Tag: Meatless

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

So I realized today that this post for Homemade Macaroni and Cheese is my 200th! How crazy is that? Okay, back to your regular programing… time for an awesome recipe for Homemade Macaroni and Cheese!
Winter weather really makes me crave comfort food. When it snows (like it did this weekend) my need for comfort food escalates.
I’ve been looking for any excuse to make another mac and cheese recipe, so I jumped at the chance to make it during the snow.
I originally printed out this recipe from Cooking Light, but I changed it so much to fit what I could find it’s barely recognizable. The overall method is basically the same though.
Ingredients:
  • 1/2 an onion, diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 1/4 cups 1% low fat milk
  • 1 box uncooked elbow macaroni
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
  • 4 ounces cubed sharp cheddar cheese
  • 4ounces cubed gouda cheese
  • Panko breadcrumbs
  • Grated fresh Parmesan cheese
  • Fresh parsley, chopped

Continue reading Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Stuffed Peppers

I have been a part of a food swap for about 6 months now, and I am already running low on ideas.  As I was frantically looking for an idea, I realized no one had made stuffed peppers yet, win! Stuffed peppers are a perfect, hearty meal for relatively little cost. They are pretty adaptable and can honestly be made with whatever you want. To make vegetarian, sub in beans or just omit the ground beef all together.
Ingredients (this makes 10 stuffed peppers)
10 peppers
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
3 onions
3 garlic cloves, minced
2.5 lbs ground beef
1 teaspoon Worcestershire
1 can diced tomatoes
½ teaspoon each of basil, oregano and parsley (dried)
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper, to taste

5 cups cooked rice
½ cup grated Parmesan
Cut off top of peppers, removing the seeds and membranes. Dice the edible parts of the tops of the peppers.

 

Add the whole peppers to a pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil and lower heat to a simmer. Cook for 3 minutes. Remove from water and set aside.

 

Add the butter and olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the onion, diced peppers, and garlic and sauté for 5 minutes.

Add the ground beef, stirring to break up the meat.

Cook until browned. Add the Worcestershire, diced tomatoes, and tomato puree, stirring to combine.

 

Season with oregano, basil, parsley, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in cooked rice and parmesan cheese.

 

Stuff peppers with mixture, sprinkling with more parmesan cheese if desired.

 

Because I made these for a swap, I froze the peppers at this stage.

 

To cook, thaw completely then bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes.

I hope they like them!

Champagne Risotto Primavera

I still have some prosecco sitting around after New Years Eve that I don’t want to go to waste. It’s already open so there’s really no way to save it. I usually use leftover wine in my risotto, so why not use sparkling wine instead? After all the food I ate in the past week, I thought I should probably incorporate some vegetables into my risotto as well. I adapted a Weight Watchers recipe to incorporate the sparkling wine.
 
Ingredients:
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup uncooked arborio rice
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
  • 3/4 cup champagne, prosecco, or other sparkling wine, divided
  • 1 cup frozen edamame, thawed
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
  • fresh parsley, chopped

Continue reading Champagne Risotto Primavera

Mushroom Mac and Cheese

I grew up in a mac & cheese from the box household. You know, the kind with the powered stuff that you add to the macaroni, plus butter and milk. My mom (inexplicably) referred to this as baked macaroni and cheese, so I didn’t even realize that baked mac & cheese was the actual way it was supposed to be cooked until much later in life. As absolutely delicious as I assume traditional baked mac and cheese is, I can’t justify taking all that time to make it (maybe on a weekend some day). Apparently I’m not alone on that thought, because Cooking Light Fresh Foods Superfast cookbook had a somewhat sped up version. This version adds in some mushrooms to make a hearty Mushroom Mac and Cheese.
Ingredients:
Sherry-Roasted Mushrooms
  1 package cremini mushrooms
  1 tablespoon olive oil
  Salt and pepper, to taste
  2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  Cooking Spray
  2 tablespoons dry sherry
  2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
8 ounces (half a box) uncooked elbow macaroni
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 small can of evaporated milk
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic cloves on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
When the mushrooms are finished cooking, add to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry and oregano. Reserve. Keep the oven on but lower the temperature to 400 degrees.
Add flour to a large pan and gradually add the evaporated milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thick and bubbly, continue to stir constantly.  Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. I must have been all sorts of lazy this day because I didn’t even feel like shredding the cheese. I instead tore off small pieces and added it to the milk mixture, this ended up working out just fine.
Remove from heat and stir in the mushroom mixture and the pasta.
Add the pasta mixture to a 2 quart baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the pasta at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it bubbles. Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.
Oh happy creamy deliciousness. I loved this pasta, especially when I got some of the crunchy baked parts in a bite. In retrospect, I really wish I added a light layer of panko on top, just to add more crunch to the dish. But even without that extra crunch, this mac & cheese was really good!
I think this method can be applied to many versions of mac & cheese to make it quicker. Use Gruyere or Cheddar instead of fontina. Add sage instead of oregano, or use truffles/truffle oil, the possibilities are endless!
Print
Mushroom Mac & Cheese

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 1 package cremini mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • Cooking Spray
  • 2 tablespoons dry sherry
  • 2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano
  • 8 ounces (half a box) uncooked elbow macaroni
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 small can of evaporated milk
  • 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese
  • Fresh oregano leaves, for garnish

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Combine the mushrooms, olive oil and garlic cloves on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Season with salt and pepper.
  2. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned. While the mushrooms are cooking, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
  3. When the mushrooms are finished cooking, add to a small bowl. Stir in the sherry and oregano. Reserve. Keep the oven on but lower the temperature to 400 degrees.
  4. Add flour to a large pan and gradually add the evaporated milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook over medium heat for 6 minutes or until thick and bubbly, continue to stir constantly. Add the cheese and season with salt and pepper. I must have been all sorts of lazy this day because I didn’t even feel like shredding the cheese. I instead tore off small pieces and added it to the milk mixture, this ended up working out just fine.
  5. Remove from heat and stir in the mushroom mixture and the pasta.
  6. Add the pasta mixture to a 2 quart baking dish that’s been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake the pasta at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, or until it bubbles. Sprinkle with oregano leaves and serve.
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Black Bean Tostadas

Tostada normally refers to any meal in which a tortilla is deep fried or toasted. They were originally in response to tortillas that had started to get stale but could still be eaten. The toasted or fried tortilla is topped with beans, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, onions, salsa and then topped off with chicken or pork. Today, you can find all types of tostadas: seafood, vegetarian, vegan, etc.I found a recipe for a quick tostada in the Cooking Light Fresh Foods Superfast  cookbook and altered it a bit to remove most pre-made products (I don’t usually get to supermarkets). The result was still a quick and really delicious weeknight meal.

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans
5 tablespoons fresh salsa
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
1/8 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/8 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 8-inch flour tortillas
Cooking spray
3/4 cup shredded Romaine lettuce
1/2 an avocado, sliced

Preheat the broiler.
Drain and rinse the black beans. Add to a saute pan coated in cooking spray. Heat on medium heat, pressing on the black beans so they mush a bit.
Add the salsa. If you do not have time to make your own salsa, you can pick up fresh salsa at the supermarket or specialty grocery stores. Add the chopped cilantro and stir.
Cook for 2 minutes until heated through. Remove from heat. Combine the sour cream, cilantro, water and pepper in a separate bowl.
Shred the lettuce and slice the avocado.
When the broiler is preheated. Spray the tortillas on each side with cooking spray and add two tortillas to a cookie sheet. Broil for two minutes or until charred. Mine puffed up a bit in the oven, so I just pushed down the center to make room for the beans.
Add the beans evenly to each tortilla.
Top with lettuce.
Drizzle with the sour cream mixture.
Top with avocado.
This was so satisfying! I loved the crunch of the tortilla to contrast the creaminess of the filling.

If the salsa is pre-made or store bought, this is a really quick meal, about 15-20 minutes from start to finish.

I loved the flavor, but this could certainly handle a little bit of heat, maybe some chopped jalapeno mixed in with the salsa.

After a bite or two, I went back to the salsa and added another tablespoon to my tostada to give it a bit more flavor. If you like salsa, I suggest doing this.

This could easily be altered to use chopped beef or sauteed chicken if you’d like. However, it was absolutely delicious with the black beans.

Hummus Vegetable Pizza

It’s no secret that I love hummus. I’ve made quite a few different versions on this blog. So I was really excited when I was given the chance to sample some hummus through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program. I was allowed to choose any hummus my little hummus-loving heart desired. But, I’ve actually tried them all before. And I’ve loved them all (some more than others, obviously). I decided instead to incorporate the classic hummus into a meal. A coworker gave me an awesome idea: hummus pizza. Brilliant!
Ingredients:
  • Pizza dough (I used Trader Joes)
  • Classic Hummus
  • 1 zucchini
  • 1 yellow squash
  • 1 package of sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • 1 small onion, chopped (I used red because that’s what I had)
  • Roasted red peppers, chopped
  • Marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
  • 1 goat cheese log
  • Cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • cooking spray

Continue reading Hummus Vegetable Pizza

Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce

Are you getting sick of my pumpkin recipes? I think this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce actually brings me to over a dozen posts on pumpkin-flavored desserts/meals. I wasn’t lying when I said I was pumpkin obsessed! Anyways, I’ve been trying to make this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce from Cooking Light for almost 2 weeks, but for the life of me could not find wonton wrappers. I finally just adapted the recipe to use fresh pasta sheets from By George in Reading Terminal.

Ingredients (makes 3 servings):
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
6 pieces of fresh pasta lasagna sheets, rolled thinner if desired (I used pumpkin pasta, no surprise there!) – about 1 lb.
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 tablespoon egg substitute or one egg, mixed
3 tablespoons hazelnuts, chopped
Fresh sage leaves for garnish

Note: It would be super helpful to have a ravioli stamp, (or ideally, to have a ravioli maker!) but you can get the same results by pressing firmly and separating using a knife.

 

To make the Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce, add a salted pot of water to your stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.

Begin by making the ravioli stuffing. Add the pumpkin, panko, Parmesan, minced sage, salt, pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to a bowl. Mix to combine.

If you’d prefer to make the pasta as thin as possible, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough even more. Place a generous teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture on one sheet of pasta, evenly spaced (I used my stamp as a guide). My sheets were able to hold about 6 teaspoons of the pumpkin mixture.
Using a brush, surround the pumpkin mixture with a thin layer of eggwash. This will help hold the pasta pieces together.

Place another lasagna sheet on top of the original sheet, covering the pumpkin mixture.

Using the ravioli stamp, press firmly around each pocket of pumpkin mixture. If you do not have a ravioli stamp, just use your hands.
Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the ravioli into individual pieces. Repeat with remaining pumpkin mixture and lasagna sheets.
Your pot should now be boiling. Add half of the ravioli to the pot. Cook for about six minutes or until the ravioli begins to rise to the top.
While waiting for the past to cook, make your sauce. Add the milk and flour to a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute until it thinks slightly.
 

Remove from heat. Add the butter, stirring until it fully melts. Stir in the crumbled Gorgonzola. Add more minced sage leaves if you’d like.

Add 6 ravioli each to three plates. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons  of the Gorgonzola sauce.  Add a teaspoon of chopped hazelnuts, a few sage leaves, and a sprinkle of nutmeg.

This Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Saucewas pretty darn good. I think it could handle a boost in nutmeg though; there was something missing from the overall flavor of the dish.

I strongly suggest adding a lot of sage leaves to the plate, a bite of fresh sage with every forkful was delicious!
I liked using fresh pasta instead of wontons; wontons tend to break apart in the cooking process, especially with a heavier filling like pumpkin.
I wish I knew what ingredient would really kick this recipe up from good to great; please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!

Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu

One of my friends asked me if I’d be willing to add some tofu recipes to my repertoire. I was pretty wary to try it. I don’t mind tofu, but I can’t say I’ve ever had a hankering for it. Well, for some reason, I picked up some tofu this week so I decided to finally make a recipe including it for my friend. I also received tatsoi in my CSA share, which is the perfect opportunity to use the tofu in this recipe for Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu.

Ingredients:
2 bunches of tatsoi
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
A dash of rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
4-6 oz tofu, cut into cubes

Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ground ginger and brown sugar to a bowl and mix to combine and reserve.

Add 1 teaspoon of the toasted sesame oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Cube the tofu.

Add the tofu to the pan.

Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Remove the tofu from heat. Cut the stems off of the tatsoi.

Add 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil to the saute pan and turn down the heat to medium low. Add the tatsoi.

Cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat. Add the reserved sauce to the pan.

Stir to combine. Mix in the tofu and serve.

This was so quick and easy! I actually ate this as a meal, but if you cut the tofu pieces smaller, this could also work as a yummy side.
I loved the subtle sweetness of the sauce. Tatsoi tastes very similar to bok choi, so the flavors worked really well.
I was really pleasantly surprised by the result. You might just catch me making another tofu recipe in the future!

Gnocchi

I have wanted to try to make gnocchi for some time now. Luckily, I am part of a food swap and they were willing to let me experiment on them. Here’s hoping they turned out well! I used this article as a base for my recipe.
Note: I actually made the gnocchi twice because I wasn’t happy with the original result. I used smaller potatoes the first time (see below photo) and I found that the normal Idaho potatoes were much better for this recipe. (Special thanks to my boyfriend for a lot of his help during the making of the gnocchi)

Ingredients:
3 large russet (Idaho) potatoes, scrubbed
1 egg yolk
About 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Begin by pricking each potato all over with a fork. This will allow some of the heat to escape while it is baking in the oven.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for about an hour and a half, or until the potatoes are soft.
 
After removing the potatoes from the oven, cut each potato in half to allow the steam to escape.
While the potatoes are still warm, scoop out the insides into a potato ricer into a bowl.
Place the potatoes onto a clean work surface, like your counter, and form into a rectangle and allow to cool enough that they are not hot to touch.
Season the potatoes generously with pepper. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl and drizzle the over the potatoes.
Measure 1 1/2 cups flour and sprinkle a bit of flour over the potatoes as needed (the less flour you use the better). Using a pastry scraper, mix the flour and egg into the potatoes by chopping everything up and folding it in on itself, until well mixed. The dough should sort of resemble coarse crumbs.
Bring the mixture together into a ball.
Sprinkle some on the work surface. Place the dough on top and flatten into a disk.
Dust the dough with more flour. Using your hands, fold and press the dough until the flour is incorporated. Do this two more times, incorporating the flour each time. If the dough still feels sticky, repeat once more.
Divide the dough into four equal parts.
Roll each section into a long thin roll, about 1/2″ thick.

Cut into 1/2″ to 1″ pieces.

Because I was making these for a food swap, I arranged all the pieces on a cookie sheet covered in tin foil and put them in the freezer overnight.
I then divided the gnocchi into freezer bags and popped them back into the freezer.
To cook, bring a pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Drop the gnocchi into the water and cook for approximately 2 to 3 minutes, or until they float to the surface. Remove the gnocchi with a slotted spoon and top with whatever you prefer: tomato sauce, pesto, butter, etc. (I’m a big fan of tomato sauce with some pesto mixed in, yum!)

I tried a few of these and they were pretty good! I hope that they continue to get better as I make them but I thought this recipe turned out well, here’s hoping those in the food swap agree!

Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup

When I first came across this recipe for Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup, I was intrigued by the ingredients. Never would I have thought to add jalapenos and ginger to a butternut squash dish. It seemed so odd, and yet so delicious as well. This weekend, the weather began feeling a bit more… autumnal. So I used this wonderful weather as an excuse to try out this recipe. I altered the original recipe a bit, but you can find the original here.

 

Ingredients (makes about 8 servings):
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2-in. cubes
3 cups water
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk, plus more for serving
I’ve attempted to peel and cube butternut squash in the past. And it is absolutely not worth it. It takes forever and never seems to yield as much as you think it will. So I wimped out at bought the pre-packaged pre-chopped stuff. And I am so happy I did. I ended up using 3 20 oz containers of the butternut squash.
Begin by chopping your garlic and jalapeno and grating your ginger.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook stirring constantly for 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the cayenne pepper and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring.
Add the squash, chicken broth, brown sugar, and 3 cups water.
Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
Add about 1/3 of the soup to a blender. Remove the top middle piece of the blender top to allow hot air to escape. Place a paper towel over the opening and puree until smooth. Add to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining soup.

Be very very careful doing this! I managed to burn my hand pretty badly when removing the top off the blender. Ouch!

Stir in the coconut milk and serve. I added a tiny bit more of the coconut milk on top of a poured serving and swirled it.

This was a surprisingly tasty soup. The smooth texture is really nice and the butternut squash taste shines through, with a hint of coconut milk. There is a very slight heat at the end from the jalapeno and cayenne, but is definitely not spicy. I honestly couldn’t taste much of the ginger, so next time I might add a bit more. This soup can also be frozen so I look forward to enjoying it in the colder months, but it only took maybe 40 minutes from start to finish so this can easily be made on a weeknight.

Mushroom Risotto

This past weekend, Kennett Square held it’s annual Mushroom Festival. I unfortunately didn’t get to go this year, but my parents dropped off a variety of mushrooms for me. When I have a lot of different types of mushrooms, my go to recipe is a mushroom risotto.

Ingredients:
  • 1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
  • 2 cups assorted mushrooms, sliced (I used oyster, shiitake, portobello & trumpet)
  • 1/2 a small onion, chopped
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • 1/3 cup white wine
  • 4 cups chicken stock
  • 4 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Parsley, chopped (for garnish)

Continue reading Mushroom Risotto

Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

I received another eggplant in my CSA share this week so I thought I’d attempt Eggplant Parmesan. I saw this slightly different version of the recipe on MyRecipes.com, originally from Sunset Magazine and thought I’d give it a try.

Ingredients: (makes 2 servings)
1 eggplant
1/2 tube cooked polenta
Olive oil cooking spray
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1 can (14 oz.) tomato purée
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (6 oz.)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Begin by preparing your eggplant. Rinse the eggplant and cut off both ends. Cut the eggplant crosswise into 4 equally thick slices.
Using only half of the tube of polenta, cut the polenta crosswise into 4 equal slices.
Lightly spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray and add the polenta and eggplant to the sheet. Spray another layer of the cooking spray on the slices.
Cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and the polenta is heated through.
While the eggplant and polenta are cooking, prepare your onion, basil and garlic.
 Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the onion, garlic and basil.
Cook until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato puree and 1/4 cup water.
Stir to combine. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cover to keep warm until the eggplant and polenta are finished cooking.
When the rounds are heated, sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the slices. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
To assemble, add one of the larger slices of eggplant to a plate.
Top with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce.
Add one polenta slice.
Top with another tablespoon of sauce.
Repeat with another eggplant slice, tomato sauce, polenta slice & more tomato sauce. Top with 1 tablespoon panko. Repeat this process to plate the other eggplant Parmesan stack.
If desired, spoon the remaining tomato sauce around the stacks.
What an inventive “eggplant Parmesan” dish! It was really simple too, the whole meal was ready in just over 30 minutes.
I think I honestly prefer this version to the traditional eggplant Parmesan. I always find the breading to be a bit too heavy for the eggplant so the polenta was a happy alternative. Not to mention, I was able to make only two servings so nothing went to waste! Now to find a recipe to use the rest of my polenta…

Corn, Tomato & Basil Risotto

After a weekend of brownie and brie baking, I’m back on track making normal meals. Keeping with my tomato-corn themes, I was happy to find a recipe from Fine Cooking that included both of these ingredients. Even better, it is also a risotto!
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups of frozen corn kernels
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. torn fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

So I chickened out this time on the corn. Out of my last batch of a half dozen corn cobs, 5 (FIVE!) of them had worms. Goo. I understand it is very difficult to grown corn organically, but I needed to just take a step back from the whole surprise-in-my-corn.If you are using fresh corn, click on the link above to see the original recipe, I used frozen kernels for mine so I had to adapt the recipe accordingly. You will need three corn cobs.

Add the chicken broth to a pot and heat over medium-low heat. In another saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes.

Add the rice and stir to coat.
Add the wine and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute.
Ladle in 1 1/2 cups of the warm broth into the saute pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broth is absorbed (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add a 1/2 cup of broth at a time, waiting until the broth is absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup.
Combine the tomatoes,olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the basil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
I’d be happy just eating this!
About 16 minutes into the cooking of the rice (you’ll still have broth left), stir in the corn. Continue to add the broth in 1/2 cup increments until the rice is creamy, about 20 to 25 minutes in total.
Remove from heat and add the Parmigiano cheese and tomato-basil mixture. Top with the remaining basil and serve.
Somehow, this risotto was light and refreshing. I loved the sweetness from both the tomatoes and corn, it tasted like summer! I ate the leftovers from this the next day for lunch and it held up really well, which is always a plus.

 

Vegan Chilled Corn Soup

I had a realization a few days ago that summer is almost over. And the end of summer means the winding down of fresh ingredients. So for the next few weeks, I am going to try to make meals that really highlight all of those in season vegetables (like my post about Fettuccine with Fresh Tomato Sauce). For seasonal recipes, Cooking Light continues to be my go-to magazine. Because it comes monthly, the recipes change with the seasons and freshness of produce. In the September issue, Cooking Light featured seven “Trailblazing Chefs” including recipes from some of the chefs. Chef Brandon Sharp, the executive chef of Solar located at the Solage Calistoga spa resort in the Napa Valley, has a recipe for Chilled Corn Soup that will make the most of summer corn. Plus, its also vegan and mostly fat free, win!
Ingredients (makes 6 servings):
4 large ears shucked corn
4 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup chopped onion
6 sprigs fresh thyme, tied in a bundle
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups water
1/2 cups diced peeled avocado
1/2 cup diced radish
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Begin by shucking your corn. You can buy already shucked corn in the supermarket which will work just fine, just don’t use frozen corn kernels for this recipe. Prepare some of your ingredients: chop the onion, mince the garlic and bundle the thyme.
Using a knife, cut the kernels from the ears of corn. Using the dull side of the knife blade, run the knife back over the cobs to remove the remaining pulp and corn starch from the cobs into a separate bowl.
Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions, tied thyme, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. It’s best to tie the thyme for easy removal later.
Reduce the heat to medium low and cover. Cook for 8 minutes or until the onions have softened, stirring occasionally. Add the corn kernels and minced garlic, cover, and cook for 4 minutes.
Add the corn starch/pulp, water and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and discard the thyme. Pour half of the corn mixture into a blender.
Remove the center piece of the blender lid so that the steam can escape. Place a clean towel or paper towel over the hole in the blender lid to avoid splatters, and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a large bowl.
Using a spoon, push the liquid through the sieve and discard the solids.
Repeat with the remaining half of the corn mixture. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
When you are ready to serve the corn soup, dice the avocado and radishes, and chop the cilantro. Add to a bowl. Squeeze the lime juice over the avocado and radishes. Be sure to get it on all pieces so that they don’t oxidize and turn colors. Add the ground red pepper and mix to combine.
To serve, ladle 1 cup soup into each of 6 bowls, top with 2 tablespoons of the avocado mixture.
The soup was so creamy and smooth, it tasted like it was made with heavy cream. The corn starch/pulp thickens the broth which gives it that creamy quality. The radishes added a nice crunch to the dish, and the avocados add a bit more creaminess and a little bit of good fats to make the dish more filling. I loved the cilantro, it enhances the other flavors. What a delicious soup!

Fettuccine with Fresh Tomato Sauce

Ever since the first week of my CSA share, I have anxiously awaited the arrival of fresh tomatoes.  This week, I received my first batch! The share came with a bag of Roma tomatoes, a bag of Red tomatoes, and a pint of Sungold cherry tomatoes so expect quite a few tomato recipes to be posted in the coming days. Because this is my first real batch of in season tomatoes, I wanted to begin with a meal that would highlight how fresh these little guys are. Food & Wine’s Fusilli with Summer Tomato Sauce seemed like the perfect choice.
Ingredients:
2 pounds ripe tomatoes (about 4), chopped
1 large clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
2/3 cup lightly packed fresh basil
1 pound fresh fettuccine pasta
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

Heat a pasta pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.
Roughly chop your tomatoes and mince the garlic.
Add the tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper to a food processor and puree.
Add the basil and pulse to mix.
Add salt to the pasta pot so that the pasta doesn’t stick together while cooking. Add the pasta. The original recipe used fusilli. If you use this, cook according to the directions on the box. I used a fresh fettuccine pasta I picked up at By George! in Reading Terminal because I thought it might soak up the sauce better.
Drain the pasta and toss with the tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese.
Set aside for one minute so the pasta can absorb the liquid.
Top with additional Parmesan and serve.
Wow. I wish a quick batch of pasta always tasted this good. I was stunned with how delicious this was for so little work. (Honestly, the longest part of the process was waiting for the water to come to a boil). I really do believe that the fresh pasta is a way to go for this dish.
The tomato sauce is super thin, so if you prefer a chunky sauce, you might want to finely chop another tomato and put it to the side. Add the chopped tomato to the puree when you are mixing it with the pasta.
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