Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas

I’m always so proud of myself when I make a delicious VEGAN meal! This one screams Autumn!

Ingredients

3 large sweet potatoes, cut into teeny tiny bite sized chunks

1 can black beans, rinsed

1 can coconut milk

2 small acorn squashes

8-10 tortillas

Gram Marsala seasoning 

Avocado

Shallot/ small onion, diced

Steps

Acorn Squash Sauce

Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Place in instant pot cut side up on a steamer basket with 1 cup water. Cook on high for 20 min with a slow release. When done cooking and cool enough to handle, scoop out the squash back into instant pot (with the cooking water) and mash until liquidy. Remove squash mash and set the instant pot to sauté and cook shallot  in olive oil until soft. Add mashed squash, salt, Garam masala seating, and 1/2 to 1 cup coconut milk and cook 15-20 minutes.

Sweet Potato and Black Bean Filling

Toss sweet potato chunk with salt, garam masala and olive oil and roast at 400F for 20 minutes. Then, add black beans to roasting sheet and mix. Place tortillas on top and bake additional 2 minutes.

Assemble and Bake Enchiladas

Pour 1 cup acorn squash sauce to bottom of baking dish. Add sweet potato mixture in each tortilla, roll up and place in baking dish. Top with more acorn squash sauce and bake 15 minutes.

Avocado Crema and Plate

Mash 2 avocado with 1/4 to 1/2 cup coconut milk until smooth and drizzle over enchiladas.

Eat!

Zoodle Carbonara

Gluten-free pasta! (Dairy-less)

1. Slice 2 zucchinis long-ways on a cheese grater to create thin strips that look like noodles.
2. Sprinkle the zoodles with salt and allow to drain excess water in a colander.
3. Cook 3 strips of thick cut bacon on skillet until crispy. Set aside on paper towel to drain. then chop into bits.
4. Pour the majority of the bacon grease into a glass cup. Set aside.
5. Heat the bacon skillet with a small amount of bacon grease.
6. Sautee Zoodles with salt and pepper for 5 minutes.
7. Remove zoodles and keep warm.
8. Heat the skillet again and add a bit more bacon grease from step 4.
9. Add 1 tsp red pepper flakes for 1 minute.
10. Add 2 TBSP tomato paste
11. Add a can of full-fat coconut milk and cook for 3-5 minutes.
12. Turn off heat and add 2 egg yolks, salt, and pepper.
13. Add zoodles back into the skillet and combine with sauce.
14. Serve with sprinkling bacon bits and crumbled goat cheese.

Jack's 1st birthday party cake

Kale-Almond Pesto

Pesto!
Top it on crostinis! use it as a sauce for fettuccine! Pesto! This is a recipe for using up greens in a fun way and to also teach you how to break your blender and then going to buy a food processor.

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale (thick stems removed)
• 2/3 cups almonds, unsalted, unroasted
• 1/2 to 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped.
• 1/2 cup olive oil (or more for a smoother pesto)
• salt & pepper to taste 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• grated smoked gouda cheese

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
2. Blanch kale for about 30 seconds, remove and place in the ice bath to stop the cooking process.
3. Dry the kale a bit, squeeze out some of excess water and set on a towel for a few minutes more. 
4. add the almonds to the blender and blend until finely chopped. Remove.
5. Add all the olive oil and about 25% of the  kale and blend intermittently, scrapping down the sides and stirring. Add a little kale at a time, pulsing and stirring. Add the garlic and almonds, and salt and pepper. Instead of pulsing like you were supposed to, leave the blender on high and walk away and come back only when you realize that a weird plasticy smoke is coming from your kitchen.

Curry Cauliflower with Purple Sticky Rice

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October 17 2011

I decided to add this to my blog practically 2 years ago, but apparently, never finished. Nor could i find the recipe. So, after scouring the internet for the closet option, I came across this: http://www.chow.com/recipes/29423-curried-cauliflower-chickpeas-and-tofu

But, there is an evil word in there. You can take a wild guess what I omitted (That's right, FU, Tofu!)

So here's their recipe, altered:

INGREDIENTS

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium garlic cloves, minced to a paste
• 3 teaspoons yellow curry powder
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 1/2 pounds cauliflower (about 1 medium head), trimmed and cut into 1-inch florets including the greens
• Freshly ground black pepper
• purple sticky rice for serving(from Cleveland's West Side Market)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sautee the onion and garlic, until translucent, about 10 minutes and add the curry powder.
2. Add the chickpeas, cauliflower, greens, and the remaining water. Cover and cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.

The Turnip, The Whole Turnip, and Nothin But the Turnip, So Help Me God Flatbread

This recipe happened because 1) I wanted to use the whole turnip (not just the root, but the greens as well) and 2) It was 75 degrees outside and just had to use my grill. The majority of the ingredients came from the Green Grocer in Chicago, so this one of the more sustainable flat breads I ever made! The secret to a perfectly grilled flat bread is to pre-cook all the ingredients before assembling the flat bread. Addmittedly, this picture is that of a pre-made crust. It was really good, but I am including a recipe for flatbread, as it is also phenomenal, albeit EXTREMELY time-consuming.  Wine pairing was Riff Pinot Grigio, Italy.

FLATBREAD

Ingredients

3 1/2 to 4 cups bread flour, plus more for rolling (read flour, unlike white flour, will give you a cripsy crust, vs. a chewier crust)

1 teaspoon sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
herbs of your choosing
1 1/2 cups warm/ hot water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

In a bowl with the warm water, dissolve the sugar and then sprinkle the yeast on top. Watch the yeast do it's thing and after about 20 minutes, the yeast should foam. (Meaning that you activated the yeast and they started eating the sugar and now they are hungry and ready for more!) A tip I was told is that it should smell "yeasty", or to me, like a brewery. If your yeast doesn't foam, you may have expired yeast, and may need to retry this step with new yeast.

In a stand mixer fitted with the bread hook, add the bread flour, salt, and chopped of herbs (basil or sage, for example) and mix a bit on low to combine. Make a well in the flour and add the yeast-water and mix again on low. While the dough hook is doing all the work for you, you lazy S.O.B., drizzle in the olive oil. Sit on your lazy but, watching the mixer do all the work until it forms a ball. Sticky dough? Add a bit more flour.  Too dry? Add water. 

Now the part when I start swearing a lot. Take the ball of dough onto a lightly floured surface, with your also lightly floured hands.  Knead the dough until it springs back at you. (Push the ball of dough with a fist and rotate 90 degrees, and push down again. repeat, repeat, etc. Flip the dough over and repeat).

In a well-oiled large bowl, add the kneaded dough and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature for an hour or so. It should double in size.  Before taking the dough onto a lightly floured surface, give it a good punch to deflate it a little bit.  Then, divide in 2 pieces and form into balls and cover with a damp cloth for a while. If you can poke it and makes an indent, it's ready to go. Add semolina or corn meal to a pan and roll out the dough until it stretches to the shape of the pan.

TURNIP TOPPINS

Ingredients

1 bunch turnips (about 3 medium to large, with greens)
3 TBSP olive oil
2 cups shredded cheese of the melty variety (Mozzarella, Provolone, Fontina, or a combo of all 3 if possible!)

Directions
Preheat grill to about 450 and add a layer of aluminum foil.

Trim the green and remove large stems. Blanch in a pot of boiling water for just 30 seconds. Drain and dunk in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Ring out the excess water and set aside.

Peel the turnips and slice into 1/8" tick circles. Toss in with 1/2 TSBP olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place turnip slice on preheated grill and roast for just 5 minutes per side.

Drizzle the remaining olive oil on the flat bread and the add the turnip greens, spreading evenly throughout. Sprinkle the cheese and then add the turnips. Grill at 450 for about 10/ 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the crust is crispy.

Squash and Broccoli Lasagna

Squash & Broccoli Lasagna with Béchamel

At the end of my produce share, and after Christmas, I find my refrigerator bursting with odds-and-ends. So, I put out a request for help what to do with a mish-mash of broccoli, heavy cream, butter,  acorn squash, cream cheese, shallots, and garlic. Thanks to my mother-in-law-in-law (is that even a thing? My sister's mother-in-law. Lets just say friend) Mo, she steered me in the lasagna direction. All I can say is- good job, Mo! So I google "squash lasagna" and made this. Wouldn't ya know it- I have no idea where that recipe is anymore. So I am going to have to improvise, although this recipes from the NY Times sounds close enough to me. Hopefully it works!

 

 

What-To-Get

1 acorn squash

3 large minced shallots 

1 minced garlic clove

3 cups broccoli floretts

1/2 package lasagna noodles

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups heavy cream  or milk or half-and-half

4 oz cream cheese

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated (1 cup) 

How-To-Do

1. Roast the squash: Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cut the squash in half and remove seeds. Brush the insides with olive oil and salt and pepper. Place cut-side down in a rimmed baking dish and fill with 1-inch of water. Roast in oven 45 minutes - 1 hour or until tender when pierced with fork. Allow to cool and remove skin and cut into 1-inch chunks.

2. Make the béchamel: Heat the remaining oil over medium heat in a heavy medium saucepan. Add the shallot and garlic and cook, stirring, until it has softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes, until the mixture is smooth and bubbling, but not browned. It should have the texture of wet sand. Whisk in the cream all at once and bring to a simmer, whisking all the while, until the mixture begins to thicken. Add cream cheese until melted. Turn the heat to very low and simmer, stirring often with a whisk and scraping the bottom and edges of the pan with a rubber spatula, for 10 to 15 minutes, until the sauce is thick. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

3. Boil noodles & broccoli: In a large pot of salted boiling water fitted with a basket steamer, add broccoli and blanch for no more than 3 minutes, until bright green.  remove broccoli and steamer basket. Add lasagna noodles and cook 2 minutes short of package directions. Drain.

4. Assemble & bake lasagna: Spread some of the béchamel in a bottom of a 8x8 baking dish, just until the bottom is covered. Lay noodles across and then add squash and broccoli, top with béchamel and parmeasean cheese. Repeat until you tower of lasagna has reached its peak. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until the cheese is melty and bubbly. (It freezes well- make the lasagna and do not bake it. When ready to eat- take out of freezer hours before and bake at 350, over an hour.)