orange ginger un-fried stir fry

it is the middle of my (last) spring break as a grad student!  and while the rest of the campus is off to sunnier lands, bronzing themselves under tropical sunlight, i have been content to stay home trying to get some balance back into my life.  i haven't really kept up much with blogging since the semester started off with a bang, so now i finally get a chance to catch my breath.  but enough about school!  this is a blog about food, not about the pitiable existence of a miserable graduate student.

and speaking of balance, i feel extremely topsy turvy, as most of my time this semester has been spent in the library instead of in the kitchen.  so last night jordan and i made a pact to cook a delicious meal together, so this is what we came up with:

lovingly adapted from vegetarian times, behold: orange ginger un-fried stir fry

disclaimer: you all should know by now that i am not an exact-measurements kind of girl.  except when it comes to the delicate art and science that is baking, i say experiment all you want!  the amounts i give are just guidelines, because honestly, i really don't have any idea how much of everything i used. the same goes for the ingredients themselves.  the recipe we used as a guide just included tofu and baby bok choy, but we added some other things we had in our fridge that we didn't want to go to waste.  cooking is about being creative and adapting to your own tastes, after all!

ingredients:
4 head of baby bok choy, chopped, rinsed, and drained
baby carrots, julienned
1 small piece ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 package extra-firm tofu (i use the pre-cubed kind, as i find it to be a time and prep-space saver)
handful bean sprouts
~1 tbsp coconut oil (or your favorite mild cooking oil)
orange marmalade (we used St. Dalfour Orange Ginger marmalade...it was perfect for this dish!)
soy sauce
water
1 pkg. thin rice noodles


method:
in a small bowl, whisk together marmalade and soy sauce.  cut it with a little sprinkle of water.  adjust proportions to taste.

bring a large pot of water to a boil.

in a wok, heat the coconut oil over high heat (but watch the pan carefully, as coconut oil tends to burn quickly).  add ginger and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.  add the tofu and saute until brown.  add the carrots and stir well.  saute until carrots begin to soften.

add the bok choy and stir well to integrate.  once the bok choy begins to wilt, add almost all of the soy sauce and marmalade mixture.  continue to stir, over low heat.  add bean sprouts (if using) last.

add the rice noodles to the boiling water.  cook for 1-2 minutes, quickly drain and rinse, then return noodles to the pot.  pour remaining sauce over the noodles and stir well.

serve immediately, plating the noodles first then the tofu and vegetables on top. garnish with sesame seeds.

enjoy!
-molly.

addicted #3: vanilla almond milk

i know i'm a little slow on the uptake here...but since i have been making a concerted effort to cut out dairy from my diet (remember this post?), i have even left behind my old friend, skim milk.  to replace it?  smooth, creamy, delicious almond milk (my flavor preference?  unsweetened vanilla).

i started experimenting with non-dairy beverages over the summer when i was making lots of smoothies.  i used rice milk a lot, but i found that i quickly got tired of the taste and the texture.  it was too watery and too sugary tasting to me, for some reason.  a friend of mine suggested i try almond milk (in fact, she was astonished that i hadn't tried it before).  and once i tasted it, i agreed...i couldn't believe what i was missing!

as an added bonus, the nutritional benefits of almond milk are plentiful.  a cup of almond milk gives you the same amount of calcium as 2% milk, which is important for anyone who is cutting dairy out (and thus, risks losing calcium).  additionally, almond milk is loaded with vitamin E: a one-cup serving can provide you with 50% of your daily value of the vitamin responsible for its power as an antioxidant.  and did you know that regular milk has a high sugar content?  i didn't (i hardly looked at the nutritional label on milk). almond milk has a significantly lower sugar content, and no saturated fat.

(nutritional information from livestrong.com)


so next time you're at the grocery store, don't leave without bringing home a carton of almond milk.  use it in your favorite cereal, add a splash to your coffee in the morning, pour a big cold glass full of it to dunk some chocolate chip cookies, use it in smoothies, anything!  they even make chocolate almond milk...and if that doesn't convince you, i don't know what will.

massaged asian kale salad

the day after new years we had our friends, zach and jess, over for supper and scrabble. jordan and i had been dying to make veggie enchiladas that we saw in the holiday issue of veg times. jess offered to bring a massaged kale salad. i had never heard of massaged kale before, but knowing how good of a cook jess is, i was very excited to try it.

there was not a shred of kale left in the bowl when we were done with it. i asked for the recipe, knowing i would want to eat it all the time as i am now in the final 8 months before my wedding ( nutritional crunch time!!)

i made this variation on her recipe last night for a semi- homecooked meal. i put an asian spin on the recipe and ate it with trader joes veggie gyoza. the kale salad is super delicious and ridiculously good for you.

ingredients

method

in a rice cooker/steamer, steam edamame.  shell and set aside to cool.

wash and dry 2 small bunches of kale (i used organic red and organic lacinto).  remove stems and slice into thin strips.  place in a large bowl.

drizzle some olive oil, a couple of capfuls of soy sauce, and a couple of capfuls of rice vinegar over the kale.  mince a clove of garlic (or more, depending on your taste) and a peeled 1inch chunk of fresh ginger, and add to the kale.  drizzle some honey and the juice of a lime over the mixture.

now for the massaging...the idea is to let the acid from the lime and the vinegar and the fats from the oil seep into the kale to soften it.  imagine you're kneading dough.  with clean hands, gently rub the kale for several minutes.  add the shredded carrots and the shelled edamame, mix with clean hands again, then cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

when ready to serve, sprinkle with sesame seeds and chow down!

it's even good left over... on a wrap with hummus and avocado.

first soup of the fall: shiitake mushroom soup with quinoa, garlic, and kale

last weekend, jordan and i visited the kennett square mushroom festival, whose volunteers and mushroom experts reminded us of this (but just substitute "shrimp" with "mushroom").  we left with an armload of different varieties of mushrooms: shiitakes, crimini (or baby bellas...i had no idea they were the same thing!), portobello caps, even porcini mushroom pasta.

so with the cold weather that came upon us this week, we thought we would try our hand at using the mushrooms for a soup.  i have been trying to avoid dairy lately, so the standard, cream-based mushroom soup was not an option.  instead, we adapted a recipe we found from vegetarian times.  find the original recipe here.

we substituted quinoa for the wheat berries (as i am trying to avoid wheat as well, and we didn't have wheat berries in the pantry, just quinoa).  also, next time we make it i would add scallions to bring a little more green to the soup.

ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced thin
1 cup quinoa
10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin
1 medium bunch kale, washed, stems removed, and sliced on the bias
1/4 cup rice vinegar
4 cups low-sodium, MSG free vegetable broth (we use this to make our own broth; much more economical and eco-friendly than buying the cardboard quarts that end up going to waste!)


method:

cook quinoa according to package directions.  set aside.

heat olive oil in a saucepan.  saute the mushrooms for 10 minutes.  add the garlic and continue to saute an additional 2 minutes.  carefully add vinegar (the pan will be hot, so don't get splashed!) and continue to stir gently, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.

add broth to the saucepan, bring to a boil and then allow to simmer for 20 minutes.  stir in kale and allow to wilt.

to serve, ladle the soup into bowls and add the desired amount of quinoa to each bowl (this prevents the quinoa from getting soggy in the broth).

so simple!  enjoy!

autumn earth dinner

when life gives you sweet potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions, apples, raisins, quinoa, goat cheese and broccoli...
make this!

preheat oven to 450.
wash all veggies.  peel potatoes and carrots.  roughly chop all veggies and apples.
in a roasting pan, put carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes and onion.  coat with a light layer of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and roast for 10-15 minutes.

while veggies are roasting, cook 2 cups quinoa according to the method you prefer.  during the last 3 minutes of cooking, toss in some raisins so they get plump.


after the veggies have roasted 10-15 minutes, remove the pan and add the roughly chopped garlic.  roast for another 10 minutes.

remove pan from oven, mix in the raw apples, quinoa and raisins in the same pan, and season to taste with additional salt, pepper, and cinnamon.

plate and add a little smathering of goat cheese*, if you feel so inclined.  drizzle with a little lemon juice, and enjoy autumn's bounty.


*optional.

farm surprise!

yesterday we picked up our first box from our local CSA farm, Calvert Farms.  last year we had volunteered there on Saturday mornings, exchanging a few hours of labor for a beautiful box filled with delicious organic fruits and vegetables (and sometimes even flowers!)

this fall our schedules are too packed to be able to make the drive into maryland to get our farm on.  but luckily we were able to join the cooperative another way.  by making a donation to the farm, we get to take home one giant box of farm-fresh goodies every thursday from now until thanksgiving!

yesterday's box was stuffed with fresh, crisp apples; a HUGE butternut squash; 2 eggplant; a bundle of swiss chard; baby red and yellow peppers; fresh salad greens; and string beans.  it was hard to decide what we should make with this bounty of autumnal treasures.

we sauteed a ton of garlic in some olive oil, threw in the swiss chard and cooked it down in the cast-iron skillet.  then i added some garbanzo beans, a little white wine, and cooked quinoa.  at the end i sliced some beets and mixed everything together.  DE.LICIOUS.

jordan, the bread-meister, had made a beautiful loaf of french bread a couple of days ago.  re-heated in the oven, it was perfectly crispy, and a great complement to the roasted garlic and green beans and salad he made to go with our quinoa.

the most memorable part of this first farm meal was when we had an unexpected dinner guest drop in!
as we were savoring the remaining morsels of our meal, jordan picked up his fork, ready to enjoy the last few leaves of fresh lettuce.  all of a sudden, he emitted a loud (yet manly) yelp and jumped back quite dramatically from the table.  it appears he wasn't the only one enjoying the delicious salad.  this little guy was noshing away at the lettuce, not even seeming to mind the lemon juice and olive oil he was almost drowning in at the bottom of the dish.

meet lonny, the inchworm.

we scooted lonny (as we dubbed the worm) onto the leaf, picked it out of the dish, and took him outside to relish his natural habitat.  obviously, we didn't continue to eat the salad, but i would much rather find a  bug in my food once in a while than eat something that i know has been drowned in pesticides!  we'll just have to be a little more vigilant in our vegetable inspection and washing.  i'm glad i didn't eat lonny, or else i would have felt i had betrayed my vegetarian sensibilities.



can't wait to pick up next week's box!!

mexicali blues

ok.  so this just happened:

mexicali red and white quinoa

then, this happened:

plated with organic blue corn chips, fresh avocado and organic salsa

aaand then, this happened.

clean plate club!!!

here's how you, too, can make this happen.

equal parts red and white quinoa, tomatoes, black beans, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro, alfalfa sprouts, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, lime juice.

and that's it.  and then you eat it and it tastes really good and you feel happy.  the end!


ps 
anyone want to get me a sweet new camera for xmaskkah?  thankssssss.

what to make when the cupboard is bare, part II

i spent the weekend at my parents' house in maryland.  i enjoyed a much needed break from thinking about, talking about, and being around all things grad school related.

when i came home late this afternoon, i was so high on my wave of weekend serenity that i dreaded the thought of having to go shopping for dinner ingredients.  feeling the frugal fairy on my shoulder, i suggested that rather than spend 25 bucks on takeout to first assess the items already in the pantry and fridge to see if we couldn't invent something ourselves.  here's what we came up with:

ingredients:
2 cups quinoa
1 can chick peas
raisins
1 apple
1 red pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
lemon juice
salt and pepper
cinnamon

method:
combine quinoa and water and cook according to method you're using (we use the rice cooker, so it's just 2 parts water to 1 part quinoa.)

while quinoa cooks, mince 3 cloves garlic.  set aside.  core and dice one medium apple and red pepper and set aside.  drain and rinse chick peas and put in serving bowl.  add handful raisins, apple, and garlic to bowl.

rinse cooked quinoa quickly, drain and add to bowl.  stir to combine all ingredients.  season with juice from one lemon, olive oil, salt, pepper and cinnamon to taste.

the addition of cinnamon was a very last minute idea.  i was searching through the spice rack for something "green", but i knew basil, oregano or dill might taste weird.  the cinnamon kind of spoke to me, and it was a delicious decision, albeit one that was unexpected.

next time, if we have a little more green-age in the crisper, i would think of adding sprouts, arugula, or even some sauteed kale or spinach.  i'm starting to really love using quinoa, and i'm sad that we ended up devouring all of this dish, so now there is none left over to have for lunches this week!


p.s.
for part one, go here.

new issue of vegetarian times!

i was excited to receive the latest edition of "vegetarian times" magazine (one of my most favorite and most useful x-mas presents i received last year...thanks, jbl!)

this month's issue is the best yet since i've started receiving the monthly collection of delicious and innovative recipes for myriad vegetarian chefs.  here, the first flavors of fall are presented, and i can't wait until the temperature drops a few more degrees to try out the veg spin on comfort foods like chicken pot pie and hearty soups and stews!

we stopped by the sunday farmer's market and the natural foods co-op to stock our fridge and pantry with everything we need to make some of the meals suggested in the magazine.

in case i don't get around to blogging about them, go pick up the latest issue and see for yourself how delicious and satisfying a meal without meat can be!  your body and the earth will thank you.

what to make when the cupboard is bare

full time work and school schedules make grocery shopping next to impossible, unless you like perusing the harsh fluorescent lit aisles at 11:30 at night.

last night we began cooking dinner at 9 pm, and neither of us had the motivation to take a trip to the gro sto. were forced to be creative, since we were running low on a lot of things, except a few staples we had stocked in the pantry and two whole red peppers. the result of our iron-chef level of creativity was delicious!

stuffed red peppers with rice, raisins, and cashews

ingredients:

2 whole red peppers

1 1/2 c. rice

1 large onion

2 cloves garlic

hadful cilantro

1/4 c. raisins

1/4 c. cashews

olive oil

juice of 1 lime

salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder to taste

method

remove caps from red peppers. slice in half lengthwise and remove seeds. brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and grill on grill pan, about 5 minutes on each side. (put a lid on top of the pepper to push them down and get some nice lookin' grill lines as well). remove from heat, set aside.

cook rice. in large skillet, saute diced onion in a little bit of olive oil. add garlic when onion becomes soft and begins to brown. add rice and continue to saute, adding lime juice to pick up any rice or onion that might have become stuck to the bottom of the pan.

add spices, more lime juice, raisins and cashews. continue to saute another 5 minutes. toss in a handful of chopped cilantro (we have a ton that we needed to harvest from the aerogarden! yum... fresh herbs!!!)

fill each half of the pepper with a generous amount of the rice. serve immediately, with one more squeeze of lime juice. add crumbled feta on top, if you're feeling frisky (and you're not vegan).

oh, beans!

around the end of october when the leaves are blazing vibrantly against a crisp blue autumn sky, there always seems to be a good week's worth of wind and rain that strips the trees bare and makes you wish you were taking a nap in front of a fireplace.

when this happens (and it inevitably does), i know it's time to make chili. it's easy, it's foolproof, it's easy to experiment with, and it makes so much that you don't have to worry about dinner for the rest of the week when it's too nasty outside to go to the store.

my recipe varies each time i make it, but here are the basics that go into mine.

recipe-less chili.

ingredients
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1 granny smith apple, cored and diced
1 large onion, diced
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 green pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (although i always end up using about half...use more if you like heat)
1 bag frozen sweet corn
olive oil
1/2 c. red wine
cumin
chili powder
salt and pepper

method
dice the onions and garlic. in a large pot heat olive oil and add onions on a medium heat. sweat onions for 5 minutes until tender. add garlic and saute 5 minutes more.

add peppers and apple and saute while adding spices (to taste). then add red wine, tomatoes, and beans. bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and let cook until ready to serve. (keep adding spices to taste).

five minutes before serving, add corn. (if using frozen, the chili will cool slightly. wait until it is hot all the way through before serving.)

serve with whatever sides you like. shredded cheddar, warm bread, tortilla chips, rice. perect.

not your mama's brown bag

working at a school, and the subsequently atrocious cafeteria food provided there (cheesy beef-a-roni with a side of soggy fish sticks?  no thanks), on top of a newly acquired penny-pinching mind-set i've adopted, has me brown-bagging my lunch most days of the work week.

pb&j will always have a special place in my heart, of course, but there is a more healthy, more delicious, more sophisticated alternative that takes just as long to make, that blows your old school superhero lunchbox meal out of the water.

 

veggie wrap with cumin ginger hummus

ingredients

for the hummus

1 can chick peas

1-2 teaspoons of tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 small clove garlic

1/2 tsp ginger

juice of 1 lemon

dash cumin, or to taste

salt and pepper to taste

olive oil

room temperature water

method

in a food processor, put drained and rinsed chick peas, tahini, garlic, ginger and lemon juice.  turn on processor, and slowly begin to drizzle in olive oil and water until it reaches desired consistency.  scrape the sides to make sure all the ingredients get processed.  turn off machine, add salt, pepper, and cumin, and pulse a few times to mix.

veggie wrap

ingredients

1 large flour tortilla

1 tbsp. cumin ginger hummus

handful alfalfa sprouts

2-3 strips of red pepper

4-5 slices cucumber, peeled

handful arugula

4-5 grape tomatoes, halved

method

spread hummus over tortilla.  layer arugula, sprouts, pepper, cucumber and tomato.  sprinkle with salt and pepper if you wish before wrapping.

prep tips:

make the hummus ahead on sunday night.  wash all your veggies as soon as you get home from the gro' sto'.  this recipe makes enough for a week's worth of wraps, plus a little extra for after school snacking.

wrapping tips!  i learned from a pro...

it helps if you warm the tortilla slightly before assembly so the tortilla will adhere to itself.  place the ingredients in a little mound towards the bottom center of the tortilla.  bring the two sides in first, then wrap the bottom flap up over the mound of filling and tuck under slightly.  bouche.