Summer Tortellini Salad

Summer is tragically over. Luckily there are still a few yellow squash and zucchini kicking around at the farmer's market and I decided to seize the opportunity for one more chance at one of my favorite summer recipes. The basil plant in my herb garden was still hanging on and goes so beautifully with this fresh summery dish. Elegant in its simplicity, this is a great quick weeknight option.Adapted from this recipe from cooking light. 

1 ~ 8 oz package of tortellini (I used local Silver Spring Maryland's La Pasta, delish!)

4 large basil leaves chiffoned

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 medium yellow squash, sliced

1 medium zucchini, sliced

1 cup of frozen green peas

1 garlic clove, minced

3.5 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook the tortellini for 4-5 minutes, don't let it overcook! Drain and add 1 tablespoon and a half of olive oil to avoid sticking. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and sautee the garlic for no more than a minute and a half or so. Add the zucchini and yellow squash and sautee until just about tender ~12 minutes. Then add the frozen peas to the pan the last 3 minutes of cooking. Toss together vegetables, pasta, lemon juice, basil, remaining olive oil, salt and pepper and serve. 

(Mostly) Vegan Bolognese

I owe you a photo, I know. I promised myself I'd make this again and catch a photo this time, but I've failed you and am posting without one. This is such a wonderful comforting while still remaining decently healthy recipe, that I couldn't wait any longer to post. Make this the next time it is awful outside and you need something comforting to cheer you up!

(Mostly) Vegan Bolognese

8 oz package tempeh (I like Lightlife Organic)
4 white button mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup onions, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1/4 cup celery, diced
1 tablespoon coconut or olive oil
2 tablespoons Worcestershire (sub with vegan Worcestershire to make this truly vegan/vegetarian)
2.5 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
Feel free to use your favorite jarred tomato sauce
- OR -
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon oregano
4 leaves fresh basil, diced
1.5 tablespoon tomato paste

The key here is that you are flavoring the tempeh before you do anything to try to create a sauce. Start by sauteing the onions, celery, and carrot in your tablespoon of oil while crumbling the tempeh with your hands until it starts to resemble texture of ground turkey. Add the tempeh and mushrooms and sautee until the mushrooms release their liquid. Add Worcestershire and soy sauce and let simmer for 10 minutes. At this point you can simply add your favorite jarred tomato sauce or continue on if making your own.
Tomato Sauce
In a separate pan, start sauteing minced garlic in olive oil, be careful not to burn your garlic! After about 3 minutes, add the tomatoes, with salt, herbs, and tomato paste. Let everything simmer for at least 20 minutes prior to pouring it over the tempeh mixture. Serve immediately, although it all does heat up nicely the next day too.

Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous with Goat Cheese

Sometimes accident is the mother of invention. I've been making a version of this dish for years with polenta that is a wram and comforting winter dish. I was spacing out as I poured the cous cous into the pot and by the time it started boiling I figured it wouldn't come out that different. To my pleasant surprise, I think I actually like this version better. This cous cous is lighter and makes for a refreshing more summery meal.

Roasted Vegetable Cous Cous with Goat Cheese
2 cups cous cous
2 ears of corn
8 cherry tomatoes
2 crowns of broccoli
3 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup goat cheese (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Shuck corn, wash broccoli and tomatoes. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast vegetables until a golden brown color shades them (approximately 15 minutes). Set the vegetables aside to cool while you cook your cous cous. After veggies have cooled, cut the corn kernals off the corn and mix into cooked cous cous. Cut cherry tomatoes in half and mix them in along with the broccoli. Add goat cheese if desired and serve in bowls.

Mango Shrimp Salad with Avocado

I'm eating the leftovers as we speak and it is so delicious, you guys! This blog hasn't been updated in a while since I was on vacation in Portugal and southern Spain. Every thing I ate was insane and I am so in tapas mode. I will probably spend the next several weeks, if not months, copying all of the things I loved there and the first up is this wonderful salad. I something very similar at a tapas bar in Cordoba and let me tell you that the better quality shrimps there make a huge difference. This was made with whole foods wild caught pink frozen shrimp and it just wasn't the same. That being said, it's still a refreshing summer salad and the perfect thing to eat on a hot day.

Mango Shrimp Salad with Avocado
12 - 15 shrimp depending on size (the fresher the better!), cooked and sliced into 1/2 inch cubes
1 mango, diced
3 tomatoes, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 scallion, diced (white and green parts)
1/2 of one small onion, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
juice of 1/2 a lime
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste, I used a pinch of pepper and a generous 3 tablespoons of salt
slices of 1/4 of an avocado, as garnish

Cook the shrimp and leave in the fridge to chill. Combine all ingredients except avocado in a bowl and mix. Add avocado to the top and sprinkle with a touch more salt. Enjoy!

Leftover Chicken Tortilla Soup

As you can tell from the recipes on this blog, I eat a primarily vegetarian diet. It is a choice I make for both my health and the good of the environment, and try to keep the exceptions few and far between. There are several local farmers that sell their sustainably raised meat at my farmers market and once in a while I will indulge. This indulgence usually involves buying a whole chicken and enjoying a week's worth of meals for two, since meat works best in small portions that serve as the principle flavor source. A whole chicken was purchased a few weeks ago and after following Thomas Keller's killer roasted chicken recipe, my boyfriend and I sat down to a delicious roasted chicken dinner on a Sunday. Then the fun really begins working with the leftovers all week. He made a great mexican rice and beans dish and I used the rest to make my favorite tortilla soup.

Chicken Tortilla Soup (serves 4)

2 tablespoons coconut oil (can use olive oil instead)
1 cup roasted chicken (use whatever bits are left!)
1 small onion, diced
3 stalks celery, diced
1 jalapeno pepper, diced with seeds removed
1 green pepper, diced
1 jar of tomatoes (can or box works too)
1 cup cooked rice
3/4 cup corn (I used frozen, organic / non-gmo, obvs)
1/3 cup (5 tablespoons) salt
5 cups water
1 teaspoon chili pepper (optional)
1 avocado for garnish, sliced
Tortilla chips for garnish (optional)

Begin by sauteing the onions in the coconut oil for 2 minutes, then add celery, jalapeno, and green pepper with a tablespoon of salt and stir for another 2 minutes, or until vegetables have all started to soften. Add the chicken bits and don't be afraid of including the skin and continue to saute another 5 minutes before adding the tomato and water with the remaining 4 tablespoons of salt and chili pepper if including it. Let all ingredients simmer for 20 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in cooked rice. Ladle into bowls and garnish with sliced avocados and tortilla chips, if desired. Enjoy!

Easy Comfort Food - Baked Potato with Cheese and Broccoli

It looks as casual as it is! Sometimes spring doesn't come on schedule and you find yourself looking around your kitchen in late April and wanting nothing but warm and creamy treats. I like to keep this within caloric control and include some vegetables with this simple baked potato with cheese sauce and broccoli. It takes very little effort and is just the soul warming comfort you want on a rainy day.

Baked Potato with Cheese and Broccoli (serves 2)
2 russet potatoes
2 heads of broccoli
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese
1/4 cup of onion - chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1.5 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wash potatoes and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with tablespoon of olive oil on each potato and a pinch of salt each. Place in the oven for 45 minutes. While the potatoes are cooking, prep broccoli  and mince garlic. Add to a sauce pan with 1 cup of water and let steam with a pinch of salt and pepper. Grab another sauce pan and add the butter and sautee the onions until translucent  before adding cheese. After the cheese is melted, add flour and stir until thick.
Split potatoes and place broccoli within each mid-section before pouring over a generous helping of cheese sauce. Enjoy!

Pantry Pickins Dinner - Kimchi Fried Rice

I really hate wasting food. I have had a lot of success in minimizing food waste by being flexible with certain recipes that I can throw together whatever I've got left in my fridge at the end of the grocery week. A stir-fry of any kind is a good way to remedy this, and I've found this kimchi fried rice is a particular forgiving combination of flavors. You can literally throw in whatever vegetables you've got left and it will probably taste great (as long as you like some spice!).

Kimchi Fried Rice
1/2 cup jarred kimchi (I use Sunja's Radish Kimchi)
1.5 cups brown rice - cooked and cooled
1.5 oz extra firm tofu (This is 1/2 a standard container) - feel free to skip this part or substitute any other kind of protein
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seed oil
2 tablespoons sriracha
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup onion diced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
2 teaspoons chopped fresh garlic
whatever vegetables you've got! I used 1 red bell pepper and 1 small head of broccoli in the photo above. I've used green peppers and cauliflower, kale and spinach, zucchini and yellow squash. I literally mean whatever you want!

Heat coconut oil in the pan until melted and add onions. Saute until translucent before adding ginger and garlic. Add protein (tofu or meat) and  all liquid ingredients (sriracha, fish sauce, soy sauce, toasted sesame seed oil) saute stir for 5 minutes. Add all remaining vegetables and cover until vegetables are slightly tender. Add the rice and stir all together. Cook until vegetables are the desired texture and serve.