this is recipe idea was from vegetarian times (but i changed it to fit what i had and what i wanted).
ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
3 Tbs peanut butter (recipe actually called for almond butter but i was fresh out)
1 Tbs lemon juice (from the squirt thingy)
1 Tbs lime juice (from the squirt thingy)
1 Tbs white miso
1 Tbs minced ginger (from the jar)
1 tsp minced garlic (from the jar)
1/3 cup water
1 - 2 Tbs canola oil
1 8 oz package plain tempeh, cubed (bite size)
1/2 package firm tofu, drained and cubed in the same size pieces as the tempeh (bite size) - it would still be fine without this if you are weary of tofu - the original recipe did not call for tofu. and if you wanted meat, i'm sure you could replace the tempeh and tofu with chicken.
4 carrots, halved and sliced into half-moons
1 lb sugar snap peas (out of a bag)
directions which are SO easy if you have prepped everything:
1. start cooking the quinoa: bring 2 cups water to a boil, add quinoa, cover, and reduce heat to medium low. simmer for 20 minutes. remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. i added about a tsp of salt in the end but you could do this anytime. i prepped and cooked the rest while the quinoa was cooking.
2. in a bowl, whisk together the peanut butter, the lemon and lime juice, miso, ginger, garlic, and water. set aside. (by the way, this sauce would be a great dip for about anything!)
3. heat a wok or large fry pan over high heat until water droplets evaporate within 1 second. add oil and swirl to coat. (i used a wok. if you are using a flat bottom frying pan, you may want to reduce the heat a little since you can't shake to cook.) add tempeh and tofu and stir-fry (shake) for 2 minutes. add carrots and stirfry for 2 more minutes. add sugar snap peas and they stay in for 1 minute. remove from heat, add the pre-made sauce, and mix it around.
4. fluff quinoa with fork, top with vegetables! SO easy, pretty, and it is so delish. if i had known it was going to be so good i would have taken a photo. it is good leftover too, though the veggies loose their crunch on the reheat.
by the way, it took me less than 30 minutes to make this. i mean, get stuff out, prep it, cook it, and clean up, which was rinse out the pot for the quinoa, the wok, cutting board, knife, bowl, and whisk - and stick it the dishwasher.
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Hot Toddy (tastes like Russian Tea)
1 48-ounce bottle or 6 cups cranberry juice (i used the Lowes Foods Brand of cranberry juice)3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, reserve peel (i.e. juice from one lemon)1/4 cup sugar 2 cups filtered water 12 strips lemon peel, 1-inch long (from one lemon, avoid the "white")2 cinnamon sticks, broken into 4-inch pieces 1 teaspoon whole cloves 1 teaspoon dried allspice 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg 1/3 cup bourbon 1. In a large saucepan, combine cranberry juice, lemon juice, sugar, and water. 2. In the center of two 6-inch squares of cotton cheesecloth, place lemon peel strips, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg. With cotton string, tie cheesecloths tightly into spice bags. 3. In a medium saucepan, add spice bags and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and discard spice bags (if you don't, the toddy starts to get bitter). Add bourbon (or not). 4. Transfer to heatproof pitcher, or simply ladle beverage directly from saucepan into serving cups. This stuff is awesome and tastes just like the instant russian tea mom used to make! |
chocolate nutella cookies - recipe from vegetarian times
Chocolate Nutella Cookies
from Vegetarian Times recipe and with my comments!!!
1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour i used organic
1/4 cocoa powder plain old hershey's powder!
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt i used fine grained salt (i have cse grained salt that i use from time to time, that is why i specify)
1 cup Nutella i didn't actually have 1 cup of nutella, so i used what i had - about 1/2 cup, and then used almond butter to fill in the rest. they still turned out great and tasted like nutella.
4 oz/1stick unsalted butter real butter, not margarine.
3/4 cup of sugar i used cane sugar, organic, not bleach white processed sugar though i'm sure that is fine too.
1 large egg farm raised organic!
1/2 tsp of hazelnut extract didn't have this. used vanilla instead!
1.Sift together flour,cocoa powder salt and 1/4 tsp of salt and set aside does anyone ever do this step?
2. Beat Nutella and butter till smooth (I used an electric hand blender) i used an electric hand mixer, and this was after i put the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften. it was straight out of the fridge. mutella and almond butter didn't go in the microwave though.
3. Add the egg and sugar to the above mixture and beat till well combined still used the hand mixer.
4. Now slowly add the flour and in low speed incorporate into the wet mixture till dough forms. i just put all the dry ingredients on top of the wet and then used a large fork to incorporate. it wasn't hard.
5. Transfer the dough into a plastic wrap and shape into a 2inch diameter log and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. looked like a big poop. kinda gross. but, it was really tasty (i ate some yes!!!). i stuck it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. it was cold enough after that.
6. Heat oven to 375F. um, i missed the 375 part. i cooked them at 350
7. Cut log to 1/4 inch thick rounds and place on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 9 minutes and remove from the oven and let cool for 30-45 minutes. since mine started on a cold stone, it took about 15 minutes. i put both stones in the oven at the same time on two different shelves - never done that before - but they cooked well together. and, it only took them about 15 minutes to cool off.
these cookes are AWESOME!!!
from Vegetarian Times recipe and with my comments!!!
1 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour i used organic
1/4 cocoa powder plain old hershey's powder!
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/4 tsp of salt i used fine grained salt (i have cse grained salt that i use from time to time, that is why i specify)
1 cup Nutella i didn't actually have 1 cup of nutella, so i used what i had - about 1/2 cup, and then used almond butter to fill in the rest. they still turned out great and tasted like nutella.
4 oz/1stick unsalted butter real butter, not margarine.
3/4 cup of sugar i used cane sugar, organic, not bleach white processed sugar though i'm sure that is fine too.
1 large egg farm raised organic!
1/2 tsp of hazelnut extract didn't have this. used vanilla instead!
1.
2. Beat Nutella and butter till smooth (I used an electric hand blender) i used an electric hand mixer, and this was after i put the butter in the microwave for 30 seconds to soften. it was straight out of the fridge. mutella and almond butter didn't go in the microwave though.
3. Add the egg and sugar to the above mixture and beat till well combined still used the hand mixer.
4. Now slowly add the flour and in low speed incorporate into the wet mixture till dough forms. i just put all the dry ingredients on top of the wet and then used a large fork to incorporate. it wasn't hard.
5. Transfer the dough into a plastic wrap and shape into a 2inch diameter log and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours. looked like a big poop. kinda gross. but, it was really tasty (i ate some yes!!!). i stuck it in the freezer for about 30 minutes. it was cold enough after that.
6. Heat oven to 375F. um, i missed the 375 part. i cooked them at 350
7. Cut log to 1/4 inch thick rounds and place on a cookie sheet.
8. Bake for 9 minutes and remove from the oven and let cool for 30-45 minutes. since mine started on a cold stone, it took about 15 minutes. i put both stones in the oven at the same time on two different shelves - never done that before - but they cooked well together. and, it only took them about 15 minutes to cool off.
these cookes are AWESOME!!!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
recipe: stuffed mushrooms using gimme lean (fake) sausage
my original recipe is from the food network... tyler florence's stuffed mushrooms with sausage. here are the changes i made to his recipe:
I actually made only half the recipe, as I had only 10 mushrooms from before making soup. Even with that, I think half the recipe would be enough to stuff 24 mushrooms. I made "sausage balls" with the leftover stuffing and i had plenty for 24 mushrooms. Just sayin' - half is plenty.
Chop the raisins, olives, and cashews; put into a mixing bowl along with parsley and garlic. Add the sausage and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Drizzle the stuffing with about 1 Tbs. of olive oil to moisten and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes; combine with hands. Notice how greasy your hands are NOT because it isn't sausage! Gimme lean has NO FAT in it!
Put the bread crumbs in another bowl, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and add the remaining cheese and mix.
I made small balls (like the size you would make for oreo balls) round and then gently stuffed them into the mushroom, one at a time. Then, I dipped the stuffing side into the breadcrumb mixture and then put it mushroom side down on a stone pan. As I said before, I made stuffing/sausage balls with the remaining mixture and also coated them with breadcrumbs.
They cooked for about 20 minutes on 400degrees. They started to brown at about 15 minutes and were a nice golden brown right at 20. My oven, which typically doesn't cook even, actually did really well with these. I did roll the "balls" half way along.
Anyway, these were great! We ate these with our mushroom soup for dinner since there wasn't much left. I'll definitely use the gimme lean sausage again - and this way too. Just remembering to add sage for the patties when eating it alone.
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 8 large Spanish green olives, pitted
- 1/4 cup
pine nutsraw cashews 2 handfuls fresh flat-leaf parsley3/4 Tbs dried parsley- 1/2 tsp sage (the gimme lean needs some extra parsley)
2 garlic cloves1 tsp garlic paste1 pound Italian sausage, removed from casing1 tube gimme lean ground sausage- 3/4 cup freshly grated
pecorinoparmasean cheese (i don't even know what pecorino is!) - Extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 cup
fresh(homemade) bread crumbs - 24 large
whitecrimini mushrooms, stems removed
I actually made only half the recipe, as I had only 10 mushrooms from before making soup. Even with that, I think half the recipe would be enough to stuff 24 mushrooms. I made "sausage balls" with the leftover stuffing and i had plenty for 24 mushrooms. Just sayin' - half is plenty.
Chop the raisins, olives, and cashews; put into a mixing bowl along with parsley and garlic. Add the sausage and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Drizzle the stuffing with about 1 Tbs. of olive oil to moisten and season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes; combine with hands. Notice how greasy your hands are NOT because it isn't sausage! Gimme lean has NO FAT in it!
Put the bread crumbs in another bowl, drizzle with a bit of olive oil and add the remaining cheese and mix.
I made small balls (like the size you would make for oreo balls) round and then gently stuffed them into the mushroom, one at a time. Then, I dipped the stuffing side into the breadcrumb mixture and then put it mushroom side down on a stone pan. As I said before, I made stuffing/sausage balls with the remaining mixture and also coated them with breadcrumbs.
They cooked for about 20 minutes on 400degrees. They started to brown at about 15 minutes and were a nice golden brown right at 20. My oven, which typically doesn't cook even, actually did really well with these. I did roll the "balls" half way along.
Anyway, these were great! We ate these with our mushroom soup for dinner since there wasn't much left. I'll definitely use the gimme lean sausage again - and this way too. Just remembering to add sage for the patties when eating it alone.
recipe: vegan cream of mushroom soup
found this recipe at joythebaker and modified it to fit my ingredients and/or taste. Please visit her website for pictures!!! mine looks just like hers and her pictures are already awesome. here is what i made and how i made it.
to start with, the only place i know to find cremini mushrooms NOT in a container, prewrapped (i.e. i like to buy them in a bulk bin) is whole foods - so, nathaniel and i went there yesterday. we bought 1-1/4 pounds with the stems on (i tried to pick ones with the shortest stems, some large - which i planned to stuff - but mostly little ones. no particular reason). we also went to buy vegetable broth per joythebaker's recipe, but they were completly out, so i bought a 32 oz container of mushroom broth instead. they also only had large onions, so got one of those too.
SO, this morning, at 9:25, i started to cook. i had a clean counter and a clean sink, so that meant everything had to come out. i started by washing and stemming the mushrooms (i noticed that the original cook did not stem her mushrooms). i picked out 10 large mushrooms from my original 1-1/4 pounds for stuffing later, so i probably had about a 3/4 to 1 pound of mushrooms in the end. i left them in a strainer to keep drying. i put a large pot on the stove, put in about 2 tbs of olive oil in the pot and turned it to "5" (medium). i peeled my onion and chopped 3/4 of my large onion into med-small pieces and just dumped it into the mostly hot oil and shook the pan.
next i pulled out my handy dandy jar of minced-garlic-in-water (out of the fridge) and scooped in 2 heaping teaspoons in with the onion and shook the pan again. that was all the garlic i had left in my jar, which is less than what the original recipe called for (but seemed to be enough).
while that was cooking, i pulled out my food processor and put all mu mushrooms in it. instead of chopping them by hand, i just let the food processor do the work for me. when they were all chopped up, i just poured them in the pan with the onions and garlic and stirred.
next, i added 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of vegan worcestershire sauce and stirred. (i actually measured those.)
then i added about 1 tsp of black pepper (already ground) and stirred. i fetched my mushroom broth. since it is 32 oz and the recipe calls for 3 cups, i poured almost all of it into the pot - and stirred.
that came to a simmer pretty quickly. i put the food processer away and/or in the dishwasher and i got my blender out. i put 1/2 cup (about 2 handfulls) of cashews into it with 1/2 cup of water into it and let it make cashew milk! this is what will make the soup creamy.
this is not complicated, but it will sound complicated: i got out a large measuring cup and a small strainer and put it over the top. using a measuring cup, i removed the soup from the pot and strained out the chunks. i put the chunky part into the blender (with the cashew milk already in there). i let it "blend" (puree) until smooth. yes, it was hot. my blender was fine. i put the puree back into the pot and poured about half the liquid into the blender and turned it on again. then, i poured that into the pot (a rinsing effort to "clean" the blender). i did that with the remaining liquid and in the end, my blender was nearly free of "chunks" and it looked clean and ready to be put into the dishwasher without being rinsed! i also added the rest of my mushroom broth since i was going to let it sit for a while.
anyway, that is it. when i was finished with ALL of that, including cleaning, my soup was simmering on "2" (low/med low) but really it was ready to eat and it was 9:50. in that time, i also helped holly clean up the legos and kendal put together a new puzzle. so, it was really easy to make - and quick. nathaniel was gone to the trash dump that WHOLE time (several trips of trash and recycling) and when he got home, he said it was awesome.
after he tasted it, i decided it would be really good with a dash of red wine. so, i added about 1/4 cup of it and it did enhance the flavor... raffaldini red table wine is what i used - we had a little left after kendal's birthday party so i used some of that (this is a bottle that my sister in law gave us when she moved to florida - thanks amy!).
** if you want to make it gluten free, you will have to find a substitute for the soy sauce. i know you can buy wheat free tamari, which would be a reasonable substitute.
to start with, the only place i know to find cremini mushrooms NOT in a container, prewrapped (i.e. i like to buy them in a bulk bin) is whole foods - so, nathaniel and i went there yesterday. we bought 1-1/4 pounds with the stems on (i tried to pick ones with the shortest stems, some large - which i planned to stuff - but mostly little ones. no particular reason). we also went to buy vegetable broth per joythebaker's recipe, but they were completly out, so i bought a 32 oz container of mushroom broth instead. they also only had large onions, so got one of those too.
SO, this morning, at 9:25, i started to cook. i had a clean counter and a clean sink, so that meant everything had to come out. i started by washing and stemming the mushrooms (i noticed that the original cook did not stem her mushrooms). i picked out 10 large mushrooms from my original 1-1/4 pounds for stuffing later, so i probably had about a 3/4 to 1 pound of mushrooms in the end. i left them in a strainer to keep drying. i put a large pot on the stove, put in about 2 tbs of olive oil in the pot and turned it to "5" (medium). i peeled my onion and chopped 3/4 of my large onion into med-small pieces and just dumped it into the mostly hot oil and shook the pan.
next i pulled out my handy dandy jar of minced-garlic-in-water (out of the fridge) and scooped in 2 heaping teaspoons in with the onion and shook the pan again. that was all the garlic i had left in my jar, which is less than what the original recipe called for (but seemed to be enough).
while that was cooking, i pulled out my food processor and put all mu mushrooms in it. instead of chopping them by hand, i just let the food processor do the work for me. when they were all chopped up, i just poured them in the pan with the onions and garlic and stirred.
next, i added 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and 1 tablespoon of vegan worcestershire sauce and stirred. (i actually measured those.)
then i added about 1 tsp of black pepper (already ground) and stirred. i fetched my mushroom broth. since it is 32 oz and the recipe calls for 3 cups, i poured almost all of it into the pot - and stirred.
that came to a simmer pretty quickly. i put the food processer away and/or in the dishwasher and i got my blender out. i put 1/2 cup (about 2 handfulls) of cashews into it with 1/2 cup of water into it and let it make cashew milk! this is what will make the soup creamy.
this is not complicated, but it will sound complicated: i got out a large measuring cup and a small strainer and put it over the top. using a measuring cup, i removed the soup from the pot and strained out the chunks. i put the chunky part into the blender (with the cashew milk already in there). i let it "blend" (puree) until smooth. yes, it was hot. my blender was fine. i put the puree back into the pot and poured about half the liquid into the blender and turned it on again. then, i poured that into the pot (a rinsing effort to "clean" the blender). i did that with the remaining liquid and in the end, my blender was nearly free of "chunks" and it looked clean and ready to be put into the dishwasher without being rinsed! i also added the rest of my mushroom broth since i was going to let it sit for a while.
anyway, that is it. when i was finished with ALL of that, including cleaning, my soup was simmering on "2" (low/med low) but really it was ready to eat and it was 9:50. in that time, i also helped holly clean up the legos and kendal put together a new puzzle. so, it was really easy to make - and quick. nathaniel was gone to the trash dump that WHOLE time (several trips of trash and recycling) and when he got home, he said it was awesome.
after he tasted it, i decided it would be really good with a dash of red wine. so, i added about 1/4 cup of it and it did enhance the flavor... raffaldini red table wine is what i used - we had a little left after kendal's birthday party so i used some of that (this is a bottle that my sister in law gave us when she moved to florida - thanks amy!).
** if you want to make it gluten free, you will have to find a substitute for the soy sauce. i know you can buy wheat free tamari, which would be a reasonable substitute.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
marinated kale salad
now, this one goes great with the lemony pasta from my last post.
i found this original recipe at http://vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=1464&catId=10
and as usual, i changed it some to fit what i had on hand. the way i made it was great, so i'm gonna post MY modified version.
you start by washing and shaking a bunch of kale. now, the bunch i had was the curly kale, and i had already used a few stalks in the lemony pasta. anyway, you chop it up just as i mentioned in the last recipe. to restate in case you are visiting just this recipe... "you wash them, shake them, lay them on a towel to drip even more, then shake them again and just grab the green part and pull the stem off. the stem goes up most of the leaf. don't worry about tearing the leaf because you chop that up anyway. after i have all the leaves separated, i hold them tight and chop them into about 1/2 inch pieces, and then turn and keep chopping. then i keep chopping and chopping until they are all small pieces. it may be personal preference, but i don't like big pieces of kale. kale is NOT lettuce, like lettuce i mean, lettuce chews easily. kale is tough, so i try to chop it as much as i can."
ok. put the kale in a bowl.
wash and stem an 8 oz container of mushrooms - then slice them. or, you can buy them already sliced. i just used regular white mushrooms. add them to the kale.
take a red onion, cut off about 1/3 of it, and then THINLY slice it and then dice it coarsly. add that to the bowl.
take the juice from about a lemon and a half (depending on how big and juicy they are, going for 1/4 to 1/3 cup of lemon juice) and add between 1/8 to 1/4 cup of soy sauce - this you have to taste. i added the soy sauce right into the bottom of my juicer bowl. it needs to be salty enough. then add 2 tbs of olive oil. whisk, and pour over the kale.
use tongs to mix the dressing on all the leaves - or your hands. when you are ready to serve (i let it sit overnight in the fridge), dice 2 avocados and add to the salad.
THIS IS AMAZING! i know you probably think that kale is gross but the dressing sorts softenes the leaves. and the dressing is wonderful, the avocado is a must-have in it too. the avocados didn't turn brown overnight too (my salad wasn't eaten all in one day). it actually lasted 2 days and they avocadoes were fine. i ended up mixing some of the pasta in with the juice on the last day/serving of the kale. it will make some juice towards the end, i had to drain a little of it. i think my leaves were a little wet.
anyway, try it. this is delish! and so simple. and light - but filling! you'll be surprised! my MOM liked it!
i found this original recipe at http://vegnews.com/web/articles/page.do?pageId=1464&catId=10
and as usual, i changed it some to fit what i had on hand. the way i made it was great, so i'm gonna post MY modified version.
you start by washing and shaking a bunch of kale. now, the bunch i had was the curly kale, and i had already used a few stalks in the lemony pasta. anyway, you chop it up just as i mentioned in the last recipe. to restate in case you are visiting just this recipe... "you wash them, shake them, lay them on a towel to drip even more, then shake them again and just grab the green part and pull the stem off. the stem goes up most of the leaf. don't worry about tearing the leaf because you chop that up anyway. after i have all the leaves separated, i hold them tight and chop them into about 1/2 inch pieces, and then turn and keep chopping. then i keep chopping and chopping until they are all small pieces. it may be personal preference, but i don't like big pieces of kale. kale is NOT lettuce, like lettuce i mean, lettuce chews easily. kale is tough, so i try to chop it as much as i can."
ok. put the kale in a bowl.
wash and stem an 8 oz container of mushrooms - then slice them. or, you can buy them already sliced. i just used regular white mushrooms. add them to the kale.
take a red onion, cut off about 1/3 of it, and then THINLY slice it and then dice it coarsly. add that to the bowl.
take the juice from about a lemon and a half (depending on how big and juicy they are, going for 1/4 to 1/3 cup of lemon juice) and add between 1/8 to 1/4 cup of soy sauce - this you have to taste. i added the soy sauce right into the bottom of my juicer bowl. it needs to be salty enough. then add 2 tbs of olive oil. whisk, and pour over the kale.
use tongs to mix the dressing on all the leaves - or your hands. when you are ready to serve (i let it sit overnight in the fridge), dice 2 avocados and add to the salad.
THIS IS AMAZING! i know you probably think that kale is gross but the dressing sorts softenes the leaves. and the dressing is wonderful, the avocado is a must-have in it too. the avocados didn't turn brown overnight too (my salad wasn't eaten all in one day). it actually lasted 2 days and they avocadoes were fine. i ended up mixing some of the pasta in with the juice on the last day/serving of the kale. it will make some juice towards the end, i had to drain a little of it. i think my leaves were a little wet.
anyway, try it. this is delish! and so simple. and light - but filling! you'll be surprised! my MOM liked it!
Friday, July 22, 2011
mushroom stroganoff
i found this recipe online and modified it to match the ingredients i had on hand. it was perfect!
1 to 1-1/2 pound mixture of white, baby portabella, and crimini mushrooms, sliced
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 tsp minced garlic from the jar
2 medium shallots, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
3 tablespoons olive oil
1-1/2 tsp minced garlic from the jar
2 medium shallots, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons vegan worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons vegan worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup vegetable stock
/2 cup chardonnay
1 cup sour cream
wide egg noodles
1 cup sour cream
wide egg noodles
In a large pot over medium, heat the olive oil. Add the shallots and garlic and cook about 4 minutes. Add the thyme, salt, pepper, mustard, and worcestershire sauce and stir. Add the mushrooms and stir. Cook over low heat until slightly soft, about 6 minutes. Add the stock and wine, stir, and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes or until the broth reduces.
In the mean time, cook the noodles in another pot. Add noodles into the mushroom pot until it is the right amount together - you won't use all the noodles. Serve and eat! It is good as leftovers too.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
VEGAN cherry ice cream (made with coconut milk)
bought a pint container of the plain coconut milk creamer from whole foods. i've also seen it at target in the grocery section, so it isn't a "specialty" from WF. i also bought a jar of dye-free maraschino cherries (maybe an 8 oz jar?). i had on hand organic cane sugar, vanilla, and ener-g egg replacer (it is a powder you can find in the baking section. it replaces the egg for baking purposes but not nutritionally.)
i started by trying to find a "normal" ice cream recipe. the recipe in joy of cooking was for 1 qt, used both cream and whole milk, and egg whites. so, i made up my own from that.
heat up a small sauce pan on the smallest burner you have over med-low heat. pour about 1/3 the container of creamer in the pan and let it warm. stir in a skant 1/4 cup of sugar and let it boil, stirring often if not constantly, for a while. not sure how long, just a while - i'm gonna guess about 10 minutes total low boil/simmer time. i removed it from the burner for about 15 minutes.
in a blender (i did this while the milk was warming in the pan), pour the remaining creamer in add the stemmed cherries - i left out about 5 from the jar i had. i also poured in about 2 Tbs of the juice/syrup. i put the lid on and let it get smooth as it would get.
when the hot milk cooled that 15 minutes, i added it to the cool liquid and turned the blender on again. i added about 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 heaping tsp of ener-g egg replacer (with the idea that it would thicken it, and i didn't add extra water since there is water in the creamer already). i tasted to make sure it was sweet enough - and it was, but you may have to tweak yours. if it needs more sugar/sweet, add syrup. supposedly when it freezes, it will taste less sweet.
so, i put it in a large glass measuring cup and covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight. we have one of those personal-size ice cream makers, so i put the top of that into the freezer also so it would be ready in the morning to make ice cream.
in the morning, i assembled my ice cream maker and poured in the liquid. in about 20 minutes, it was as hard as it was gonna get. i put it in a plastic tub and put it in the freezer. it is wonderful. tastes like real ice cream (which it is, just not cream-o-cow).
so, let me know if you try it. it worked out great for me. i'm taking it to mom's tomorrow to let everyone try it. in all, it made a little over 2 cups. i suppose that isn't a lot for some, but in my house that is plenty. it was the perfect amount for our personal ice cream maker.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
sesame crunch
i've been buying this sesame crunch candy stuff off and on from REI for ages. and not long ago, i saw it in the bulk section at whole foods. it is REALLY expensive, but for what it costs to buy sesame seeds, i figured that it was cheaper to buy it than to make it.
on friday, one of my coworkers (who is from china) and i took a lunch trip to the grand asia market in cary. there, i bought a large bag of sesame seeds for $3.99 plus a small bag of black sesame seeds for $1.59. i found this recipe online and i tried it. her recipe is perfect, but i'm going to repost my abridged version for my own use. i'm also going to post her picture because it is pretty. mine didn't turn out as pretty (i.e. when i rolled it out, they weren't as flat, even though i did use a rolling pin, and only the ones in the middle were square - the edge pieces were all crazy shaped. but, since it'll just be me and holly eating it, well, i don't really care. mine is alittle darker than hers but i used dark brown sugar since it is what i had so that is a little different too. i also used little more black sesame seeds because i think they look REALLY cool. but, hers are really pretty and her picture is why i chose her recipe to make, so - here is her picture!)
sesame candy crunch
from http://www.kitchenparade.com/2008/12/sesame-candy.php
2 cups sesame seeds
2 heaping Tbs black sesame seeds
in a large pot over med-high heat, roast the seeds - i roasted them in two batches. this was quicker than i expected. i was using margarine to grease a large, flat sheet pan and they quickly started to pop and smell very sesame-like and i was stirring and shaking the pot. no butter or oil or anything (and no lid). it was a lot like popping popcorn, time wise (maybe quicker). when they were really aromatic and starting to turn brown, i poured them into a separate pan (i had a large metal bowl) that i had on standby to remove them from the heat.
i removed the pot from the burner and let it cool off a bit, and turned the burner off. i got out my next set of ingredients.
1/2 cups honey
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cse sea salt
turned the burner back onto medium and added the above ingredients. they also quickly started to boil, and i set the timer for 2 minutes and stirred constantly. when the 2 minutes was up, i removed it from the heat and added the roasted seeds. they made a large mass, and then i scooped them up with the spatula and put them on the greased pan. i put a piece of parchment paper over them, which in hindsight i wish i had also sprayed or greased because it stuck a little, and then mashed it flat on the pan. then i used the rolling pin to make it uniformly flat and thin.
i moved the pan several times around the kitchen so it would cook quickly. everywhere it was left a hot spot on the counter. within 20 minutes, it was fairly cool (easily touchable). i used a pizza cutter to score it. then i used a knife - long butcher knife - to cut and separate it. i had to use a metal spatula to get some of them (the middle ones) unstuck from the pan.
holly loves them. she ate most of the edge ones (as did i). mine are chewy, not crispy at all. i don't know if they will harden any more. i made them 2 hours ago so i think they'd harden by now. but, they are good chewy like this. i LOVE them and will make this again and again. the printed version of this recipe is going into my recipe container. i like and even love a lot of recipes, but not many make it that far. :)
MAKE these cookies. you will be impressed, even at how easy they are! sorta like rice krispy treats except healthier.
on friday, one of my coworkers (who is from china) and i took a lunch trip to the grand asia market in cary. there, i bought a large bag of sesame seeds for $3.99 plus a small bag of black sesame seeds for $1.59. i found this recipe online and i tried it. her recipe is perfect, but i'm going to repost my abridged version for my own use. i'm also going to post her picture because it is pretty. mine didn't turn out as pretty (i.e. when i rolled it out, they weren't as flat, even though i did use a rolling pin, and only the ones in the middle were square - the edge pieces were all crazy shaped. but, since it'll just be me and holly eating it, well, i don't really care. mine is alittle darker than hers but i used dark brown sugar since it is what i had so that is a little different too. i also used little more black sesame seeds because i think they look REALLY cool. but, hers are really pretty and her picture is why i chose her recipe to make, so - here is her picture!)
sesame candy crunch
from http://www.kitchenparade.com/2008/12/sesame-candy.php
2 cups sesame seeds
2 heaping Tbs black sesame seeds
in a large pot over med-high heat, roast the seeds - i roasted them in two batches. this was quicker than i expected. i was using margarine to grease a large, flat sheet pan and they quickly started to pop and smell very sesame-like and i was stirring and shaking the pot. no butter or oil or anything (and no lid). it was a lot like popping popcorn, time wise (maybe quicker). when they were really aromatic and starting to turn brown, i poured them into a separate pan (i had a large metal bowl) that i had on standby to remove them from the heat.
i removed the pot from the burner and let it cool off a bit, and turned the burner off. i got out my next set of ingredients.
1/2 cups honey
1/2 cup organic dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cse sea salt
turned the burner back onto medium and added the above ingredients. they also quickly started to boil, and i set the timer for 2 minutes and stirred constantly. when the 2 minutes was up, i removed it from the heat and added the roasted seeds. they made a large mass, and then i scooped them up with the spatula and put them on the greased pan. i put a piece of parchment paper over them, which in hindsight i wish i had also sprayed or greased because it stuck a little, and then mashed it flat on the pan. then i used the rolling pin to make it uniformly flat and thin.
i moved the pan several times around the kitchen so it would cook quickly. everywhere it was left a hot spot on the counter. within 20 minutes, it was fairly cool (easily touchable). i used a pizza cutter to score it. then i used a knife - long butcher knife - to cut and separate it. i had to use a metal spatula to get some of them (the middle ones) unstuck from the pan.
holly loves them. she ate most of the edge ones (as did i). mine are chewy, not crispy at all. i don't know if they will harden any more. i made them 2 hours ago so i think they'd harden by now. but, they are good chewy like this. i LOVE them and will make this again and again. the printed version of this recipe is going into my recipe container. i like and even love a lot of recipes, but not many make it that far. :)
MAKE these cookies. you will be impressed, even at how easy they are! sorta like rice krispy treats except healthier.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
celtuce stir fry
well, i'm all about trying something new. this morning, one of my coworkers brought me these two huge plants he cut that morning from his garden and said "you can eat the leaves in a salad" and then proceeded to tell me how i could peel and stir fry the stalk.
it looked a lot like tobacco plants that i've seen growing in the mountains. i asked him "what is it?" he said with hesitation "chinese lettuce."
i looked it up online and it is chinese lettuce (he would know... he is from china. he also introduced me to mulberries earlier this year, growing on a tree just around the block from our office. i think they are like the country tree or something in china. whatever they are, they are common there and he knew a lot about them - well, that you could eat them.)
SO anyway, this was how he said to cook it and i did exactly what he said. it was AMAZING!
i peeled and coarsly chopped a ginger root - like, one that was medium sized.
i peeled and coarsly chopped 3 garlic cloves.
i peeled and chopped into 1" pieces the stalk/stem of the celtuce. this was not easy. i'm glad he brought me 4 plants because a lot of it was wasted. it took at least 3 for me to get the hang of peeling it. the skin of the stalk is very tough, and it seemed dangererous to peel. but, i finally figured out a trick, of which i cannot explain in words. i just say, if you ever go to a asian market and buy it - and peel it - buy extra and be patient and careful.
i also chopped up 3 or 4 green onions into 1" pieces.
i halved 6 cherry tomatoes. these were big ones so that is why only 6. if they had been little, then i would have done more.
i got out the red pepper flakes and EVOO and salt.
put the frying pan on the stove on med-high heat and put some EVOO in the pan. when it was hot, i put the ginger and garlic in there and tossed them about some. when they started to brown, i put in the celtuce and turned the heat down to med because the garlic seemed to be burning. i sprinkled red pepper flakes on it and kept stirring/shaking the pan. i added the green onions after a few minutes and a few minutes later added the tomatoes. i sprinkled with salt and turned i down to med low and when the tomatoes got warm, i served it over noodles that i had pre-warmed (they were leftover from last night).
it was so amazing. the tomatoes seemed to absorb a lot of the heat from the pepper. it was a little too hot for me - my mouth was burning a lot. the garlic and ginger was my favorite part, but the celtuce was also really good. it just absorbed the garlic and ginger flavor and had a texture much like water chestnuts. i suppose if i cooked them longer they would be less crispy.
anyway, 5 stars for the celtuce and the recipe provided by their grower.
it looked a lot like tobacco plants that i've seen growing in the mountains. i asked him "what is it?" he said with hesitation "chinese lettuce."
i looked it up online and it is chinese lettuce (he would know... he is from china. he also introduced me to mulberries earlier this year, growing on a tree just around the block from our office. i think they are like the country tree or something in china. whatever they are, they are common there and he knew a lot about them - well, that you could eat them.)
SO anyway, this was how he said to cook it and i did exactly what he said. it was AMAZING!
i peeled and coarsly chopped a ginger root - like, one that was medium sized.
i peeled and coarsly chopped 3 garlic cloves.
i peeled and chopped into 1" pieces the stalk/stem of the celtuce. this was not easy. i'm glad he brought me 4 plants because a lot of it was wasted. it took at least 3 for me to get the hang of peeling it. the skin of the stalk is very tough, and it seemed dangererous to peel. but, i finally figured out a trick, of which i cannot explain in words. i just say, if you ever go to a asian market and buy it - and peel it - buy extra and be patient and careful.
i also chopped up 3 or 4 green onions into 1" pieces.
i halved 6 cherry tomatoes. these were big ones so that is why only 6. if they had been little, then i would have done more.
i got out the red pepper flakes and EVOO and salt.
put the frying pan on the stove on med-high heat and put some EVOO in the pan. when it was hot, i put the ginger and garlic in there and tossed them about some. when they started to brown, i put in the celtuce and turned the heat down to med because the garlic seemed to be burning. i sprinkled red pepper flakes on it and kept stirring/shaking the pan. i added the green onions after a few minutes and a few minutes later added the tomatoes. i sprinkled with salt and turned i down to med low and when the tomatoes got warm, i served it over noodles that i had pre-warmed (they were leftover from last night).
it was so amazing. the tomatoes seemed to absorb a lot of the heat from the pepper. it was a little too hot for me - my mouth was burning a lot. the garlic and ginger was my favorite part, but the celtuce was also really good. it just absorbed the garlic and ginger flavor and had a texture much like water chestnuts. i suppose if i cooked them longer they would be less crispy.
anyway, 5 stars for the celtuce and the recipe provided by their grower.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Greek Lentil Salad
i wish i had taken a picture of this. not only is it pretty, it tastes wonderful. holly also liked it.
this recipe is adapted from the of Vegetarian Times - either the may or june 2011 issue.
1 cup french [green] lentils - keep in mind that one bag of lentils is 2 cups. i can honestly say that this recipe doubles good because the first time we cooked it we made the whole bag, thus i had to double the remaining ingredients...
1/4 small onion
nathaniel did this part for me in advance. to cook the lentils, place them, with the onion, in a lot of water (maybe 4 or 5 cups), in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 25 to 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. drain in a strainer, remove onion, and cool (or rinse with cold water to cool quickly if you don't have time to make them in advance).
add to the cold lentils:
1 large shallot, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
2 Tbs. lemon juice (i used fresh, but i'm sure the squirt lemon juice is probably ok too)
1 or 2 small cucumbers, diced (1 cup) - i scooped the seeds out before i diced them.
about 1 cup of quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh mint (picked right out of the yard!)
1 Tbs. olive oil
[i left this out because i was going for a vegan dish, but the recipe called for 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese and i'm sure it would have been wonderful in it]
just stir it all together and you can eat it as a side dish, or in a pita. i ate it for lunch several days. it is SOOOO tasty. holly liked the "juice" (she loves lemons).
this recipe is adapted from the of Vegetarian Times - either the may or june 2011 issue.
1 cup french [green] lentils - keep in mind that one bag of lentils is 2 cups. i can honestly say that this recipe doubles good because the first time we cooked it we made the whole bag, thus i had to double the remaining ingredients...
1/4 small onion
nathaniel did this part for me in advance. to cook the lentils, place them, with the onion, in a lot of water (maybe 4 or 5 cups), in a large saucepan; bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 25 to 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. drain in a strainer, remove onion, and cool (or rinse with cold water to cool quickly if you don't have time to make them in advance).
add to the cold lentils:
1 large shallot, finely chopped (1/4 cup)
2 Tbs. lemon juice (i used fresh, but i'm sure the squirt lemon juice is probably ok too)
1 or 2 small cucumbers, diced (1 cup) - i scooped the seeds out before i diced them.
about 1 cup of quartered cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup fresh mint (picked right out of the yard!)
1 Tbs. olive oil
[i left this out because i was going for a vegan dish, but the recipe called for 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese and i'm sure it would have been wonderful in it]
just stir it all together and you can eat it as a side dish, or in a pita. i ate it for lunch several days. it is SOOOO tasty. holly liked the "juice" (she loves lemons).
Saturday, June 11, 2011
vegan chocolate chip cookies
VEGAN Chocolate Chip Cookies
modified from the Joy of Cooking
photo courtesy of Nathaniel's mad skillz
Preheat the oven to 375. Grease or line 2 cookie sheets. or, bake on a baking stone. Mine were baked on a Pampered Chef round baking stone.
I used a stand mixer. My children put the following ingredients in the bowl in no particular order:
1 cup plus 2 Tbs all-purpose organic, unbleached flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) soy margarine (that was presoftened because it had been out on the counter for about 2 hours)
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 cup packed organic dark brown brown sugar
1-1/2 tsp egg substutute (i used ener-g powder, it's in the baking section at whole foods)
4 Tbs water (you may need more if it is too dry)
heaping 1/4 tsp salt (you may need more if it tastes flat)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
I put the bowl on our stand mixer with the hook and let it mix. when it was pasted to the side of the bowl (not really the best way to make cookies), i mixed it by hand (which is why there is 4 tbs of water rather than 2 - the egg substitute calls for 2 tbs of water but that wasn't enough, so i added more.)
then, kendal was done with it. holly was still involved, so she and i added a half-bag (1 cup) of vegan chocolate chips (from whole foods, though i am not sure what the difference is between regular and vegan chocolate chips but they cost the same so i got the one with the "special label").
She tried to use a spoon to drop onto the baking stone and i was using my fingers to regulate what she was plopping down (some were big, some were 1 chocolate chip and a dab of dough). Like normal, they were about 2 inches apart and not really big to start with. We baked them, 1 sheet at a time, until the cookies are just slightly colored on top which took longer than normal - like 12 or 15 minutes. Since i used dark brown sugar, they always looked golden, so it was more of a olfactor way of telling when they were done - when they smelled done and lost their shine, well, they were done. i let them sit on the pan for about 5 minutes to cool (they were still soft) and then i used a metal spatula to move to a rack.
they were absolutely perfect. crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. these are absolutely the best chocolate chip cookies i've ever eaten.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
thai red curry eggplant and mustard greens
if you don't subscribe to vegetarian times, you need to. every one of their magazines has wonderful recipes in them - whether you are a vegetarian or not, they are wonderful. you can always plop a grilled chicken breast on the side for any of these dishes.
The april/may 2011 magazine subject is to eat in season and to "clean up your diet" which features 8 spring detox foods. as you probably figured out from yesterday, bok choy is one of the 8. they say that it promotes digestion and also is packed with vitC, carotenoids, and phytonutrients that help strengthen the immune system and may reduce the risk of some cancers.
Mustard greens, they claim, are high in glucosinolates that are detoxifying enzymes that protect liver cells and other organs. plus they are high in vitC and beta carotene.
The recipe i tried last night was so wonderful. only one thing needed to be changed and that was the amount of water i added. i added NO salt to it and it was also spicy (that could be adjusted by the amount of thai red curry paste you start with). both nathaniel and i loved it. it also makes 4 servings at only 200 calories each. it is also vegan.
1. whisk together 2 Tbs Red Curry Paste, 1 Tbs. sugar, 1 tsp (or 1 clove) minced garlic, and 2 Tbs water in a small bowl (set aside for later). Incidentally, i had no idea where to find red curry paste. it is in the asian food section and comes in either a 4(?) oz jar or a smaller pack - the jar is the better deal but the pack is exactly 2 Tbs. "a taste of thai" is the brand i got. there is also a green curry paste but this recipe is for red. i got mine at lowes foods so i know they have it there.
2.next, i just happened to buy the most hugest onions ever and the recipe calls for a small onion. so, i "quartered and sliced" half the large onion (recipe calls for 1 cup of onion). i tell ya, it was the biggest onion ever. i used it on 2 recipes. and though the recipe called for thai eggplants, i just got one of those purple ones at lowes foods and cut it into 1 inch cubes. the recipe calls for 2 cups of 1" cubes of eggplant. mine was good, so it worked. i know the thai eggplant has a slightly different flavor. if i had been at whole foods, i would not have gotten that type of eggplant. but, i was at lowes foods. i also went ahead and washed - three times - mustard greens (until there was no sand left in the sink) and then i stemmed them and roughly chopped the greens. this part by far took the longest of the prep. the recipe calls for 1 pound of mustard greens trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces.
3. oil in the pan, medium heat. onions and eggplant went in and cooked about 5 to 8 minutes until it was brownish. i poured the curry sauce on top and stirred it around. i added the mustard greens (which were heaping over the top.
4. here is where i'm gonna vary from the recipe so that you don't have runny sauce like i did. only add 1/2 cup of water (the recipe calls for 1-1/2 cups water, which leaves you with a LOT of juice, it does not thicken) - into the bowl that you had the curry - and mix it all around. that is the best juice and you want to make sure it all gets in the bowl. pour that in your pan. then, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup LIGHT coconut milk (also comes in a can in the asian section).
5. put the lid on the pan making sure all those leaves are inside. turn it down to low and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. open it to stir and then let it sit for about 5 more minutes.
6. i served it with quinoa but it'd be really good with some sort of noodles. what kind of noodles are usually served with thai food? rice maybe? not sure. but it needs something for that sauce to stick to. it's also supposed to be served with a squeeze of lime.
this dish is wonderful. be prepared for a runny nose! and your mouth to be wanting more. this dish is way good enough to serve company too, and to impress them with your cooking skills (though it really only took you about 30 minutes to prepare it!) it really isn't that expensive either, it'd be really cheap if you bought it all from the farmer's market.
The april/may 2011 magazine subject is to eat in season and to "clean up your diet" which features 8 spring detox foods. as you probably figured out from yesterday, bok choy is one of the 8. they say that it promotes digestion and also is packed with vitC, carotenoids, and phytonutrients that help strengthen the immune system and may reduce the risk of some cancers.
Mustard greens, they claim, are high in glucosinolates that are detoxifying enzymes that protect liver cells and other organs. plus they are high in vitC and beta carotene.
The recipe i tried last night was so wonderful. only one thing needed to be changed and that was the amount of water i added. i added NO salt to it and it was also spicy (that could be adjusted by the amount of thai red curry paste you start with). both nathaniel and i loved it. it also makes 4 servings at only 200 calories each. it is also vegan.
1. whisk together 2 Tbs Red Curry Paste, 1 Tbs. sugar, 1 tsp (or 1 clove) minced garlic, and 2 Tbs water in a small bowl (set aside for later). Incidentally, i had no idea where to find red curry paste. it is in the asian food section and comes in either a 4(?) oz jar or a smaller pack - the jar is the better deal but the pack is exactly 2 Tbs. "a taste of thai" is the brand i got. there is also a green curry paste but this recipe is for red. i got mine at lowes foods so i know they have it there.
2.next, i just happened to buy the most hugest onions ever and the recipe calls for a small onion. so, i "quartered and sliced" half the large onion (recipe calls for 1 cup of onion). i tell ya, it was the biggest onion ever. i used it on 2 recipes. and though the recipe called for thai eggplants, i just got one of those purple ones at lowes foods and cut it into 1 inch cubes. the recipe calls for 2 cups of 1" cubes of eggplant. mine was good, so it worked. i know the thai eggplant has a slightly different flavor. if i had been at whole foods, i would not have gotten that type of eggplant. but, i was at lowes foods. i also went ahead and washed - three times - mustard greens (until there was no sand left in the sink) and then i stemmed them and roughly chopped the greens. this part by far took the longest of the prep. the recipe calls for 1 pound of mustard greens trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces.
3. oil in the pan, medium heat. onions and eggplant went in and cooked about 5 to 8 minutes until it was brownish. i poured the curry sauce on top and stirred it around. i added the mustard greens (which were heaping over the top.
4. here is where i'm gonna vary from the recipe so that you don't have runny sauce like i did. only add 1/2 cup of water (the recipe calls for 1-1/2 cups water, which leaves you with a LOT of juice, it does not thicken) - into the bowl that you had the curry - and mix it all around. that is the best juice and you want to make sure it all gets in the bowl. pour that in your pan. then, add 1/4 to 1/2 cup LIGHT coconut milk (also comes in a can in the asian section).
5. put the lid on the pan making sure all those leaves are inside. turn it down to low and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. open it to stir and then let it sit for about 5 more minutes.
6. i served it with quinoa but it'd be really good with some sort of noodles. what kind of noodles are usually served with thai food? rice maybe? not sure. but it needs something for that sauce to stick to. it's also supposed to be served with a squeeze of lime.
this dish is wonderful. be prepared for a runny nose! and your mouth to be wanting more. this dish is way good enough to serve company too, and to impress them with your cooking skills (though it really only took you about 30 minutes to prepare it!) it really isn't that expensive either, it'd be really cheap if you bought it all from the farmer's market.
Monday, April 4, 2011
bok choy with mushrooms, tomatoes, and quinoa
i made an interesting dish on saturday. it is my first time having bok choy, and i used baby bok choy. 4 of them to be exact. i was trying to make the dish on the front of the april/may 2011 vegetarian times cover except with a few modifications. and, since i don't have the recipe in front of me, i'm going to tell you what i did.
1.i put some EVOO in a large frying pan over medium heat. to that, i added a pint of pre-sliced button mushrooms and 1/4 tsp of minced garlic. while that was cooking, i sliced in half a half of a container of grape tomatoes (which were already clean from a week ago when i bought them). when i got done with the tomatoes, i put them in bowl and started chopping two shallots.when the mushrooms were brown (i wasn't done chopping shallots yet), i removed them from the fry pan into a bowl and put the cherry tomatoes in the frying pan, cut side down, for about 1 to 2 minutes. i finished chopping the shallots. when the tomatoes were starting to brown, i put them in the bowl with the mushrooms.
2. i added a bit more EVOO to the pan and when it was hot, i added the diced shallots. when they were cooking, i gathered the rest of my ingredients - quinoa and vegetable broth. after 2 to 3 minutes, i added 8 oz plus 1/4 cup of water and then 1 cup of quinoa, stirred, put the lid on the pan, and turned the burner down to low.
3. while that was cooking, (remember i have no idea how to cook with bok choy), i sliced the ends off the bok choy and then cut them in half (semi-following the directions from the magazine). when i cut the ends off, they fell apart. i think you aren't supposed to chop the ends off. after 10 minutes, i opened the quinoa, tasted it (added salt, it wasn't done yet), and laid the bok choy in a spiral around the outside. then, i poured the tomatoes and mushrooms in the middle. it looked like the picture.
4. after 5 minutes, i turned the burner off and let it sit for 10 more minutes.
it makes 4 plates at about 200 calories each. it will fill you up, and i didn't get hungry for anything else that evening because of the wonderful protein in quinoa. i can't say that i'm a real fan of bok choy yet but it is supposed to be a "clenser" for your body. so, i'll eat it. it doesn't really taste like anything. i expected it to be more cabbage like. i think brussel sprouts would be good on this, same for zucchini. i think ginger would be good too, as for some cayenne and, well, more salt (but i am trying for less salt).
as a side note, the quinoa is good cold, as mine has chilled as i've typed this. quinoa is so yummy. i think it is even better than rice. quinoa cooked like this (with the shallots and mushrooms and veggie broth) reminds me of brown rice (not brown rice like the grain, but brown rice as in when it is white rice cooked in beef broth).
YUM!
in 5 more minutes, i turned the stove top off.
1.i put some EVOO in a large frying pan over medium heat. to that, i added a pint of pre-sliced button mushrooms and 1/4 tsp of minced garlic. while that was cooking, i sliced in half a half of a container of grape tomatoes (which were already clean from a week ago when i bought them). when i got done with the tomatoes, i put them in bowl and started chopping two shallots.when the mushrooms were brown (i wasn't done chopping shallots yet), i removed them from the fry pan into a bowl and put the cherry tomatoes in the frying pan, cut side down, for about 1 to 2 minutes. i finished chopping the shallots. when the tomatoes were starting to brown, i put them in the bowl with the mushrooms.
2. i added a bit more EVOO to the pan and when it was hot, i added the diced shallots. when they were cooking, i gathered the rest of my ingredients - quinoa and vegetable broth. after 2 to 3 minutes, i added 8 oz plus 1/4 cup of water and then 1 cup of quinoa, stirred, put the lid on the pan, and turned the burner down to low.
3. while that was cooking, (remember i have no idea how to cook with bok choy), i sliced the ends off the bok choy and then cut them in half (semi-following the directions from the magazine). when i cut the ends off, they fell apart. i think you aren't supposed to chop the ends off. after 10 minutes, i opened the quinoa, tasted it (added salt, it wasn't done yet), and laid the bok choy in a spiral around the outside. then, i poured the tomatoes and mushrooms in the middle. it looked like the picture.
4. after 5 minutes, i turned the burner off and let it sit for 10 more minutes.
it makes 4 plates at about 200 calories each. it will fill you up, and i didn't get hungry for anything else that evening because of the wonderful protein in quinoa. i can't say that i'm a real fan of bok choy yet but it is supposed to be a "clenser" for your body. so, i'll eat it. it doesn't really taste like anything. i expected it to be more cabbage like. i think brussel sprouts would be good on this, same for zucchini. i think ginger would be good too, as for some cayenne and, well, more salt (but i am trying for less salt).
as a side note, the quinoa is good cold, as mine has chilled as i've typed this. quinoa is so yummy. i think it is even better than rice. quinoa cooked like this (with the shallots and mushrooms and veggie broth) reminds me of brown rice (not brown rice like the grain, but brown rice as in when it is white rice cooked in beef broth).
YUM!
in 5 more minutes, i turned the stove top off.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
kale and goat cheese lasagna
this recipe is from the december (or january) issue of vegetarian times, but i altered it to actually (or closely) reflect what i did. this is awesome.
1-2 tsp of olive oil
a bunch of kale, stems removed (i got the flattest leaf kale they had at WF, thnking it'd be easier to cut out the stem.)
15oz. part skim Ricotta Cheese
5 to 6 oz soft Goat Cheese (it came in an 11 oz tube at WF, for about $6. i used less than half the tube.)
a tsp of garlic - i buy the already minced jars.
2 to 3 (ish) Cups Tomato Puree (i got a 24 oz milk-type container of "strained roma tomatoes" from WF. it was about $5 and had only tomatoes in it, no salt.)
SALT, this i didn't measure, i just added to taste.
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
9 lasagna noodles, cooked (which i had to cut to fit in my pan)
Parm Cheese
This is the order that i did everything:
1. Heat olive oil in small sauce pan over med-low heat. Add garlic and cook for about 15-30 seconds only until fragrant. Add tomato puree and red pepper flakes. I added basil and oregano and what seemed like a lot of salt to get it to taste right. It was a bit tangy but ended up being really good. i turned it to low and covered it.
2. i got a large pot of water to boiling... i cooked the noodles in salted water. while the water was getting hot and the noodles were boiling, i washed and stemed my kale leaves.
3. when the noodles were done, i put the kale leaves IN THAT WATER. waste not! they cooked for about 2 to 3 minutes and i stirred (more like folded) them a lot. When they were done, i put them in a strainer and rinsed them with cold water until they were cool. i squeezed out the kale, and moved them to a large cutting board and coarsely chopped them.
4. at this point, i started to preheat the oven to 400.
5. i put the ricotta & goat cheese together in a bowl and mashed them together with my hands. then i licked my fingers because i LOVE goat cheese. :)
6. i put 1/4 cup of tomato sauce in the lasagna dish, just enough to barely cover the bottom. This is when i figured out that i had to trim my noodles... i Layered three noodles on top of the tomato sauce (and then had to take them out to trim), i put 1/3 of the cheese on thop of that and spread it out with my fingers (and then licked them), then sprinkled 1/3 of the kale mixture, then about 1/4 of the remaining tomato sauce, 1/2 of the cheese, 1/2 of the kale, 1/3 of the tomato sauce, 3 noodles, all the cheese, all the kale, and the rest of the tomato sauce. you know, the normal way to make lasagna. on top of all that, i heavily sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. i did not cover and put it directly in the oven for about 30min. until it was bubbly.
it cooled for about 30 minutes before i had time to eat any of it. WOW, it knocked me off my feet. the red pepper was spicy and the goat cheese and tomato sauce were tangy. i thought the kale would be more earthy and i suppose that is the only thing i am disappointed in. maybe next time i'll throw in some collard greens! (haha) really, though, it is delicious! i'm eating it right now for lunch!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
30 min tex mex quinoa (or rice) dinner
ordered some magazines from faith and josh and i just started getting the vegetarian times one - oh my goodness, it is awesome. i turned down six recipes to try in the first one and that is a lot for me!
made the first one last night - it was supposed to be a 30 minute meal and, well, it was!
it also tasted delicious-even holly loved it.
here's my version of the recipe (in the order you cook it)
step #1: look at the time. make a note of it because 30 minutes later, this meal will be DONE!
step #2: put a large pot on the stove, on medium. in it, put 2 T of olive oil. when the oil is hot, add 2T of cumin SEEDS and cook for 2 minutes.
step #3: while they are cooking, open a can of black bean soup, a can of corn (do NOT drain it), and a can of black beans (and drain and rinse them).
step #4: after that 2 minutes is up (it should be smelling yummy!), dump in the black bean soup, , 16 ounces of salsa (i buy salsa out of the produce section of the grocery store, but the jar kind is fine too), 1 cup of quinoa OR white rice if that is what you prefer... but the quinoa is awesome!, the can of washed beans, and the can of corn (juice and all): stir it and stick the lid on it. if you're cooking with rice, you may have to add a little bit of water. since i used quinoa, i'm not sure about the rice. it will be just fine if it is a little soupy - but you want it to have ENOUGH water! either way, when it starts boiling, turn it down to med-low.
step #5: while that is in the works, wash and chop up some green onions. i chopped up the whole bunch like you buy them in the store and put them in the pot and then stir. now put the lid back on and just let it sit there and simmer until the 30 minutes is up (remember? you checked the time when you started!). you can stir it again it if you want but in the mean time, get the table ready!
i served it with guacamole. and sour cream and cheese sprinkled on the top. my pot made 5 hearty servings!
the only fat, really, is what you put in it as far as EVOO. there is lots of healthy protein from the black beans and quinoa. the carbs are all complex. this, to me, is a perfect meal! this also is the type of thing i was eating when i lost that first 30 pounds. even with the sour cream and cheese. i NEVER go fat free. fat free = more sugar & calories (check your label!) its all about calories! this probably has about 350 to 400 calories per serving. that's probably pushing it, too.
anyway, try it - i hope you love it!
made the first one last night - it was supposed to be a 30 minute meal and, well, it was!
it also tasted delicious-even holly loved it.
here's my version of the recipe (in the order you cook it)
step #1: look at the time. make a note of it because 30 minutes later, this meal will be DONE!
step #2: put a large pot on the stove, on medium. in it, put 2 T of olive oil. when the oil is hot, add 2T of cumin SEEDS and cook for 2 minutes.
step #3: while they are cooking, open a can of black bean soup, a can of corn (do NOT drain it), and a can of black beans (and drain and rinse them).
step #4: after that 2 minutes is up (it should be smelling yummy!), dump in the black bean soup, , 16 ounces of salsa (i buy salsa out of the produce section of the grocery store, but the jar kind is fine too), 1 cup of quinoa OR white rice if that is what you prefer... but the quinoa is awesome!, the can of washed beans, and the can of corn (juice and all): stir it and stick the lid on it. if you're cooking with rice, you may have to add a little bit of water. since i used quinoa, i'm not sure about the rice. it will be just fine if it is a little soupy - but you want it to have ENOUGH water! either way, when it starts boiling, turn it down to med-low.
step #5: while that is in the works, wash and chop up some green onions. i chopped up the whole bunch like you buy them in the store and put them in the pot and then stir. now put the lid back on and just let it sit there and simmer until the 30 minutes is up (remember? you checked the time when you started!). you can stir it again it if you want but in the mean time, get the table ready!
i served it with guacamole. and sour cream and cheese sprinkled on the top. my pot made 5 hearty servings!
the only fat, really, is what you put in it as far as EVOO. there is lots of healthy protein from the black beans and quinoa. the carbs are all complex. this, to me, is a perfect meal! this also is the type of thing i was eating when i lost that first 30 pounds. even with the sour cream and cheese. i NEVER go fat free. fat free = more sugar & calories (check your label!) its all about calories! this probably has about 350 to 400 calories per serving. that's probably pushing it, too.
anyway, try it - i hope you love it!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Black Bean Pumpkin Soup
Adapted from Gourmet, November 1996
Yield: A LOT
Four cans of black beans (about 4 1/2 cups), rinsed and drained
1 can drained petite diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
3 small shallots, minced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 Tablespoons plus 2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons EVOO
4 cups vegetable broth (or beef broth for more flavor - i used vegetable broth though)
1 large (or 2 small) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dry Sherry (or a sweet wine)
3 Tablespoons vinegar
Garnish: sour cream and sausage crumbles if you want some meat on it. The original recipe recommends toasted pumpkin seeds (but I didn't eat it with that).
In a large soup pot, cook onion, shallot, garlic in EVOO over moderate heat, stirring, until onion is softened and beginning to brown. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes. Use a submersible blender to moderately-puree at some point - it will be a dark gray brown (like black bean soup). It does NOT taste like pumpkin.
Serve soup garnished with sour cream and sausage if you must. Also, toasted pumpkin seeds. It tastes fine without anything - i ate it with a chunk of fresh crusty bread.
this soup is OUT OF THIS WORLD and though it has "weird" ingredients, it is not a weird soup. it is very healthy! even mark, who "doesn't like beans" liked it. and my dad, who told my mom to "make me something else" when he found out what i made for dinner - also liked it and had a bowl. it was delish!
Adapted from Gourmet, November 1996
Yield: A LOT
Four cans of black beans (about 4 1/2 cups), rinsed and drained
1 can drained petite diced tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
3 small shallots, minced
4 garlic cloves minced
1 Tablespoons plus 2 heaping teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons EVOO
4 cups vegetable broth (or beef broth for more flavor - i used vegetable broth though)
1 large (or 2 small) can pumpkin puree
1/2 cup dry Sherry (or a sweet wine)
3 Tablespoons vinegar
Garnish: sour cream and sausage crumbles if you want some meat on it. The original recipe recommends toasted pumpkin seeds (but I didn't eat it with that).
In a large soup pot, cook onion, shallot, garlic in EVOO over moderate heat, stirring, until onion is softened and beginning to brown. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 25 minutes. Use a submersible blender to moderately-puree at some point - it will be a dark gray brown (like black bean soup). It does NOT taste like pumpkin.
Serve soup garnished with sour cream and sausage if you must. Also, toasted pumpkin seeds. It tastes fine without anything - i ate it with a chunk of fresh crusty bread.
this soup is OUT OF THIS WORLD and though it has "weird" ingredients, it is not a weird soup. it is very healthy! even mark, who "doesn't like beans" liked it. and my dad, who told my mom to "make me something else" when he found out what i made for dinner - also liked it and had a bowl. it was delish!
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
burrito recipe!
this is a hodge podge of recipes in our kitchen.
the actually burrito recipe is from the thornburg recipe book that kathy made nathaniel.
dina's burritos (edited the way i make it thus making it "bean" burritos)
1 package large flour tortillas (if you get them at whole foods or earthfare, you can get them without preservatives in them!)
pot of refried beans (recipe to follow)
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded jack cheese
enchilada sauce (recipe to follow)
black olives
sour cream
salsa
preheat oven to 350. fill tortillas with ladlefull of beans and a heavy sprinkle of cheeses and a few olives, fold closing both ends of tortillas. place seam down in large shallow baking dish. pour enchilada sauce over burritos. top with cheese (however much you want). bake for about 45 minutes or until cheese starts to brown. serve with condiments.
**
the rest of these recipes are from the joy of cooking!
**
BOILED BEANS
in order to make refried beans, you first have to cook dried beans. thus, here is my recipe for cooking beans.
mom's secret to making "gas free" beans is to wash, rinse, and pick a bag of beans and then boil them for 2 to 5 minutes and then turn them off and leave them there for at LEAST 2 hour (or overnight). that secret works for any beans but if you want to make refried beans, you may want to be cooking black or pinto beans. drain and rinse the beans and then put them back in the pot and add:
few tbs butter or olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion,
3 whole cloves
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
cover them with water. bring to a simmer and let them cook until they are tender - about 1-1/2 hours.
add 1 cup of a dry red wine (or chicken stock, i add wine since i prefer no meat products).
cook an additional 20 minutes, uncovered. it is ok if they are juicy. remove the 3 cloves before you eat (they are hard, still, and if you stir the pot you'll see them mixing around the pot. just remember they are hot!)
refried beans
in a LARGE saute pan (cause this makes a lot!) over med heat
2 Tbs veggie oil
1 med onion, chopped
stir until golden brown (about 10 minutes)
add 4 garlic cloves (minced) and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
saving the juice, add ALL the beans (you can add 1 cup at a time but i find it just as easy to add them all at once) making sure they are strained (no juice) and mash with a potato masher or the back of a hard spoon. it is easiest to start in one spot and move out from there. after they are smashed (they won't be mashed like you get in a can), you need to add at least 1 cup of the reserved bean cooking liquid (or water). it will thicken as it sits. it will take about 10 to 15 minutes to mash them all.
then, add salt to taste.
ENCHILADA SAUCE
this makes about 3 times the amount you will need for the burritos, but you can bag and freeze it for later.
in a large pot or skillet (i used a pot)
2 large onions, chopped
2T minced garlic
2T oil
cook about 5 - 10 minutes until brown and clear
add
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
cook for 1 min stirring constantly and add
two 28-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
cook for 3 minutes. cool and thoroughly puree in the mixer or with a submersible blender.
the actually burrito recipe is from the thornburg recipe book that kathy made nathaniel.
dina's burritos (edited the way i make it thus making it "bean" burritos)
1 package large flour tortillas (if you get them at whole foods or earthfare, you can get them without preservatives in them!)
pot of refried beans (recipe to follow)
shredded cheddar cheese
shredded jack cheese
enchilada sauce (recipe to follow)
black olives
sour cream
salsa
preheat oven to 350. fill tortillas with ladlefull of beans and a heavy sprinkle of cheeses and a few olives, fold closing both ends of tortillas. place seam down in large shallow baking dish. pour enchilada sauce over burritos. top with cheese (however much you want). bake for about 45 minutes or until cheese starts to brown. serve with condiments.
**
the rest of these recipes are from the joy of cooking!
**
BOILED BEANS
in order to make refried beans, you first have to cook dried beans. thus, here is my recipe for cooking beans.
mom's secret to making "gas free" beans is to wash, rinse, and pick a bag of beans and then boil them for 2 to 5 minutes and then turn them off and leave them there for at LEAST 2 hour (or overnight). that secret works for any beans but if you want to make refried beans, you may want to be cooking black or pinto beans. drain and rinse the beans and then put them back in the pot and add:
few tbs butter or olive oil
1/3 cup chopped onion,
3 whole cloves
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp dried thyme
cover them with water. bring to a simmer and let them cook until they are tender - about 1-1/2 hours.
add 1 cup of a dry red wine (or chicken stock, i add wine since i prefer no meat products).
cook an additional 20 minutes, uncovered. it is ok if they are juicy. remove the 3 cloves before you eat (they are hard, still, and if you stir the pot you'll see them mixing around the pot. just remember they are hot!)
refried beans
in a LARGE saute pan (cause this makes a lot!) over med heat
2 Tbs veggie oil
1 med onion, chopped
stir until golden brown (about 10 minutes)
add 4 garlic cloves (minced) and cook, stirring for 1 minute.
saving the juice, add ALL the beans (you can add 1 cup at a time but i find it just as easy to add them all at once) making sure they are strained (no juice) and mash with a potato masher or the back of a hard spoon. it is easiest to start in one spot and move out from there. after they are smashed (they won't be mashed like you get in a can), you need to add at least 1 cup of the reserved bean cooking liquid (or water). it will thicken as it sits. it will take about 10 to 15 minutes to mash them all.
then, add salt to taste.
ENCHILADA SAUCE
this makes about 3 times the amount you will need for the burritos, but you can bag and freeze it for later.
in a large pot or skillet (i used a pot)
2 large onions, chopped
2T minced garlic
2T oil
cook about 5 - 10 minutes until brown and clear
add
1/4 cup chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
cook for 1 min stirring constantly and add
two 28-oz cans diced tomatoes, drained
cook for 3 minutes. cool and thoroughly puree in the mixer or with a submersible blender.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
wild mushroom and stilton galette
amy sent me a recipe for THIS galette and i linked from there to the wild mushroom and stilton one on her blog from that day. as soon as i read those words my mouth watered. i LOVE mushrooms and i LOVE blue cheese. especially stilton, it is my favorite.
so, i tried it. it wasn't as hard i thought it'd be (i was expecting worse after reading the smitten kitchen blog) but the frozen butter did bend my pastry knife (i just dumped it into the food processor instead) and my dough didn't turn out as pretty as hers. i'm not a very patient pastry maker. that is probably why my biscuits never turn out right either. my crust was good - awesome flavor - but not as flaky as i expected. i also had to add more water because i couldn't get all the flour to get into the ball. eh, i made it work.
SO anyway, the mushrooms weren't anything fancy, i was limited to only what they had at lowes foods (which is just "normal" wild mushrooms) and i also didn't let the dried ones soak for 30 minutes. within 15 minutes they were cooled and hydrated.
the rest is history. when it was baking, a lot of the butter ran off the pan so i had to have a drip pan underneath the one that it was cooking on. it was really messy while it was cooking...
but WELL worth the mess.
the smell in my house was so yummy. it smelled like fall. the warmth of the herbs and the richness of the butter and cheese and 'shrooms. oh man oh man oh man. it was all i could do to wait to eat it.
but i did and i had 2 pieces. nathaniel had 1. it was really rich. very filling, and very tasty. it'd be a great side-dish for a steak or an appetizer just a "light" heavy dinner. (i.e., just a couple of pieces and you're full, but you really don't eat that much but you DO get plenty of fat when you eat it... remember, there is over stick of butter in that thing!). and, i did an eggwash on the crust which she didn't do. either way mine was u-g-l-y (and totally has no alibi)!
so, here are my pictures. if you want the recipe and a better "what to aim for" idea, then please visit the original website!!!
so, i tried it. it wasn't as hard i thought it'd be (i was expecting worse after reading the smitten kitchen blog) but the frozen butter did bend my pastry knife (i just dumped it into the food processor instead) and my dough didn't turn out as pretty as hers. i'm not a very patient pastry maker. that is probably why my biscuits never turn out right either. my crust was good - awesome flavor - but not as flaky as i expected. i also had to add more water because i couldn't get all the flour to get into the ball. eh, i made it work.
SO anyway, the mushrooms weren't anything fancy, i was limited to only what they had at lowes foods (which is just "normal" wild mushrooms) and i also didn't let the dried ones soak for 30 minutes. within 15 minutes they were cooled and hydrated.
the rest is history. when it was baking, a lot of the butter ran off the pan so i had to have a drip pan underneath the one that it was cooking on. it was really messy while it was cooking...
but WELL worth the mess.
the smell in my house was so yummy. it smelled like fall. the warmth of the herbs and the richness of the butter and cheese and 'shrooms. oh man oh man oh man. it was all i could do to wait to eat it.
but i did and i had 2 pieces. nathaniel had 1. it was really rich. very filling, and very tasty. it'd be a great side-dish for a steak or an appetizer just a "light" heavy dinner. (i.e., just a couple of pieces and you're full, but you really don't eat that much but you DO get plenty of fat when you eat it... remember, there is over stick of butter in that thing!). and, i did an eggwash on the crust which she didn't do. either way mine was u-g-l-y (and totally has no alibi)!
so, here are my pictures. if you want the recipe and a better "what to aim for" idea, then please visit the original website!!!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
watermelon lemonade
this is a modification of THIS recipe which i'm sure is good as is, but - i didn't have all their ingredients, i only had fresh stuff. so, i made up my own version.
this is how i made mine.
* 1 small watermelon from dad's garden - it was super ripe and very sweet - i cut it in half and put all the middle part that didn't have seeds in it in one bowl, and the part that had seeds in it in another bowl ( i didn't intend to "deseed" it by hand...). and, this one was sweet right out to the rind. also, i should mention that holly and i ate a lot of it as i cut it up, so i HARDLY used the whole thing in this. i'd say i probably had about 4 cups of melon pieces (without seeds). they weren't cut pretty, i was just scooping with a spoon. (another idea would be to use a seedless melon - then you wouldn't have to worry with seeds!)
* i juiced 5 large lemons with my hand-held juice thingy (you know the thing you twist and it catches the seeds). i probably had about 1/2 to 1 cup of juice from those 5 lemons. they were really big. i didn't measure it.
* i pre-made and cooled some simple syrup but i didn't use all of it. i put 2 cups of water and 1 cup of cane sugar in a pot over med-high heat, stirred, and got it to a boil and then i let it cool. it was brownish since it was cane, but it didn't matter when i used it in the lemonade. we don't have any regular (refined) sugar in our house anymore.
so, i used mom's food mill to mash the juice out of the seeded part of the watermelon. that way i got the juice but left the seeds (and pulp) to that part of the watermelon. that was quick to do and didn't take 2 minutes. i love her food mill and i probably use it twice a week. i need to buy one for myself and give hers back to her. but, eh, while i got it, i'll keep using it! this is the perfect use for it too. (i use it a lot to seed things like cherries and grapes and puree cucumber soup and things like that too... i have such texture issues and having a food mill has opened up my world to smooth soups!!!)
ok, so next i put the watermelon (without seed part) in the blender with the juice from the food mill and turned it on low. that didn't take but a few moments to puree also.
it all went into my pampered chef mixing pitcher that melissa gave me years ago (i see that it is discontinued now, what a bummer) along with the lemon juice and then i added the simple syrup to taste. i ended up adding about 1/2 to 2/3 of what i had made. how much simple syrup you add would be based on how sweet your watermelon was, and mine was pretty sweet. if yours isn't really sweet/ripe then you'd need all of it.
you can also dilute your lemonade with water to stretch it out but i liked mine full strength. the original recipe recommended adding up to 6 cups of water but i just can't do that. i DO think it'd be good split about 50/50 with seltzer water or ginger ale. OR, mixed with gin or vodka. it is good on ice even as the ice melts. it'd probably make a good margarita base if you added more sugar (and lime rather than lemons). last night i ground some mint leaves with some raw sugar in my mortal and pestle and added it to a glass - sorta like a watermelon lemonade mojito without the alcohol. that was yummy too.
my kids love it too! the bright pink of this reminds me of koolaid. you know, my kids have never had koolaid? they've had OJ, applejuice - and lots of fresh made juices. never anything made from a powder (as far as i know, anyway). so, this is just one more fresh-made juice to add to their palate! even kendal drank some of it. he isn't a watermelon fan. holly is, and because of that, i suppose i'm lucky that any of it made it into the blender. it was a race against her mouth to get this lemonade made! she smelled the melon as soon as it was cut... and came running!
so, if you try it, tell me what you think!
this is how i made mine.
* 1 small watermelon from dad's garden - it was super ripe and very sweet - i cut it in half and put all the middle part that didn't have seeds in it in one bowl, and the part that had seeds in it in another bowl ( i didn't intend to "deseed" it by hand...). and, this one was sweet right out to the rind. also, i should mention that holly and i ate a lot of it as i cut it up, so i HARDLY used the whole thing in this. i'd say i probably had about 4 cups of melon pieces (without seeds). they weren't cut pretty, i was just scooping with a spoon. (another idea would be to use a seedless melon - then you wouldn't have to worry with seeds!)
* i juiced 5 large lemons with my hand-held juice thingy (you know the thing you twist and it catches the seeds). i probably had about 1/2 to 1 cup of juice from those 5 lemons. they were really big. i didn't measure it.
* i pre-made and cooled some simple syrup but i didn't use all of it. i put 2 cups of water and 1 cup of cane sugar in a pot over med-high heat, stirred, and got it to a boil and then i let it cool. it was brownish since it was cane, but it didn't matter when i used it in the lemonade. we don't have any regular (refined) sugar in our house anymore.
so, i used mom's food mill to mash the juice out of the seeded part of the watermelon. that way i got the juice but left the seeds (and pulp) to that part of the watermelon. that was quick to do and didn't take 2 minutes. i love her food mill and i probably use it twice a week. i need to buy one for myself and give hers back to her. but, eh, while i got it, i'll keep using it! this is the perfect use for it too. (i use it a lot to seed things like cherries and grapes and puree cucumber soup and things like that too... i have such texture issues and having a food mill has opened up my world to smooth soups!!!)
ok, so next i put the watermelon (without seed part) in the blender with the juice from the food mill and turned it on low. that didn't take but a few moments to puree also.
it all went into my pampered chef mixing pitcher that melissa gave me years ago (i see that it is discontinued now, what a bummer) along with the lemon juice and then i added the simple syrup to taste. i ended up adding about 1/2 to 2/3 of what i had made. how much simple syrup you add would be based on how sweet your watermelon was, and mine was pretty sweet. if yours isn't really sweet/ripe then you'd need all of it.
you can also dilute your lemonade with water to stretch it out but i liked mine full strength. the original recipe recommended adding up to 6 cups of water but i just can't do that. i DO think it'd be good split about 50/50 with seltzer water or ginger ale. OR, mixed with gin or vodka. it is good on ice even as the ice melts. it'd probably make a good margarita base if you added more sugar (and lime rather than lemons). last night i ground some mint leaves with some raw sugar in my mortal and pestle and added it to a glass - sorta like a watermelon lemonade mojito without the alcohol. that was yummy too.
my kids love it too! the bright pink of this reminds me of koolaid. you know, my kids have never had koolaid? they've had OJ, applejuice - and lots of fresh made juices. never anything made from a powder (as far as i know, anyway). so, this is just one more fresh-made juice to add to their palate! even kendal drank some of it. he isn't a watermelon fan. holly is, and because of that, i suppose i'm lucky that any of it made it into the blender. it was a race against her mouth to get this lemonade made! she smelled the melon as soon as it was cut... and came running!
so, if you try it, tell me what you think!
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