vegetables - Food Shenanigans

Baked Plantains

June 16, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

I think I figured out what my (blogging) problem is: I’ve been making really simple things and I haven’t felt like I should put them up. Sometimes I get caught up in the idea that ‘good’ cooking is and I focus on things with a lot of ingredients or steps or that sounds impressive. That doesn’t always end up in good food though. I can’t count the number of times that my husband has complimented a dinner that I’ve thrown together in 20 minutes more than a dinner I’ve spent on preparing? [Note to husband: this is not your fault, I blame the internet. Hi, internet!]

This is a conclusion I reached while eating the plantains I made on Monday night. They were just so good: slightly sweet, slightly spicy, with a bit of salt to balance it out. As you can, I’m still obsessed with cumin and cinnamon. Either way, this dish is great, it’s quick and easy, perfect for a weeknight dinner. We had this with jerk shrimp and broccoli.

Baked Plantains

2 yellow plantains, with a large amount of black spots and just starting to soften
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
scant 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon butter, melted
salt to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Slice plantains about 1/3″ thick. Combine the butter with the spices, and then toss with the sliced plantains. Spray a 9 x 13 baking pan and bake the plantains for 30 – 35 minutes, slipping once. The plantains should be caramelized on both sides. Serve immediately.

Filed Under: side dishes, vegetables Tagged With: cinnamon, cumin, garlic, ginger, plantains

Tapas Party!

May 23, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

Let it be known that I’m not above shilling for companies in exchange for wine and cookbooks: I recently won a ‘house party’ from Tapena, a company that makes Spanish wines. Tapena kindly sent me an Amex gift card for wine and a box of decorations and favors for my guests. I think I went a little too ambitious, as I ended up feeding about 13 people, but it was a lot of fun and the food was delicious. Thank goodness that Katie, wonderful friend and blogtographer, was there to help.

We went with a lot of simple recipes that each had a small number of ingredients. It seemed like it was the best way to cook that much food at once and not have to end up serving dinner at midnight. I also started well in advance to make sure that I wasn’t rushing around last minute (like I am wont to do).

While I made about 10 different recipes, I’m only featuring one on here for now. I would put up more, but I can’t guarantee that I followed the rest of the recipes to the letter, and Katie mentioned to me that she kept adding honey to things, so I don’t want to put up inaccurate recipes. To give a better idea of what I did though, I’ll list out some of the stuff I made. I mixed a batch of sangria with red wine, spiced rum, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and oranges. To make things easier, I had a lot of food that was good served room temperature: sliced chorizo, roasted asparagus, mushrooms sauteed with garlic and rosemary, manchego cheese with browned honey butter sauce, melon wrapped in speck and/or prosciutto, and spiced almonds. I also made a platter of meatballs and chorizo braised in red wine (omg so good!).

The recipe I’m going to share is best served room temperature or cold, so it’s perfect to make ahead for this type of party. It’s incredibly versatile as well and can easily be adapted to any type of cuisine to fit into any menu.

Tortilla Espanola (Spanish Tortilla)

1.5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, par-boiled and diced.
1 medium onion, diced
1 medium red pepper, diced
1 medium green pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream
2 cups freshly grated Manchego cheese
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons good quality olive oil

Heat oven to 400 F. Heat olive oil in a large pan until shimmering. Add in the onions, peppers and potatoes and cook for 5 – 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in the garlic and continue to cook for another 3 – 4 minutes until fragrant and everything else is soft and golden. Take off the heat and set aside. Beat together the eggs, sour cream, cheese and salt and pepper. Add in the vegetable mixture. Grease 9 x 13 pan and then add in the egg mixture. Sprinkle paprika evenly over the top and bake for 18 – 20 minutes until top is golden brown and the eggs are set. Let cool completely and then cut into squares. Serve the tortilla espanola room temperature or cold.

We served ours with a chipotle aioli that Katie made, for the sake of presentation and for an extra pop of flavor. The aoili is absolutely not necessary and I enjoyed the tortilla with and without it. Next time I want to play around with the ingredients and add something else in there, maybe some chorizo or some other meat. Thanks to Tapena for all the fun party favors and the inspiration for this party!

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: manchego cheese, onions, peppers, spanish tortilla, tortilla espanola

Honey-Rosemary Carrots and Parsnips

April 24, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

I’ve been in a cooking funk lately. I think I’ve just been bored with what I’ve been making and haven’t really gotten into planning weekly menus around my Boston Organics delivery every week. The one big flaw in my cooking is that I rarely (properly) plan ahead for it. That obviously works out pretty well most of the time, but I tend to stick with the same flavors and seasonings. I need to branch out.

Of course, the recipe I’m about to share with you in this week’s very special blog post is not at all branching out. It’s more damn root vegetables. I cannot wait until summer when the vegetables ninjas deliver things like…lettuce. And tomatoes. And peppers. And… not carrots. Anyway, this is what I made for Easter dinner today.

Honey Rosemary Carrots and Parsnips
My name for it is shorter than what epicurious has, which is where I got it.

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound carrots, peeled, cut into 3×1/4×1/4-inch sticks
1 pound parsnips, peeled, halved lengthwise, cored, cut into 3×1/4×1/4-inch sticks
Coarse kosher salt
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1 1/2 tablespoons honey (such as heather, chestnut, or wildflower)
pepper to taste

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add in the carrots and saute for 2 – 3 minutes, until just beginning to turn barely golden brown on the edges. Add in parsnips and add in salt and pepper. Continue to saute for another 10 – 12 minutes until both the carrots and parsnips are cooked to your liking and are starting to brown around the edges [if you prefer them more caramelized, this is your chance to do it].

Add in the honey, rosemary and butter. Evenly coat the vegetables and cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until you have a nice glaze. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.

I really enjoyed this dish. The honey accentuates the sweetness of the parsnips, but it’s saved from being cloying by the rosemary. This went really with the ham that we had and would be great alongside any pork dish because of how well rosemary complements it. If you want to dial back the sweetness a bit, I bet turnips would work well in this as well.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: carrots, honey, parsnips, rosemary

Butternut Squash Pasta

April 6, 2011 by Michelle 4 Comments

The other night I was at my friend’s house and we were talking about squash [my friends and I talk about food A LOT] and how delicious it is. And that reminded me that I made this really quick and tasty butternut squash pasta over a month ago and hadn’t posted it yet. Kind of makes me wish I listened to my husband’s advice of always having a backlog of blogs ready to post every week. It makes so much sense, and yet.. I still haven’t done it. Nor, to be perfectly honest, will I. For some reason I just like to make things difficult.

Luckily, this recipe is pretty easy and since I had a giant mutant squash, I was able to make both the pasta and an unfortunately dense butternut squash bread as well. Note to self: there actually is a reason to use baking powder. But we’re talking about a success here, not fail bread. The first step to this is to roast a butternut squash until tender, to build the right base for the sauce.

Butternut Squash Puree

1 butternut squash, halved
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix together spices and set aside. Spread softened butter on both halves of the squash and then sprinkle with the spice mixture. Pour water into a 9 x 13 pan and then add the squash, cut side up. Roast for 50 – 60 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove from oven and let cool.

Once the squash is cool enough to be handled, scoop out the insides and add it to your food processor in batches. Puree until smooth. Set aside until ready to make pasta. [Please note awesome cat measuring cups that my friend gave me for Christmas!]

Butternut Squash Pasta

8 oz spaghetti
1.5 cups butternut squash puree
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup reserved pasta water
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon minced rosemary
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a pot of salted water to boiling. Add in pasta and let cook until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 pasta water. In a medium sized pot, heat the butter until just starting to turn foamy. Add in the minced rosemary and cook until fragrant. Add in the milk and let that come up to temperature, stirring frequently to avoid a skin forming on top. Then add in the butternut squash and the cheese. Let that come up to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until combined well; slowly add in some of the reserved pasta water until the sauce is the right consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Combine sauce with the drained pasta and serve immediately.

This is a great way to get more vegetables into your diet. The sauce is silky thanks to the milk and coats the pasta perfectly. The spices in the squash worked really well in flavoring the dish overall. This would also be great with some shrimp or grilled chicken served alongside it.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: butternut squash, butternut squash pasta, pasta, rosemary, vegetables

Root Vegetable Ragout

March 30, 2011 by Michelle 1 Comment

This week my produce delivery was a much better mix of stuff: tomatoes, lettuce, collard greens, bananas and oranges plus some other goodies. This means, of course, that I’m no longer getting the box of stuff that is locally sourced – I just couldn’t eat any more root vegetables. Every day for dinner I was trying to come up with some other way to use them. I figured as long as what I’m getting is at least organic I’m still thinking of the earth and being a better person [or something].

While I was still up to my eyeballs in root vegetables, I made this great ragout that I served alongside a tasty rosemary crusted beef tenderloin. The recipe came from epicurious and was originally from Gourmet magazine. While this is not vegetarian in its current state, it could very well be made so by subbing the meat stock called for in the recipe with vegetable stock. While I think you could probably make it vegan by dumping the butter for another fat, I do think butter really adds something to the overall dish.

Root Vegetable Ragout
Adapted from Gourmet magazine, January 1999

1 medium turnip, peeled and diced
4 medium carrots, peeled and diced
4 medium parsnips, peeled and diced
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup beef stock (4 fluid ounces)
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. In a shallow roasting pan, toss vegetables with oil and roast for about 25 minutes or until the vegetables and tender and just starting to caramelize. Take out of the oven.

In a large pan, heat the butter until it foams and then reduce heat to medium. Add in the roasted vegetables, stock and salt and pepper. Bring this up to a simmer and continue to cook until the stock becomes a glaze over the vegetables. Serve immediately.

I was really happy with how this came out. The sweetness of the parsnips and carrots evened out the turnip, and there was just enough glaze over everything. This is something I’ll definitely be making again, it was so easy! It also works out well in larger quantities, as a friend of mine made three roasting pans of vegetables for a pot luck not too long ago.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: carrots, parsnips, ragout, root vegetable ragout, root vegetables, stock, turnips

Stuffed Butternut Squash

March 7, 2011 by Michelle 2 Comments

I’ve recently started getting weekly organic vegetables delivered to our house, courtesy of Boston Organics. Every week, ninjas deposit a box of local, organic vegetables on my front porch. It’s kind of amazing. Besides getting really fresh, delicious produce delivered to me, it’s also forced me to think a bit outside our usual veggie choices of broccoli, asparagus and peppers. It’s been really enjoyable coming up with new ways to use the vegetables I’m getting [as well as sometimes trying to identify them!].

This stuffed butternut squash recipe is something I came up with to use up more of that couscous. It’s not something that’s terribly fast due to having to roast the squash before adding the filling, but if you were to roast it a day ahead of time this would come together pretty easily.

Stuffed Butternut Squash

1 squash
1/2 cup water
1 carrot, diced
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1lb ground turkey
1/2 cup couscous
1 cup chicken stock
2 oz mozzarella, shredded
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Slice the butternut squash in half length wise. Place in a baking pan cut side up with half a cup water in the bottom of the pan. Bake 60 – 65 minutes or until fork tender. While the squash is baking, heat a large pan with the oil. Once the oil is hot, add in the carrots and onions and cook until softened. Add in the turkey and cook until browned. Add in the cumin and nutmeg, then the chicken stock. Bring up to a boil; add in the couscous and cover for 5 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Once the squash is done, add in the turkey couscous mixture and then top with cheese. Bake at 350 for another 15 – 20 minutes, or until the cheese is completely melted and just beginning to turn golden brown. This will be extremely hot so it’s best to let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

This is really good. The sweetness of the squash plays off the warm spices very well while the turkey and couscous stuffing make this hearty and filling. What I would probably do next time is scrape out the insides of the squash and then mix that into the stuffing prior to baking.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: boston organics, butternut squash, cheese, couscous, ground turkey, stuffed butternut squash, stuffed squash

Braised Bok Choy

February 9, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

A few years ago, we had a wok in which my husband would cook stir-fried noodles and dumplings. He was very proud of this and it was always pretty tasty, plus I enjoyed the night off from cooking. Then one day, something went awry [as it always does in our kitchen...] and noodles ended up burnt to the wok badly enough that they wouldn’t come off. So we said goodbye to our wok and went on with our lives. Recently we went to the Super 88 and husband purchased a new wok while I got a bunch of produce, including some really cute baby bok choy.

Having never cooked bok choy before, I took to the internets to find something tasty. I stumbled upon this recipe on the Epicurious website and decided to try it based on the great reviews.

Braised Baby Bok Choy

1 cup chicken broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 lb baby bok choy, trimmed
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

Bring broth and butter to a boil in a large pan, then add the bok choy in an even layer. Cover and let simmer for 4 – 5 minutes or until the bok choy is tender.

Using tongs [or in my case, a really big fork], remove bok choy from pan to a serving platter and cover to keep warm. Bring broth back up to a boil and let it reduce to about 1/4, add in the sesame oil and pour over bok choy.

This is great; the boy choy soaked up all the tasty chicken broth and the cooking time is just right. The boy choy stalks [is that even what they're called? someone should look that up!] were not at all mushy as I had feared, they were still fairly firm and the leaves were tender and silky. This was so easy and such a great side dish along with the ginger teriyaki steak tips we had.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: baby bok choy, bok choy, braised bok choy, butter, chicken broth, recipes, sesame oil, vegetables

Mashed Honey Cumin Carrots

January 26, 2011 by Michelle Leave a Comment

My husband and I have to get in our anime fix for the evening, so this’ll have to be quick. We’ve recently begun obsessively watching anime series and the most recent one is XXXHolic, which is pretty good. We’re about 15 episodes into the series (24 episodes, then a movie!) and he is impatiently waiting for me to be done here so we can split an eclair and watch our program. It’s like we’re 70 years old.

This recipe isn’t terribly difficult, but it’s a tasty and quick way to make carrots. This was a great side to make along with the baked ham I picked up from Trader Joe’s. The carrots had an earthy, sweet taste to them that really complemented the salty ham.

Mashed Honey Cumin Carrots

1 lb carrots, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon cumin
1.5 tablespoons honey
salt and pepper to taste

Fill a medium sized pot with about an inch of water and bring to a boil. Place steamer basket in the pot, add carrots, cover and cook about 8 – 10 minutes or until the carrots are fork tender. Remove carrots from the steamer basket and drain the pot. Add the carrots back into the pot along with the butter and mash them with a potato masher (for a smoother consistency, a stick blender would work; the carrots would have to be softer for a stand mixer to work with them). Add in the honey and cumin, then salt and pepper to taste.

See? Easy. But these are a really nice change from steamed or roasted carrots and the seasoning possibilities are endless. Dill would obviously work really well in this or honey, lime and maybe cayenne pepper. Someone at work suggested cheese, but I’m fairly certain that I am anti-cheesy carrots.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: carrots, cumin, honey, mashed carrots, recipes

Broccoli and Cheddar-Gruyere Gratin

December 3, 2010 by Michelle 1 Comment

For Thanksgiving dinner this year, I brought a side dish and dessert to my in-law’s house. For dessert I made a sweet potato pie [which I shall not be blogging about as it cracked in the center, the bastard] and then for the side dish I made this really delicious gratin from Real Simple magazine. Every time I bring something for a holiday dinner, I try to make sure it can simply be reheated in the oven, since stove top space is at a premium, so this was perfect.

Broccoli and Gruyere Gratin, adapted from Real Simple magazine
2 large bunches broccoli, roughly chopped (about 12 cups)
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups milk [the recipe called for whole milk, but I used skim with no issues]
2 cups grated cheddar-gruyere
kosher salt and black pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 shallot, diced

Preheat oven to 375. Fill a large pot with 1 inch of water and steaming basket, bring to a boil. Once water is boiling, bring it down to a simmer and add the broccoli to the pan. Cover and steam for about 4 minutes, until the broccoli is vibrant green and tender.

Melt the butter in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook until translucent and fragrant. Add in the flour and stir briskly to combine. Once combined, slowly add in the milk, and keep stirring until the mixture starts to thicken. Once the sauce thickens, add in one cup of the cheese and continue stirring until melted. Once fully incorporated, turn off the heat. Add in the salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Put the broccoli in a large bowl and add the cheese mixture. Make sure the broccoli is evenly coated, then pour the mixture into a 7 x 11 baking pan. Top with the remaining cheese. Bake in the oven for 30 – 35 minutes, or until the mixture is bubbling and the top is nicely browned.

While this was cooking, it smelled amazing. Gruyere is such a great cheese for baking, it melts so beautifully. I actually used a cheddar-gruyere block of cheese that I got at Trader Joe’s because while I like gruyere, I also like having the sharpness of cheddar in there. This reheated really well the next day and tasted great; everything about this was satisfying, from the creamy cheese sauce to the perfectly cooked broccoli. A great addition to any holiday table!

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: broccoli, broccoli gratin, cheddar, gratin, gruyere, holiday recipes, recipes, thanksgiving

Fried Mashed Potato Cakes

November 21, 2010 by Michelle 1 Comment

Our power just went out! How exciting. I’m glad I was sitting safely here on the couch when it happened instead of wielding a knife somewhere. That could’ve ended in disaster, and we’ve had enough of those today; I almost baked cupcakes without eggs, I somehow managed to get cookies stuck to the baking sheet, and I may or may not have sliced my thumb with my chef’s knife.

I’ve seriously spent so much time in the kitchen today, it’s like I’m cooking for 30 people all the time instead of just the two of us. I use SO MANY dishes, there’s an endless amount to wash. Plus today I had to bake for work tomorrow [the almost-eggless cupcakes] and I wanted to use up some of the leftover mashed potatoes that I had from Franksgiving. Franksgiving, you say? Why yes! One of my lovely friends hosts a friends Thanksgiving every year before we all do the family thing. Friends + Thanksgiving = Franksgiving. I know, it’s cutesy enough to make you want to puke, but it’s a good time with friends and delicious food.

This year and last year, I’ve made mashed potatoes, and will likely continue to do so for the rest of our lives. My husband says it’s because everyone praises my mashed potatoes and I enjoy praise. Which… fair enough. So anyway, I made 15lbs of potatoes and have a bunch in my fridge that I’d like to use up. The obvious answer to this is fried mashed potato cakes with dill sour cream.

Fried Mashed Potato Cakes

2 cups mashed potatoes, cold
1/3 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil

Place a cookie sheet lined with paper towels in the oven and preheat to 200. Heat the oil in a small pan. Take 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes and form into a hamburger size patty. Dredge the patty in the flour and place in the hot oil. Let fry for 3 – 4 minutes until golden brown on the bottom and flip over, cooking an additional 3 – 4 minutes. Remove the mashed potato patty from the oil and place on the cookie sheet in the oven, to keep warm and absorb some of the oil while the other patties are cooking. Repeat with the rest of the mashed potatoes, making a total of four patties.

Dill Sour Cream

1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped dill
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients together. Taste and adjust seasonings as desired.

Serve each potato patty warm with a dollop of the dill sour cream.

These are really simple and really good. The outside of the potato is nice and crispy and the inside is warm and slightly oozy. This works best with mashed potatoes that aren’t made with a ton of cream; I make mine with sour cream, cream cheese and butter so they hold their shape really well when cold. If your potatoes are too loose, add an egg to the mixture as a binder and follow the rest of the instructions. There’s so much you can do with these – I served them as a side, but you could easily make this the main component of your meal by adding a protein or some veg in there. Just chop it up pretty well and add it to the cold potatoes before making the patties.

Filed Under: vegetables Tagged With: fried potatoes, leftovers, mashed potatoes, potato cakes, potatoes, recipes, thanksgiving