I haven't updated this blog in a while! It was a fun pet to have while at college and bored. I'll keep it alive because I come back to it the recipes, and I can see some people are popping in once in a while and find a recipe they enjoy (thanks for visiting!). My latest blog is about my gardening adventures. Still cooking a ton, just not being elaborate or trying too many new recipes these days.
http://myheartshapedgarden.blogspot.com/
Dead Blog, So Sad
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Spring! Somewhere!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Spring is on it's way and Oneonta got a taste of it yesterday. We had 65F weather, loads of wind and a crazy rainstorm but it was all so wonderful! It snowed today but I'll pretend that didn't happen...
Thanks to my Mom who gave me a gift card to heirloomseeds.com for Christmas I ordered and received some seeds that I plan on growing on my porch at college. SO excited! I now have two types of tomatoes to grow (Roma and Windowbox- good for containers), plus a packed of bush beans (green beans) and two types of peppers- California Wonder Peppers and another type that I cannot remember the name of. I also ordered a packet of 15 herbs including all my favorites like basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano and sage plus some fun ones like catnip! I might just sow that right under the bushes at my apartment because I love all the neighborhood cats and am always trying to entice them over.
March 25th is the date I'll start most of them inside and then hopefully get them into containers and outside by April and May. Pictures are sure to come.
Roasted Squash and Roots Soup
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, cut in half, seeds removed, peeled and cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks
3 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 sweet potatoes peeled and also cut into chunks
canola oil
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup soy/rice/other milk
garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
thyme?
Preheat oven to 400F
Toss the chunky vegetables with canola oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes.
When vegetables are roasted, add to a blender and blend in 2 parts with the stock (half the veggies and 2 cups stock) and transfer to a pot. Add the milk, a bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. I also added thyme but I can't really taste it. It's very flavorful as it is, however, and doesn't really require much salt or pepper.
Heat through on the stove and serve. Mmmm.
This recipe was adapted from one that called for brown sugar, nutmeg and ginger, but I was not too keen on that. The recipe is here if you want to try it!
There's nothing like a soup that screams fall. I don't even particularly like squash, sweet potatoes or carrots but this soup has convinced me!
Roasted Squash and Roots Soup
Ingredients:
1 butternut squash, cut in half, seeds removed, peeled and cut into 1 to 2 inch chunks
3 large carrots, cut into chunks
2 sweet potatoes peeled and also cut into chunks
canola oil
4 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup soy/rice/other milk
garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
thyme?
Preheat oven to 400F
Toss the chunky vegetables with canola oil and spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes.
When vegetables are roasted, add to a blender and blend in 2 parts with the stock (half the veggies and 2 cups stock) and transfer to a pot. Add the milk, a bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. I also added thyme but I can't really taste it. It's very flavorful as it is, however, and doesn't really require much salt or pepper.
Heat through on the stove and serve. Mmmm.
This recipe was adapted from one that called for brown sugar, nutmeg and ginger, but I was not too keen on that. The recipe is here if you want to try it!
Asian Grilled Tofu Salad
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Salad:
salad greens (mescalin mix, spinach, green leaf lettuce, whatever you like)
grated carrot
red or green pepper, cut into matchsticks
cashews, unsalted (roasted or raw)
cubed extra-firm tofu
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 t sesame oil
1 T mirin
1 t chili oil (optional)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, micro-planed or grated
Dressing:
2 t miso
2 T sushi vinegar
1 t sesame oil or canola oil, or a mix of both
1 t micro-planed ginger
Mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl and marinade the cubed tofu for 30 minutes to overnight. Toss salad ingredients except tofu and cashews together and set aside. Make dressing by combing all ingredients.
When the tofu is done marinating, cook in a wok or saute pan on medium-high until browned, 10-15 minutes.
Toss salad with dressing, add cashews and hot tofu on top, sprinkle with sesame seeds and voila! Delicious. Enjoy immediately before salad gets wilted. Yummmm.
Asian Grilled Tofu Salad
Salad:
salad greens (mescalin mix, spinach, green leaf lettuce, whatever you like)
grated carrot
red or green pepper, cut into matchsticks
cashews, unsalted (roasted or raw)
cubed extra-firm tofu
Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1 t sesame oil
1 T mirin
1 t chili oil (optional)
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T ginger, micro-planed or grated
Dressing:
2 t miso
2 T sushi vinegar
1 t sesame oil or canola oil, or a mix of both
1 t micro-planed ginger
Mix marinade ingredients together in a bowl and marinade the cubed tofu for 30 minutes to overnight. Toss salad ingredients except tofu and cashews together and set aside. Make dressing by combing all ingredients.
When the tofu is done marinating, cook in a wok or saute pan on medium-high until browned, 10-15 minutes.
Toss salad with dressing, add cashews and hot tofu on top, sprinkle with sesame seeds and voila! Delicious. Enjoy immediately before salad gets wilted. Yummmm.
Quinoa Sushi
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Quinoa Sushi
Quinoa sushi :
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained (use a mesh strainer, they're so tiny they'll just run through a collander)
1 3/4 cup water
2-3 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
4-5 sheets of nori
fillings
rolling mat
plastic wrap
After rinsing the bitter oils from the quinoa, add to a pot or a rice cooker. Add the soy sauce to the water and pour the water over the quinoa. Turn on the rice cooker. If you don't have one, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Unlike rice, you can stir the quinoa around during cooking if needed. Cook until the water is gone (there should be little steam chimneys in the quinoa). Throw into a big bowl and toss around with the rice vinegar. Toss for a little while, preferably in front of a fan, or be like me and let it sit to cool for 30 minutes or so. It's a little easier to work with the quinoa when it's slightly warm.
Sushi fillings can be whatever you want, but I recommend:
(most should be cut into matchstick-like pieces)
avocado, sliced
green onion
red pepper
carrot
cucumber
shiitake mushroom
mung bean sprouts/white bean sprouts
whatever else you put in sushi
Lay down a piece of your nori on a bamboo rolling mat that has been covered with plastic wrap. Gently spread the quinoa on the nori leaving 1/2 inch space at the top.
Yes, quinoa is much harder to work with than sushi rice because of it's size and inability to stick as well as sushi rice. I got quinoa EVERYWHERE but I'm sure with practice I can get better.
Place the fillings on the lower section of the nori, and roll that sucker up. You can also add wasabi in there at this point. When I'm taking sushi rolls to school, I also put a little extra soy sauce on the rice/quinoa so I don't have to bring any with me, and I also cut each roll once, in the middle, at a diagonal for easily shoving into my mouth.
Cut it like regular sushi and serve with soy sauce. Enjoy!
Edit: The rolls cut in half were a success, except quinoa seemed to fall out everywhere. If you're making them to eat later, make sure you are eating over a table or plate and not your laptop!
I love sushi. I love it so much I might just have to marry it. This affair started when I was introduced to sushi (the fishy type) by my mother, probably around the age of 15. I tried all sorts of raw fish, eggs, tentacles and other assorted sushi fillings that would make the average person go "eeww". Frankly, it makes me go "ew" now too, but believe me, my love for sushi hasn't ended since going vegan. I do not miss the fish aspect at all, in fact, the nori has such a rich oceanic flavor and aroma that I don't even notice anything missing. And, thanks to sushi, I have a new found love of healthful and flavorful sea vegetables.
Alas, white rice is the bane of my existence. I would eat sushi all day, every day if it weren't for those infernal little white grains of starchy, nutrient-lacking goodness. Okay, they're not completely lacking, but I can do better. I've tried brown rice, but I just cannot wrap my palette around it. It always turns into crunchy unhappiness. In my internet ramblings I stumbled upon a really interesting idea; subbing quinoa for rice. I tried it tonight and oh, I will be eating sushi until I explode, and the Dietitian in my brain won't be all pissy about it.
A little about quinoa:
Quinoa is an African "grain" (actually a seed), pronounced "Keen-wa". It's an adorable, tiny grain that unfurls a little white tail when cooked. It comes in many different colors, including white and red, though I've only ever had the white variety and don't know if there is a flavor difference. Quinoa a complete protein (which means it supplies all 9 essential amino acids) and one of the few plant sources out there next to soy. It's a pretty good source of iron, folate and zinc, a good source of protein, phosphorus and magnesium and a great source for manganese. It's glycemic load is very low, and lower than white rice. Quinoa does have a slightly higher calorie count compared to the same amount of white rice, but this is due mostly because quinoa is a smaller grain, with less air spaces,which means 1 cup of cooked quinoa is more dense than 1 cup cooked rice. Cup for cup, quinoa is nutricious and something that should compliment anyone's diet.
Quinoa Sushi
Quinoa sushi :
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained (use a mesh strainer, they're so tiny they'll just run through a collander)
1 3/4 cup water
2-3 T soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
4-5 sheets of nori
fillings
rolling mat
plastic wrap
After rinsing the bitter oils from the quinoa, add to a pot or a rice cooker. Add the soy sauce to the water and pour the water over the quinoa. Turn on the rice cooker. If you don't have one, bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Unlike rice, you can stir the quinoa around during cooking if needed. Cook until the water is gone (there should be little steam chimneys in the quinoa). Throw into a big bowl and toss around with the rice vinegar. Toss for a little while, preferably in front of a fan, or be like me and let it sit to cool for 30 minutes or so. It's a little easier to work with the quinoa when it's slightly warm.
Sushi fillings can be whatever you want, but I recommend:
(most should be cut into matchstick-like pieces)
avocado, sliced
green onion
red pepper
carrot
cucumber
shiitake mushroom
mung bean sprouts/white bean sprouts
whatever else you put in sushi
Lay down a piece of your nori on a bamboo rolling mat that has been covered with plastic wrap. Gently spread the quinoa on the nori leaving 1/2 inch space at the top.
Yes, quinoa is much harder to work with than sushi rice because of it's size and inability to stick as well as sushi rice. I got quinoa EVERYWHERE but I'm sure with practice I can get better.
Place the fillings on the lower section of the nori, and roll that sucker up. You can also add wasabi in there at this point. When I'm taking sushi rolls to school, I also put a little extra soy sauce on the rice/quinoa so I don't have to bring any with me, and I also cut each roll once, in the middle, at a diagonal for easily shoving into my mouth.
Cut it like regular sushi and serve with soy sauce. Enjoy!
Edit: The rolls cut in half were a success, except quinoa seemed to fall out everywhere. If you're making them to eat later, make sure you are eating over a table or plate and not your laptop!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
