Pico de Gallo

Pico de Gallo
Adapted from Pioneer Woman


I love this recipe. It's got the perfect proportion of all the pico ingredients, so as long as I follow it exactly, the results are, well, perfect. Here goes:


Ingredients
5 plum tomatoes, diced small (I then place them in paper towel to soak up excess moisture)
3 jalapeños, diced small
1 small red onion, diced
fresh chopped cilantro, about 1/2 tablespoon (but this is to taste)
salt to taste
juice of half a lime 


"Directions"
Combine the above ingredients in a bowl, stir around to blend, and refrigerate for a while to let the flavors meld. Seriously, the magic is in the proportion! YUM.

Tempeh "Fries"

Tempeh topped with dill, paprika, and garlic powder

Tempeh "Fries"

It's easy, really. Just slice tempeh width-wise into thin strips. Then treat them just like baked potato wedges. 

Tempeh fries. It's what's for dinner. 

 

Spicy Sweet Tater Soup

Also, I lied. 

Or, at the very least, I forgot that I actually had made two soups, one more solid than the other, and tucked the recipes away but never blogged about them. So here's to the last recipe I made months ago and never posted. I think.

Back story: Winter in Maryland was pretty rough (though not as ridiculously ice-cold as it was then in NYC), so one Sunday evening in January I decided to make two pots of soup, one tomato, one sweet potato.  

The tomato soup wasn't my favorite (maybe because I didn't have all of the ingredients I needed), so I'll save that post for when I've found The One. But the Spicy Sweet Potato Soup? Incredible. Below you'll find that recipe.

Kitchen Tip: I found it really convenient to then pour in a serving of the soup into quart sized freezer bags to thaw throughout the winter for a quick lunch or dinner. I also figured out a cool trick: freeze them laying flat; this way you can stand them up in your freezer like little files or folders-- this is also helpful since it lets you sneak them in between other bulkier items. Just sayin. It worked for me.

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup 

Adapted from Allrecipes  

Liner Notes: I love this soup. The spiciness is right up my alley, the sweetness isn't cloying, and the starchiness just makes this the perfect comfort on a cold night (extra warm because of the chipotle I added). 

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 Tablespoon butter

1 onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, sliced

4 cups of chicken stock

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

approximately 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

juice of 1 lime

2 Tablespoons chopped cilantro

salt, to taste

my addition (and why I love this soup): a heaping spoonful of chipotle pepper and adobo sauce

Directions

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for approximately 5 minutes, until just softened.

2. Add sweet taters, chicken stock, cumin and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. 

3. Once boiling, reduced to a simmer and cover for 15 minutes, until taters are soft. 

4. Puree the soup in batches using a blender.

5. Return soup to pot, whisk in peanut butter and heat through. 

6. Add in lime juice, salt, and chipotle pepper and adobo sauce.  

7. Ladle into bowls, top with a bit of cilantro, and enjoy the hot, spicy warmth as it takes you over.

Squash, Mac & Cheese

While not regularly featured in my cooking, this is recipe I really like to make when I'm in the mood to add in veggies I don't usually use. Now, you can't go into this expecting macaroni and cheese as you know it. You gotta be open minded, and know that this will taste much more like veggies than cheese, but that's OK. It's good. Seriously.

The original recipe by Ellie Krieger is a bit more involved, only in that it asks for a few more ingredients which I usually don't have on hand. The following is what I tend to do on those days when I decide to buy frozen squash but nothing else from the original recipe, knowing full well that I can still make something tasty that was inspired by it. I like it because it allows me to eat a veggie I wouldn't usually eat, while reminding me a bit of that once-a-year indulgence, mac n cheese. Plus, the way I make it has that "little bit of this, little bit of that" attitude I enjoy in cooking.

Squash Mac & Cheese

Inspired by Ellie Krieger's Recipe

Ingredients

1 package of frozen squash

1 cup skim milk

2-3 cups pasta, depending on how much you have and how saucy you want it

a hefty handful of grated cheese (I used meunster today)

salt, to taste

ground cayenne pepper, to taste

a few bread sticks to stand in for breadcrumbs

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. 

2. Boil pasta for 5-8 minutes so that they are cooked but still sturdy (they'll be going into the oven and you don't want them to fall apart)

3. In a saucepan combine frozen squash and milk and cook over low heat until defrosted. Once it's broken down, increase heat to medium until almost a simmer, then remove from heat.

4. Add cheese, salt and cayenne.

5. Add your drained pasta to the squash mix, then place in a greased pan (today I used a glass bread loaf pan, but something flatter/wider would work even better).

6. Top with crushed bread sticks for a crunchy finish before placing in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, plus 3 minutes under the broiler.

Bulgur Wheat and Lentils

This might just be the last old recipe I've left collecting dust in the draft section of 'Chefski Digest. That doesn't mean I've gone through all my saved selections, but this is something I made for the first time well over a year ago, keep coming back to, but had yet to post. 

Since beginning my cooking and baking adventures in college, one of my goals has been to cook more varied meals than the ones I'd grown up with, especially if it means increasing the nutritional value. I'm always interested in learning which foods I should consider incorporating into my diet, and I've been increasingly interested in finding more non-meat options to include in each meal. I found this dish after searching for recipes using bulgur wheat, which I'd recently learned is a great source of fiber and a nice substitute for white rice (barley being another favorite). 

What I love most about it is that after you make it once or twice it really lends itself to spontaneous cooking; that is, you can put in what you like, leave out what you might not have on hand, and you'll get the basics of it right each time. I'm glad to have the recipe on the blog now, but I'm even more glad that I can just pick up and make this in whatever way I am inspired on that particular day. What's more, this dish tastes great on day two, which makes it perfect for lunch.  

Herbed Bulgur-Lentil Pilaf
Adapted from Ellie Krieger's recipe on foodnetwork 

Ingredients

1/2 cup green lentils

1 cup bulgur wheat
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth (water will also work here, or veggie broth)
1 Tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons olive oil
1 small red onion, diced
1 bell pepper (any color will do, though orange and yellow look especially lovely), seeded and diced
3 Tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped 
2 Tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
2 Tablespoons fresh chives, chopped
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions
1. In a small saucepan, bring 2 cups of broth with lentils to a boil. Boil for five minutes then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until lentils are tender, which is about 30 minutes (most of the liquid will have been absorbed/evaporated by then as well). Once the lentils are cooked you'll want to drain any excess liquid, but meanwhile...
2. In another saucepan, bring 2 cups broth and your bulgur wheat to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until most of the liquid is gone and the wheat is tender, which will be in about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. 
3. Add lentils to the bulgur. 
4. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onions until tender, about 5 minutes. Add peppers and cook until those are tender, about 5 more minutes, then add the onion-pepper mix to the bulger-lentil.s
5. Stir in parsley, basil, chives, lemon zest, juice, 1 Tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious. 

Bulgur-lentil pilaf and homemade turkey burger (a recipe for another day)

Nick's Orange Tofu

Dude! This is Amazing!

I'm not even going to get into the fact that it's been way too long since I've blogged about cooking, or cooked a blog-worthy recipe. Tonight I came on here to find my favorite tomato sauce recipe, and when I went downstairs to the kitchen to get it started, I found my buddy Nick in the end stages of making the delicious plate photographed above.

He was kind enough to share, and let me tell you --  Nick is a star chef and he doesn't even tell anyone! The dish is Orange Tofu -- his spin on Asian Orange Chicken. Ridiculously good. 

So good I had to photograph it and record this moment. I need to make it someday soon.

Yum.

φασολάδα (Fasolada: Greek Navy Bean Soup)

For the sake of transparency, I'll be upfront and admit it: I didn't follow the recipe. Sure, sure, I often make tweaks, but seriously, this time I was forced to take shortcuts because I just got back from proctoring an exam, have yet to grade them before the 48 hours I'm allotted to calculate grades is up, and I'm leaving the state for Winter Break in the morning. I wasn't going to go to Giant for this one, but I also didn't want to eat PB&J for dinner. So this is what I made, in such a reductive fashion that I'm not evens sure I can still call it φασολάδα (fasolada). 

φασολάδα (fasolada)
Adapted from Elly Says Opa!

What I did...

Ingredients:

1- 15.5 oz can Goya navy beans

1 - 15 oz can of diced tomatoes

a large pinch of oregano

a pinch of red pepper flakes 

1 Tablespoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. In a medium pot, heat beans with liquid until boiling.
2. Add diced tomatoes, and the rest of the ingredients, mixing well to incorporate fully.
3. Keep heatin' til it's ready for eatin'!

And let me tell you -- this was delicious!

 

The recipe says something more like this...

1lb dried haricot/navy beans 

12 cups water

1.5 cups crushed tomatoes

3-4 bay leaves

1 Tablespoon oregano 

a pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 cup chopped parsley

3 carrots, chopped

3 stalks of celery, chopped

1-2 onions, chopped

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. After rinsing and picking out any unsightly beans, place your beans in a pot and fill with water such that 3 inches or so cover them. Allow to soak overnight, then drain the water.

2. Add water to the beans so that they are, again, covered by a few inches. Bring the pot to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Once cooked, drain the beans.

3. Add the 12 cups of water to the pot. 

4. Add all of the remaining ingredients, except for the salt (remember, beans, for whatever reason, refuse to soften post-salt!)

5. Once the pot comes to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer, and allow to cook for 1.5 hours. 

6. After 1.5 hours have elapsed, uncover the pot and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the beans have softened and the soup is thick (this is where you may need to add water). 

7. Add salt to taste.

Why Tempeh = Cotton Candy Sangria

Who knew I'd love soy so much? 

Google is great. You probably already knew that but let me tell you why:

"Vegan restaurant nyc cotton candy sangria" 

That's what I searched for, and my first hit (thankfully!) was  Sacred Chow the great vegan restaurant in NYC where I first tasted tempeh. My quick-witted, wonderfully hilarious, life-saver friend from my previous life* Swati took me there for brunch one weekend before I took the plunge back to school. I got some tasty vegan waffles, which were great, but one bite of her dish and I was smitten. Savory yet sweet, whatever it was she got, I wanted more of it. The problem was that weeks later, once relocated, I could not for the life of me remember what her dish was called. All I could remember was that Swati, who always envelops herself in the sweet scent of cotton candy, loves Sacred Chow's cotton candy sangria. The rest is Google history.

Tempeh's great because it has a TON of protein (a frequent must for 'Chefski), it's vegetarian, and unlike tofu, it's a got an earthy, whole-grain taste to it (at least the kind I get). Best of all, this is a one-pot/pan meal, all the better for clean up.

Here's to Swati: hugs, emoticons, and Barnum and Bailey's. Twice.

* my previous life as a full-time working woman in the business world.

Indonesian Curried Tempeh

Adapted from this recipe I googled.

Serves: 4

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

250 g Tempeh (1 package of the stuff you kind find at Whole Foods)

1 bell pepper (any color) sliced

1 large sweet potato, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/4 cup light coconut milk

1 chopped onion (I love the red ones)

1 Tablespoon curry powder

2 Tablespoons Tamari or Soy Sauce

Variations I like: A bag of frozen veggies, a splash of pomegranate molasses

Directions

1. Even though I listed the ingredients above in their chopped stages, I really do think step 1 is the slicing and dicing. I do all of this in one go.

2. Heat the oil in a large casserole or other stove-ready pan. Add the garlic and onion and toss around until fragrant. Or, as a Hungarian friend once told me "until the onions look like glass."

3. Add the tempeh, sweet potato, and bell pepper to the mix. If you're using frozen veggies, hold off 5-ish minutes so the rest of your food is a little cooked. All in all, this phase should last about 10 minutes.

4. Add coconut milk, curry powder, tamari sauce and/or pomegranate molasses and cook for an additional 10 minutes, tossing around the mix to coat everything well with your sauces.

5. Enjoy alone, with rice, or as a side to anything you like :)