Category: Vegetarian

I'm Feeling a Bit Crunchy!

Wow! It’s been ages since our last post. It’s because of work – too much of it all at once. But who can turn down exciting challenges and opportunities? Now there’s time to relax, but first I’ll have to get the kinks out – and eat some proper food.

When we’re feeling a little crunchy and out-of-sorts, we like to have a nice batch of fresh vegetables. These radishes and cukes were from the East Lynn Farmers Market. We dressed them with a little cider vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, and some black sesame seeds.

Feeling better already!

Summertime Grilled Asparagus

It’s starting to taste a lot like summer…it might be a spring vegetable in some parts, but it takes ages before we reliably see it here. When we do, we like cooked almost any way at all. But probably our favourite is with some lemon zest and juice, a little pepper, a clove of garlic, and some olive oil. Toss it on the grill and voila, it’s magic!

Smokin' Bean Salad with Sprouts

Many years ago, when our kids were young, I copied a recipe from Lucy Wing for a delicious bean salad. Over the years, it’s been changed, adapted, and adjusted (and lost!) to the point where it doesn’t even resemble the original recipe any more. But I think fondly of the days when we were discovering our “family foods”. This one gets tweaked a little every time. Here’s today’s version:

Whisk together in  a large bowl, 15ml Dijon mustard (1T), 30ml cider vinegar (2T), and 15 ml olive oil (1T). Trim and blanch very slightly, a good handful of green beans. Plunge into cold water, and cut into bite-sized piecees. Rinse about 500ml (2c) of bean sprouts and add to the bowl. Then dice a large tomato and put that in. Pit and chop (large or small, your choice) some black olives. Add 500ml (2c) of cooked white beans (I used Great Northerns, which I had cooked with onion and rosemary, earlier in the week). Lastly, cheese. something sharp. Feta works, or an aged cheddar. In this case, Plank Road had some delicious applewood smoked cheddar. For a large bowl of salad, you don’t need much – 60g (a couple of ounces) will do. Grate it in. Stir everything together, and let stand in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour (although it gets better overnight!). You can serve it as a side, but it’s really a meal. Add some homemade wholegrain bread, and you’re set!

We did have a little trouble finding bean sprouts on short notice. Next time I might just pick up some mung beans or lentils from Better Bulk and sprout my own.

You Can Never Have too Much Curry

Really, you’re thinking? Didn’t we just have curry yesterday? Well yes, that’s true. But today’s curry is a far cry from yesterday’s cousin.

In this case, it’s a “use it up” curry. There were a few veg going begging in the fridge, that needed to be used up. Sometimes the amounts you can buy at the grocer do not equal what you need for your meal plan, and you just have to recalibrate.

In the beginning, we got some brown rice cooking. We like to make a big batch and then portion it out in the freezer where it can be reheated by steam or microwave, when we don’t have a lot of time on our hands.

The curry began with a pot, a little oil (olive, in our case) an onion and some garlic. Then 4 or 5 button mushrooms, quartered. They were about to go over the edge, but still edible. We broke up the stalks of asparagus that had been sitting around for a day or two longer than absolutely ideal, and pared and chunked in a carrot.

To this, a tablespoon of the same Patak’s curry paste we used for the lamb yesterday. A little bit of white wine (also something that doesn’t register as a leftover in some households) went in the pot next.

We had two cups of cooked kidney beans and a cup of cooked chickpeas (all from Better Bulk, see our blogroll) which we tossed in. You can also check our recipes page to see how to cook dried beans of all kinds. These tipped in, juice and all.

The whole thing was set to simmering until it looked stew-y or curry-ish. Served over rice, it was awesome, vegetarian, and tasty!

Tomato Season is Really Here!

These delicious tomatoes are prepared using an adaptation of Jamie Oliver’s recipe. However we were short on basil, and despite his assertions, we like ours using way less salt and just a tiny sprinkling of oil. But the method is awesome and never fails to transform any tomato – a delicious, colourful collection, or even a few halved cherry ones, into a delicious side dish.

Big? Small? Veggie Curry for All…

Next on the agenda? Veggie curry.

Life threw a wrench in the works this week – our microwave went on the blink. Now we don’t use the micro for much, mostly for starting baked potatoes for the grill, melting and thawing. Therein lies the problem. In our quest to avoid sodium, we like to make big batches of beans and keep them in the freezer. Same goes for brown rice. But we’re not always good about getting stuff out of the freezer early on. So we’ll start with directions:

If you didn’t get the beans out in time, and you don’t have a microwave: About 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour before you need them in a recipe, sit the container you froze them in, in a larger container of lukewarm water. This will help them thaw faster. Check from time to time. When they can be broken apart, they can be added to the recipe. This method also works for the rice; to reheat the rest of the way, add a tablespoon or so of water, and heat over low heat on the stovetop, in a non-stick pan. Or use a little oil and some diced celery, onion and mushrooms, and make it fried rice.

To make today’s veggie curry we started by baking a butternut squash. You cut the squash in half, and scoop out the seeds. Turn cut-side-down on a piece of parchment, on a cookie sheet. Bake half an hour (depending on the size, you may need ten more minutes) in a 400F oven. When you can pierce with a fork, it’s ready. Let it cool a bit so you can handle it.

Meanwhile, cook an onion, a stalk of celery, a chopped bell pepper, a couple of sliced carrots, and some mushrooms in a medium-sized pan. Add a couple of cups of cooked kidney beans (check out our bean recipe in the recipe pages). De-glaze with a splash of wine. Pour in a bit of broth (not too much, maybe half a cup). Scoop in half of the squash and save the rest for a delicious soup…within a couple of days, or freeze for later.

Two tablespoons of curry paste are great for our hardy lot…but do it to taste. Use curry powder if you prefer. Or some garam masala, turmeric, and chili powder. Throw in a few green beans or asparagus – whatever’s handy and in season.

Let it simmer until it thickens. Serve with the rice. Your tummy will thank you.

More Pizza, Please!

Sliced onionsFlour for pizza doughFor our Caramelized Onion and Mushroom Pizza, we started with the same basic crust as the Delicious Artichoke Pizza, but we put some chopped fresh tarragon in the dough.

Meanwhile, we were caramzelizing the onions…two onions, thinly sliced, and about a tablespoon (15ml) each of butter aPizza Doughnd olive oil. Yes, it’s an indulgence…but well worth it. Onions cookingWe also added about 5ml of maple syrup to add an extra flavour note. Cook the onions over medium-low to medium heat, stirring often, as they turn a delicious golden brown. When they look not quite brown enough, stop…they’ll continue to cook a bit. When you’re nearly at the end, add a tablespoon or so of white wine vinegar (balsamic would work also), and about a quarter cup (60ml) of water. Stir, cover, and let this stand and cool until your dough is doubled in size (about 10 minutes).

Next, press the dough out into a circle on a piece of parchment. This makes a Pizza crustmedium-thin crust on a standard pizza pan. Divide in two if you like extra-thin, or use a smaller circle if you want a thick crust.

Use the onions instead of sauce. Top with sliced mushrooms – we used a mix of cremini (brown) and white (button) mushrooms, but any kind you like will work. We topped this with some nutty gruyere and a Adding Cheese to Pizzabit of part-skim mozza.

Pizza ready to go in the ovenAt 400F, the pizza doesn’t take long – about 18 minutes. Then cool on a board for about 4 minutes, slice, and indulge yourself in onion-y goodness.

Pizza...ready to eat

Magic Beans!

Easy vegetarian meals often call for canned beans. But in our efforts to watch our weight, we started to learn a lot more about label reading. One thing we’re really careful about is sodium – it makes a huge difference! A rule of thumb we learned was to read the calories per serving on the nutrition label. Then, if the milligrams of sodium per serving is higher than the calorie count, avoid it! Sounds easy, right? Unfortunately it’s the dirty secret of lots of canned foods – they have a lot of sodium. Even healthy choices like beans or soups are a problem. So we make our own beans now, on days when we’re busy working around the house, doing chores, laundry, or whatever. A few weeks ago we made some black-eyed peas…and they’re the star of today’s recipe. We grabbed a one-cup tub out of the freezer at breakfast time and let it thaw for the day…

Then we started dinner by putting some whole wheat pasta on to cook in a big pot of unsalted water. (Two ounces or 60g of dried whole wheat pasta per person is plenty!)

Then, while the past cooks…start a little onion (one small one) and garlic (two cloves) in a couple of teaspoons (10ml) of chili oil. We also chopped in a sweet, sweet pepper we picked up at Plank Road, around the corner. Next, some sliced mushrooms for texture, just rinsed and sliced. Keep stirring as you add the veg.

After the pepper, a good big handful of spinach, washed and chopped, and a diced fresh  tomato go in the pot. Put the lid on, and turn heat to low for about 5 minutes to wilt the spinach.

Finally, it’s time for the beans. Dump them into the pan, along with about a tablespoon (15 ml) of pesto (check the types and buy the one with the least sodium!) . Pop the lid back on and simmer all of this until it is bubbling hot and ready to receive the pasta – just a few minutes should do. Then tip in the pasta, stir, sprinkle with a little cayenne, and lid the pan again. Let it simmer over very low heat for the flavours to meld.

Finally, when the flavours have had a chance to come together, serve! If you want, shave a little sharp cheddar on top, but you won’t need too much. An ounce or so should do between the two plates (that’s about 30 grams). Happy eating!

End of Season Vegetarian Chili

The long, cold winter is finally winding down. Mostly this is a time for jubilation. For celebration because spring is finally on our way (the tomato plants are started for the urban farm)! However it’s also a chance to enjoy that classic winter warmer: chili. This vegetarian chili is a great option on a meatless meal day, or if you’re a vegetarian. For us, it wouldn’t be the same without cornmeal muffins – a classic cornbread taste in an easy-to make format. If you have leftovers, they freeze beautifully – but good luck getting them to the freezer before the snackers get to them!

Want to save on sodium? Use beans you’ve cooked yourself, and frozen, without salt. The kidney beans, black beans, and chickpeas in this recipe all started their journey to our house from Better Bulk (see our blogroll!)

Taking Stock

If you really want to save money and eat healthier foods, make your own stock! Most bouillon cubes or even organic pre-packaged stocks contain a lot of salt, as a preservative. If you use the rule-of-thumb that a packaged food shouldn’t have more milligrams of sodium than it does calories, you might be disappointed when you read the label of your favourite prepared stock.

Stock-making is simple. One trick I learned from Ken Kostick. He suggested that as you peel carrots, onions, take the stems off aromatic herbs, and so on, that you should put them in a zipper bag in the freezer. (Give them a rinse first!) When the bag is full, it’s time to make stock. Sometimes I roast this mixture, other times I just use it “as is”. I like to use one of those pasta pots with the strainer-type liner, just to make it extra easy.

Put the vegetables in the bottom of the pot. Cover with cold water. If you haven’t used too many herbs during the week (really?) add some dried herbs – tarragon is nice, or savory, bay leaves…or some minced ginger is good, too. Bring this mixture to the boil on top of the stove and then turn down to a simmer, so it’s just slowly bubbling along. Let it simmer while you watch a favourite television show, or do a load of laundry, whatever. Check now and then so it doesn’t boil over.

Let it cool, and strain or if you use a pot like I do, lift out the liner. Package it up in convenient sized containers and store in the freezer. If you make some up in ice-cube trays, you can use those for times when you just need a tiny amount.

More on meat and fish stocks, another day. If you don’t feel like using this stock today…save it til tomorrow, throw in some cooked beans or chickpeas, onions, and whatever vegetables take your fancy. Simmer for half an hour or so, add a handful of whole-wheat pasta and simmer til tender and voila…delicious vegetable soup!