Category Archives: vegetarian

Cream of Cauliflower Soup

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2 c. chopped onions

1-2 garlic cloves minced

2-3 c. diced potatoes

1 c. celery

5 c water

1 med head cauliflower, chopped about 5 c.

1 heaping tbsp fresh dill or 2 tsp dried

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground dry mustard

¼ tsp caraway seeds

2 c buttermilk

salt and pepper to taste

chopped scallions for garnish

In a soup pot, combine the onions, garlic, potatoes, celery and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 10 min.  Add the carrots and continue to simmer for 10 more min. Add cauliflower, dill lemon juice, mustard and caraway seeds and simmer for 15-20 min longer until the carrots are tender.  In a blender, or use emersion blender, puree the soup with the buttermilk.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Gently reheat.  Garnish with scallions.  Moosewood Restaurant low-fat favorites.

 

Black Bean and Couscous Salad

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1 cup uncooked couscous

1 1/4 cups veggie broth

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 teaspoon red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar or to taste

 

1/2 heaping tsp ground cumin

good pinch of red pepper flakes

2-3 green onions, chopped

1/4 c. red onion

1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 c. match stick carrots

1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained

1 garlic clove minced

salt and pepper to taste

2 diced tomatoes

Bring veggie broth to a boil in a 2 quart or larger sauce pan and stir in the couscous. Cover the pot and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and cumin. Add onions, garlic, red pepper, cilantro, carrots, tomatoes and beans and toss to coat.

Fluff the couscous well, breaking up any chunks. Add to the bowl with the vegetables and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve at once or refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Tangy-Sweet Salmon and Rice Salad

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• 1 cup jasmine or basmati rice
• Coarse salt
• 4-5 scallions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
• 1/2 pound fresh wild salmon or 1 can of salmon
• 1/4 cup pine nuts, lightly toasted (opt)
• 1/4 cup golden raisins (opt)
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated lime zest
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, cut in fine strips

1. Place the rice in a pot with 1 1/2 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, and reduce the heat to a simmer for 20 minutes, or until the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Spread out the cooked rice on a rimmed baking sheet and chill.

2. Meanwhile, in a shallow saute pan, place 1 cup water, the whole scallion, parsley, and peppercorns and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle the fish with salt and place in the pan. Cover and poach for 5 to 9 minutes, until just cooked through. Remove the salmon and peel off and discard the skin while still hot. Chill the salmon.

3. Place the pine nuts, raisins, chopped scallions, lime zest and juice, and olive oil in a large bowl, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper, and toss to combine. Flake the salmon into the bowl and add the rice. Stir to combine. Let sit for a short while to allow the flavors to blend. You can prepare the salad 6 to 8 hours ahead of eating. If made ahead, refrigerate until ready to serve. Garnish with mint. Serves 6 as a side dish

Roasted Eggplant Caponata – Ina

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1 large eggplant (1 1/2 pounds)

Good olive oil

4 ounces jarred roasted red peppers, chopped

1/2 cup large green olives, pitted and chopped

1 cup chopped yellow onion

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon minced garlic (3 cloves)

3 tablespoons minced parsley

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tablespoons drained capers

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

½-1 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

Toasted pita triangles, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil.

Place the whole eggplant on the pan, prick with a fork in several places, and rub with olive oil. Roast for 45 to 50 minutes, until the eggplant is very soft when pierced with a knife. Set aside to cool. Halve the eggplant, peel, and discard the skin. Place the eggplant, peppers, and olives in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade and pulse until coarsely chopped. Pour into a mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and red pepper flakes and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, until the onion is lightly browned. Add the garlic, cook for 1 minute, and add to the eggplant mixture. Add the parsley, pine nuts, lemon juice, capers, tomato paste, vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop. Taste for seasonings and serve at room temperature with toasted pita triangles.

Tony Bourdain’s Mushroom Soup – Les Halles Cookbook

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2-4 tablespoons Butter

1 small Onion — thinly sliced

12 ounces Button mushrooms

4 cups veggie Stock

1 sprig Italian parsley — whole

Salt and Pepper

2 ounces Dry sherry — high quality

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over median heat and add the onion. Cook until the onion is soft and translucent,, then add the mushrooms and the remaining butter. Let the mixture sweat for about 8 minutes, taking care that the onion doesn’t take  on any brown color. Stir in the chicken stock and the parley and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour.

After an hour, remove the parsley and discard. let the soup cool for a few minutes, then transfer to the blender and carefully blend at high speed until smooth. Do I have to remind you to do this in stages, with the blender’s lid firmly held down, and with the weight of your body keeping the thing from flying off and allowing boiling hot mushroom puree to erupt all over your kitchen?

IMPROVISATION

To astound your guest with a Wild Mushroom Soup, simply replace some of those button mushrooms with a few dried cepes or morels which have been soaked until soft, drained, and squeezed. Not too many; the dried mushroom will have a much stronger taste, and you don’t want to overwhelm the soup. Pan sear, on high heat, a single small, pretty, fresh chanterelle or morel for each portion, and then slice into a cute fan and float on top in each bowl.

Recipe Notes

Try adding dried chanterelles and morels to the soup. Very simple but good enough to serve as a small first course at a dinner party.

Garlic Butter Roasted Mushrooms — Smitten Kitchen

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1 pound mushrooms such as cremini or white, halved lengthwise if large
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and chopped
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle. Toss mushrooms with capers, garlic, oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt and several grinds of pepper in a 1 1/2- to 2-qt shallow baking dish. Top with butter and roast, stirring occasionally, until mushrooms are tender and golden and bubbly garlic sauce forms below, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley. Serve immediately, with crusty bread on the side for swiping up the juices. Smitten kitchen

Perfect as can be from Gourmet.com

Pumpkin and Black Bean Soup – Rachael Ray

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2 tablespoon Extra-virgin Olive Oil

1-2 cloves of garlic minced

1 med Onion — finely chopped

3 cup vegetable stock

1 can tomatoes in juice – diced use rotel

1 can Black Beans — drained

1 can  pumpkin puree

1 cup heavy cream or half n half

1 tablespoon Curry Powder

1 ½ teaspoon Ground Cumin

¼ tsp to ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Coarse salt

20 Blades Fresh Chives — chopped or snipped, for garnish

Heat a soup pot over medium heat. Add oil. When oil is hot, add onion.

Saute onions 5 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and curry cook for a few min.  Add broth, tomatoes, black beans and pumpkin puree. Stir to combine ingredients and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and stir in cream, cayenne and salt, to taste.

Simmer 5 minutes, adjust seasonings and serve garnished with chopped chives .

Pumpkin Stuffed with Everything Good – Dorie Greenspan

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1 (3-pound) pumpkin
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
1/4 pound stale bread, thinly sliced and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 pound Gruyere, Emmenthal, or cheddar cheese (or a mix of all three), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 to 3 cloves garlic, split, germ removed, and coarsely chopped
4 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained, and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives or sliced scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1/3 cup heavy cream
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with a rack set in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with a nonstick baking mat or use a Dutch oven that is slightly larger in diameter than your pumpkin (in which case, you will need to serve your pumpkin from the Dutch oven, as it may stick, but it will keep its shape better this way).
2. Using a sharp, sturdy knife, cut off top of pumpkin, working around the top with the knife inserted at a 45-degree angle to cut off enough to make it easy to work inside the pumpkin; reserve top. Remove seeds and strings from cap and pumpkin. Season inside of pumpkin generously with salt and pepper. Place on prepared baking sheet or in Dutch oven; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, toss together bread, cheese, garlic, bacon, chives, and thyme until well combined. Pack into pumpkin; it should be well filled but not overstuffed. You may need to add some bread and cheese or some of the filling may not be necessary to use. In a small bowl, stir cream and nutmeg to combine. Pour over filling; filling should be moist but not swimming in cream — you may need to use more or less accordingly.
4. Place top on pumpkin and transfer to oven; cook until filling is bubbling and pumpkin flesh is tender, about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove top and continue baking until liquid is slightly evaporated and top of filling is browned, 20 to 30 minutes more.

5. Carefully transfer pumpkin to a serving platter (or serve in Dutch oven, if using) and serve. Serves 2 to 4.

Mushroom Gravy

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1/2 onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sherry (optional)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons unbleached flour
1/4 cup plain soymilk
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

In a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, saute the onion until light brown, about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of water, and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for another minute.

Add the vegetable broth, herbs, nutritional yeast, sherry, and soy sauce. In a bowl, whisk or blend (with a hand blender) the soymilk and flour together until smooth. Add it to the saucepan and stir well.  Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Thanksgiving Meatless Loaf

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1 medium sweet potato

1 medium onion

2 ribs celery

1 medium carrot

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans (or other white beans), drained and rinsed

14 ounces extra-firm tofu (one 14-16-ounce package)

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste or ketchup

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon spicy brown or whole-grain prepared mustard

1/2 tsp rubbed sage

1 tsp thyme leaf

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

3/4 cup quinoa flakes or wheat flakes

Wash a medium sweet potato (about 7 ounces), pierce it several times with a fork, wrap it in a paper towel, and microwave until done, 4-5 minutes. (Alternately, bake or steam the sweet potato.) Allow to cool enough to handle and then peel and set aside.

Mince the onion, celery, and carrot. You can do this quickly by cutting each vegetable in quarters and then pulsing in a food processor until finely chopped.

Heat a large, non-stick skillet. Add the minced vegetables, including garlic, and cook, stirring regularly, until they become tender, about 6-10 minutes. Add water by the teaspoon if necessary to keep the vegetables from sticking or becoming dry. Once they’re softened, add the drained beans and mash them lightly with a slotted spoon or spatula.

Place the peeled sweet potato into the food processor along with the tofu, soy sauce, and all seasonings. Process until fairly smooth. Add the walnuts and pulse a few more times. Scrape the tofu mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the quinoa flakes and the cooked vegetables. Stir well.

Preheat oven to 375F. If you have a silicone baking mat (recommended) place it on a baking sheet. Otherwise line the baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray. Spoon the tofu mixture onto the prepared baking surface, using dampened hands to shape it into an oblong or oval loaf about 2 1/2 inches high. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is evenly browned. Loosely cover with aluminum foil and cook for 20 more minutes. Check to make sure that the center is firm; if not, give it a little extra time. (You can also remove the foil and cook for 5 more minutes for a crunchier crust.) Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Servings: 8
Yield: about 16 slices
Serve with mushroom gravy