-low heat, in a medium-large size saute pan. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the broccoli florets and continue cooking 8-10 minutes until the broccoli is cooked through but still has a crunch to it. Now add in the chickpeas, the curry powder and the chicken-less bouillon cube and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the can of coconut milk. Cook the curry, stirring occasionally, for about 10 more minutes. The coconut milk is thick and will thicken some more as it cooks. If you want you can thin it out with 1/2 cup of water or more if necessary. I personally didn’t thicken mine but I like the thickness. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately over white rice.
I served ours with a side of seared seitan which isn’t pictured above.
Add comment January 1st, 2012
Life
Reno and Miles
Having 2 kids is fun but it sure leaves no time for anything. Our house is a mess and we eat pasta and rice and beans all the time. I’m dying to come up with new recipes and have written all of my ideas down in my special recipe notebook. I did come up with a Seitan or Tempeh (your choice!) Carbonara recipe that I believe will knock your socks off. If shit doesn’t hit the fan today it’s what I’m making for dinner just so I can see if the recipe I wrote down will make sense to you all. I’m very excited to share it! I’m very excited to eat it again also. That’s how much I love this recipe.
Blueberry Pancakes with Field Roast Sausage
Once a week I’ve been trying to make us a nice breakfast. Usually on Sundays. This particular breakfast has been my favorite so far. My least favorite was the Chocolate Chip-Cinnamon Scones I made last weekend. I have know idea what they hell I did wrong but they came out WEIRD (i’m unfairly blaming the kids)! We still ate them though. I might have left them out all day and overnight on purpose just so I wouldn’t have to eat them again the next day. (sorry husband)
I hope you all have had/are still having a wonderful Holiday, whichever ones you do celebrate. Reno is off of school this week and asks every morning if she goes back to “school today”. When I say “no” she gets upset and I have to explain again and again why she’s off for 11 days. I hope she stays like this for all of her school career! I hated school and never wanted to be there so having her upset that there isn’t school is a dream!
Add comment December 29th, 2011
Red Lentil-Jasmine Rice Soup (recipe)
Red Lentil-Jasmine Rice Soup
Today is a perfect day for soup…it’s rainy, Reno is sick and now I’m sick because of Reno’s sickness. My friend Cheryl put a call out on Facebook for a Lentil Soup and named me specifically in her post. I though I would share the recipe here as well since I’ve been meaning to do so for ages now. So thank you Cheryl for reminding me about this recipe!
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium onion, small diced
1 large carrot, small diced
1 teaspoon celery seeds
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup dried red lentils
1 cup jasmine rice
4 cups vegetable broth or chicken-less broth
4 cups filtered water
1 tablespoon lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish (not pictured)
In a large pot heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onions and carrots. Saute until carrots are soft and onions are translucent 5-8 minutes. Add celery seed and dried thyme and saute for 2 minutes. Add red lentils, jasmine rice, broth and water to the pot and raise the heat to high to bring to a boil. Cover and lower heat so that the soup is simmering. Cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked. Should take no longer then 25 minutes. Add lemon juice and salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh chopped parsley.
2 comments December 6th, 2011
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