Veggie - - Page 9

by Miss K

Carrot Surprise

When the temperature hit 90 degrees here in DC last week, it was clear that time for spring planting was upon us. Mercifully, this week has brought some slightly cooler weather, but it seems that the time of hard frost has passed, and I am itching for some home-grown arugula. With lots of “help” from my two-year-old, I began pulling up the weeds from our two raised-bed gardens and in addition to foot-deep dandelion roots, we unearthed-surprise!-some carrots. Ah yes, I do seem to remember planting those at some point last year.

Some of the carrots were clearly past their prime, but a handful were still surprisingly orange and crunchy. I knew that these semi-miraculous winter survivors deserved some special treatment, so I decided to make a carrot-cashew salad that I had enjoyed at book club a few weeks before. I even went so far as to (gasp) purchase some ingredients specifically for the recipe. Served over curried chickpeas and rice, this little salad was the perfect inauguration to a summer of homegrown produce.

Shredded Carrot and Cashew Nut Salad

by Emily

Not-so-Heavy Apps: Tomato and Sweet Onion Bruschetta Topping

When I’m having people over, I often like to serve a bunch of fancy-ish snacks (or as we would call it in the events world, “heavy apps,” but I’ve always thought that sounded gross) rather than a full meal. It’s less intimidating for you as a host and your guests as… well, guests. Unless you’re specifically throwing a full-on dinner party, a big plated meal can be kind of hard to stomach—no pun intended—compared to grazing on some indulgent snacks and sipping wine while watching a movie or whatever.

It is in this mindset that I present my 100% easiest bruschetta recipe ever. Have a loaf of nice bread and want to put more than butter on top of it? Done and done. This one almost isn’t a full-blown recipe… it’s that simple. But don’t tell your friends that, and they’ll never be the wiser.

Sweet Onion & Fresh Tomato Bruschetta

by Miss K

This One’s for the Ladies (at Least in My House)

My husband is about the most un-picky eater I know. While I happily eat down the fridge with alarming regularity (seriously, that and my, um, screw-ups are basically all I write about around here), he has truly mastered the art of eating what’s on hand. No croutons for the salad? Crushed up off-brand-Ritz will work just fine. All out of good cheese? Toss him a well-aged Kraft Single. In five years of marriage, he has enjoyed and endured my culinary successes and failures with an abundance of grace.

So, on the rare occasion that he expresses distaste for a certain food, I typically have no qualms about taking it out of rotation. Usually.

But then, a month or so ago, I made this cauliflower curry and I knew as soon as I tasted it that I had a winner. Something about the combo of coconut oil (not milk, like my usual curries) and red curry paste and cauliflower just worked. I loved it. After dinner that night, though, the pronouncement came. “You know, this wasn’t bad. But, well, cauliflower, it’s just not my favorite.” In husband-speak, “not my favorite” is the kiss of death to a dish. I was sad.

This story has happy ending, though. In the following weeks, I looked for any opportunity to make my new favorite dish for others. Fortunately, not all my friends feel as negatively toward cauliflower as that BFF who shares my bed. My vegan friend Katie appreciated the animal-free heartiness. My friend Kate (yes, all my friends really have the same name) declared it delicious, spicy but not too spicy, after warning me that she probably wouldn’t like it because she doesn’t like a lot of things. It’s my new go-to for any night my darling cauliflower-hater has to work late or is otherwise indisposed at the dinner hour, and I don’t have to feel guilty for making his favorite on a night he’s not home.

Oh, and just case you were wondering, what culinary delicacy does he and my son turn to when I am not home for dinner? Why, frozen pizza, of course. Or, if that’s not available, maybe some Ritz crackers with Kraft singles.

in Recipe / Veggie 0 comments

by hungry monster

April Fools: TOT-ally Delicious Cauliflower Tots

Well, April Fools’ Day is around the corner. Does anyone have any tricks or pranks in mind to pull on your loved ones?

I wish I did, but I am notoriously bad at pranks. Even something as simple as saying something is true when it’s not sends me into a fit of childish giggles. I also cannot keep a secret, so if I’m planning on pranking you, I’ll probably spill the beans way before it happens.

It’s sad, really.

I’m a grown woman. You would think I could keep a straight face for a little white lie…but no.

So, I’m NOT going to tell you these are tater tots. I will NOT boast their incredible potato-y flavor and their spud-like texture.

Because then I’d look like a fool.

These cheesy, slightly gooey in the middle and crisp on the outside tots are all cauliflower. And as hard as it tries, cauliflower will never be a potato.

It’s cool, though, because cauliflower has its own thing going on. I promise you these are healthy and delicious!

Trust me. It’s not like I’d lie to you.

Cauliflower Tots

in Cheese / Holiday / Veggie 3 comments

by Miss K

EDF: Extra Crunchy Salad

Lately, we have had a lot of visitors and dinner guests around this house, none of whom can ever bear to come empty handed. The wine gets drunk, the cheese dip gets, well, dipped, but there are unsurprisingly a few items that linger after company has departed. It’s been a week since I tripped to the grocery, so today when I rifled the fridge for lunch, the produce pickings were slim, save a bag of celery and a heart of Romaine lettuce. These are both foods about which I feel totally neutral, which I think is also an accurate description of their nutritional value, and would never have purchased on my own, but thanks to our many visitors, there they were.

Not one to let anything go to waste (even if maybe I should, ahem, super moldy cheese), I remembered this lovely post over at at Everybody Loves Sandwiches, and based my own crunchy-crunch salad on the one featured there. Of course, there were ample substitutions, because what’s the point of eating down the fridge if you have to go out and buy more stuff to put in the fridge to make it happen. Verdict: The salad was pretty darn good, even if my jaw is still a little sore 5 hours after the fact.

Double Crunch Celery and Romaine Salad

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by Jessica

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes with Buttermilk Ranch Slaw

Before you take a look at this recipe, think back to elementary school and lunchtime in the cafeteria. Remember sloppy joe day? I remember how it smelled (not so fantastic) and those soggy “wheat” buns with the runny, ketchup-y, gristly ground mystery meat (yeah, so our school district didn’t have the best lunch program in the early 80s). I can literally see the line of styrofoam trays with the little compartments being filled, assembly-line style, by the cafeteria staff. Lunch cost $.50. Remember those sloppy joes? Well these are nothing like that.

I’ve always had an aversion to sloppy joes—that sad, soggy cafeteria sandwich being my only exposure to this sandwich. We didn’t eat them at home, and I wasn’t about to eat them at school— so I just abstained altogether. You can buy the filling sauce in a can (which I hear is actually pretty tasty, if sloppy joes fall into the “nostalgia” category for you). Please don”t hold it against me, but I”ve never had a Manwich (and the visual I get when I say it out loud isn”t quite as wholesome as the company probably intended). I figured my window of opportunity to try a sloppy joe closed about 7 years ago, when I stopped eating most meat, but then I was introduced to Gardein’s All American Sloppy Joes.

Gardein has a huge line of refrigerated and frozen meatless products, but this meatless sloppy joe mix spoke to me—it called to me. The photo on the front of the box looked too good to be true—all that saucy meatless meat just spilling out of that hamburger bun: I can finally try a sloppy joe. So I did. I finally got to try a sloppy joe. SO GOOD! Since I can’t leave well enough alone, I fancied up the sloppy joe mix and came up with these cute little Gardein All American Sloppy Joe sliders with buttermilk ranch slaw and pickles.

Gardein Vegetarian Sloppy Joe Sliders with Buttermilk Ranch Slaw and Pickles

in Recipe / Veggie 5 comments

by Emily

Mushroom and Blue Cheese Farrotto

I feel like, by this point in my ES career, there are certain things that we just can’t avoid. For example: I love healthy grains and making plays on risotto with them, I love mushrooms, and I love blue cheese. So it really shouldn’t surprise anyone when I introduce my next recipe creation: blue cheese and mushroom risotto made with farro instead of arborio rice.

Here’s why I like farro: It’s toasty and nutty with a toothsome bite, standing up to heavy sauces much better than plain ol’ rice. Not only that, but it’s freaking healthy! High in fiber, low in gluten, and packing 7g of protein per 1/4c serving, farro is a grain to be reckoned with. I mixed this with the usual risotto suspects (white wine, cheese, more cheese) with spectacular results. I wouldn’t go as far as saying that this is a super healthy meal (because of the aforementioned cheese and more cheese), but it’s a step up from classic risotto thanks to all the benefits of farro plus a load of vitamins and minerals from the mushrooms and iron from the spinach. All in all… you could do a lot worse. Plus this combination is just plain delicious.

Mushroom and Blue Cheese Farrotto

in Cheese / Recipe / Veggie 2 comments