Stuff A Pepper...But With What?

It's Spring and that means swimsuit season is coming. As a result I've been trying to eat healthier and a lot of times that means trying new grains and sometimes eating Vegetarian.

While I may have bacon almost every day, even the most awesome food items need a break every now and again. Normally when I stuff peppers I use rice but I've been trying to figure out a way to work quinoa into my diet more.

If you aren't familiar with quinoa, it is a grain indigenous to South America. It's gluten free, good for you, and quite tasty (the Incans regarded it as being a sacred food).

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
--2 bell peppers
--1 cup of quinoa
--1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes, chopped
--1 can of black beans
--cilantro
--lime juice
--shredded cheese

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Slice the peppers in half from top to bottom. Remove the tops and de-seed the peppers and set them aside in an oven ready dish.

Rinse the quinoa in cold water. This is an important step as quinoa suds in water...if you add it to boiling water it will most likely boil over! Cook the quinoa according to package directions.

While the quinoa is cooking, in a medium sized bowl, mix the tomatoes and black beans together. Season with cilantro and lime juice to taste and stir together.

When the quinoa is ready, add it to the mixture and stir. I like to add in some cheese since the heat from the freshly cooked grains will melt the cheese and help make the mixture a little sticky.

Stuff each pepper half with healthy scoops of the quinoa mixture and cover with cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the peppers are tender.

Domo Arigato Mister Risotto

I was craving some warm, comforting flavors and here's what I came up with.

Prosciutto is like ham's fancy cousin (which makes it closely related to our good friend bacon) and is one of those meats that "plays well with others" and can be easily added to many dishes.

Risotto is equally versatile and can be part of many dishes, no matter the season. It can be a process to make, simply because you need to add lots of liquid and stir often, so when making risotto it's always helpful to have a kitchen partner in crime.

Risotto with Prosciutto and Sage
--1 lb. risotto (also called arborio rice)
--1 cup of dry white wine
--2+ cups chicken broth
--olive oil
--4 slices of prosciutto, chopped into smaller chunks
--fresh sage (to taste)
--sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
--grated asiago cheese
--salt & pepper

In a pot or large pan, cook the risotto to package instructions substituting 1 cup of liquid with the wine and using chicken broth as your cooking liquid (no water).

Cooking risotto is a batch process so you'll start out with one cup of liquid and once the grains suck that up you'll add another cup of liquid, stirring all the while until that liquid is sucked up and then you'll add more liquid...

While the risotto cooks, heat a medium sized skillet on medium heat. Add a quarter-sized pour of olive oil and allow the oil to heat for a few moments before adding in the prosciutto chunks.

Saute, stirring often, until prosciutto begins to brown. Add in the sage by taking the fresh leaves and tearing them into pieces over the skillet.


Add in the mushrooms and stir the mixture together. Let the mushrooms cook down and add more sage if desired.


Once the risotto is almost done and the mushrooms have cooked down, add the veggies and meat to the risotto pot and stir it all together.


Stir in some of the grated asiago cheese. Season with salt and pepper and dish into bowls.

Top with more asiago cheese and eat!

Fried Sandwich of Yum

I get excited when stuff I like goes on sale at the grocery store. Like eggplant. I haven't really done a whole lot with eggplant except fry it.

And let's be clear...frying = awesome. To be more clear, frying in a cast-iron skillet = heavenly.

Instead of the traditional parmesan-style of preparation, I make mine into little sandwiches. It's the same thing I do with a lot of fried round objects (fried green tomatoes, fried apple rounds, fried squash rounds). Take two little round fried lovelies and put some cheese in the middle. Mmmmmmmmmm...

Fried Eggplant & Goat Cheese Sandwiches
--eggplant, sliced into rounds
--flour
--garlic salt
--ground black pepper
--paprika
--2 eggs, lightly beaten
--vegetable or canola oil for frying
--1 small log of goat cheese
--can of diced tomatoes or your favorite spaghetti sauce
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Heat 2" of oil in a cast iron skillet over medium to medium high heat. You will know the oil is ready to fry with when flicking a little water into the oil causes it to pop slightly.

Line up the following assembly line style: Eggplant rounds, bowl of egg-wash, plate/shallow bowl of flour. Season the flour with garlic salt, pepper, and paprika and stir around with a fork so spices get evenly mixed.As Kathryn told you in her chicken wings recipe, when frying objects that have wet and dry components use one hand for the dry goods and one hand for the wet ones. I use a fork with the eggplant to try and keep my hands less goo-covered.


Working in a line, take each eggplant round and swish it around in the egg-wash. Then place it in the flour and turn so that all sides are evenly coated.

Add each round to the skillet and fry until golden on each side. Remove to drain on paper towels and add the next batch to the oil.

An important tip about frying is to change out the oil after every two batches. This ensures that your fried bits will be golden and won't get burned on the outside but remain uncooked on the inside. You should change out the oil when frying veggies or meat like fried chicken for the best results.

Once all the rounds have been fried, line half of them on a cookie sheet. Slice the goat cheese log into rounds and place on top of the sheeted rounds. Add the other half of the eggplant rounds to the top making a complete sandwich. Place in the pre-heated oven and cook for 10 minutes or until the goat cheese is softened.

In the interim, work on the tomato sauce. It's a great shortcut to use half of a jar of your favorite sauce. I like to make my own and do so by sautéing chopped onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. I then add a 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of sugar and stir together. Then I season it with either tarragon or oregano depending upon my mood.

Remove the sandwiches from the oven and plate. Top with tomato sauce and serve!

Two Loves, One Dish

Apparently I'm as obsessed with kale as I am with bacon. Kale seems to be popping up in all of my recipes lately. So today, let's combine my two loves and have a dish with bacon-y (and kale-icious) goodness! This dish can also easily become both vegetarian and vegan by removing the bacon and replacing the bacon grease with olive oil.

Bacon Mushroom Kale CousCous
--3 strips uncooked bacon
--garlic
--sliced button mushrooms
--sliced bella mushrooms
--sliced crimini mushrooms
--1 can of diced tomatoes
--1 bunch of kale
--1 box of couscous, cooked to package directions

PREP:
I have a pair of scissors that lives in the kitchen and is only used for food. I suggest cutting kale with these kitchen scissors, as it's easy to cut along the ribs to get the green parts free and then cut the greens into smaller pieces.

COOK:
In a large skillet cook the bacon on medium heat until done to your tastes. Remove to a plate for later. Pour half the grease into your grease jar and leave the remaining grease in the pan.

Saute the garlic for a few minutes before adding all of your mushroom varieties. Cook until mushrooms are tender.


Once mushrooms have cooked down, add the can of diced tomatoes. Stir well to combine and allow to simmer together for a few minutes.


Chop or tear the cooked bacon into smaller pieces and add into the mix. Add in the kale and mix everything up. Cook until the kale is done and is wilted but not soggy. Mix in the cooked couscous and serve!

Taken From Take Out

Today's recipe is made just for you inspired by one of you! I got an email from reader Shannan who wanted to know how to make her favorite chinese soup at home. She's a vegetarian so the recipe below is also herbivore-friendly, but I added pork to mine (as you'll note in the pictures). She is a kitchen newbie, so I've provided more in-depth directions in certain places.

If you add ground pork to yours you can either cook this separately and add it into the soup, or (and I prefer this method) slice the pork into long strings and add the raw pork during the broth step and allow the heat from the broth to slow cook the pork pieces with all the flavors of your soup.

Hot N Sour Soup
--Olive oil or vegetable oil
--Ginger, minced
--Garlic, minced
--1 package extra firm tofu
--5 fresh shitakke mushrooms, sliced
--1 8oz. can of sliced bamboo shoots
--soy sauce
--chili sauce (I like Sriracha which I forever refer to as "rooster")
--1 32oz. box of vegetable broth (use chicken broth if not vegetarian)
--1/8 cup lime juice
--2 tbsp. corn starch
--1 egg, beaten
--1 bunch of spinach, thoroughly washed and torn into large pieces
--sesame oil
--1 bunch of green onions, green parts chopped into thin slices

PREP TOFU:
Drain the tofu. Obviously you're going to dump the liquid that it comes in, but the tofu has also sucked up more liquid. The trick when cooking tofu is to get out as much of the water as possible. You can use cheesecloth to drain it. Another easy way to do this is to put the block of tofu into a strainer with a bowl underneath. Put a small plate face down into the strainer. Push the plate against the tofu block to squeeze the water out of it. Cut the block of tofu into evenly sized (mouth-friendly) squares like a tic-tac-toe board.

PREP MUSHROOMS:
Cut the mushrooms into thin slices along the length of the mushroom, keeping the shape and the stem intact.

MAKING THE SOUP:
Pour a quarter-sized dollop of olive or vegetable oil into a large stock pot. Heat the oil over medium-high heat for a few minutes before adding the ginger and garlic. Cook, stirring regularly for 2-ish minutes.

Add the tofu, mushrooms, and the bamboo shoots to the pan and keep stirring. Add a few splashes of soy sauce. Add a few dollops of chili sauce. This part is totally to your taste. If you want a spicier soup add more chili, less spicy, add more soy sauce. Cook this mixture until the mushrooms cooks down some and shrink and begin to get tender (maybe 10-ish minutes).

Pour in the box of chicken broth and turn the heat up to high. You want this to get a nice boil.

While you wait for the soup to boil, pour the lime juice into a measuring cup. Take one tablespoon of the corn starch and add it to the lime juice. Stir it well until it dissolves. Add the second tablespoon of starch and stir that up until it dissolves. Once the soup comes to a big boil, add this lime juice mixture by stirring with one hand while you pour the mixture with the other hand.


Turn the heat down to low. Add the spinach pieces in and give the soup a good stir so that all is mixed together.

Now take the egg and if you haven't already, crack it into a small bowl and beat it. With one hand, stir the pot of soup. With the other hand pour the egg into the soup in a steady stream.



Add a few splashes of sesame oil and the chopped green onions. Stir.

Let the soup simmer for 20 minutes. Crack some fresh black pepper into it. Stir and serve!

Dinner-Party Party-People!

It's cold where a lot of you are (and buried in snow if you're anywhere close to the East coast!) and perhaps you're feeling a little stir crazy. Summer is a great time for barbecues and outdoor revelry, but what about when you're cooped up in the winter?

I earned my Jr. Adult status recently by hosting a dinner party with some of my favorite people. They helped by each bringing an ingredient and their smart selves for fabulous conversation. I had scrabble and the Olympics in case the conversation lulled, lots of wine, antipasto as appetizers, sorbet for dessert, and a delicious hearty stew as our main focus.

What's key with a dinner party is to have either a variety of dishes or make dishes that can be easily adapted to fit the dietary needs of your guests. We had one pescetarian and one pescephobic in our midst so I made a small separate pot without the sausage, and simply dished out the fish-haters bowl of stew before adding the mussels to the rest of the pots.


Spanish-Style Noodle Bowls
--1 lb. of linguine, capellini, or other thin pasta
--1 lb. chorizo
--garlic, minced
--1 yellow onion, diced
--2 pinches saffron threads
--1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, diced
--1 bell pepper of another color (red, yellow, orange), seeds removed, diced
--1 32 oz. box chicken broth
--1 cup white wine
--1 container of plum, cherry, or grape tomatoes, chopped in half
--1 lb. mussels, scrubbed and de-bearded

Cook noodles per package directions.

Heat a large stock pot (one that has a well-fitting lid) over medium heat. Add the chorizo and cook, stirring and breaking apart into smaller chunks. Once cooked, pour off some of the grease into a jar or container (never down the sink!), leaving some of the oil in the pot with the meat.

Add the onion, garlic, and saffron and cook for 2-ish minutes, stirring constantly. This allows the saffron to permeate and creates a nice base. Next add the chopped peppers and cook until peppers are tender.

Add the wine and half of the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Allow to boil for a few minutes before adding the rest of the chicken broth. Then turn down to simmer. Add in the tomatoes and give a healthy stir.

You have two options about the noodles. You can drain them and add them to the pot now, giving a healthy stir so as to mix well. Or you can dish the noodles into bowls and pour the stew over top. Whichever you prefer!

Now add the mussels to the pot. Cover with the well-fitting lid and leave covered to steam for 3-5 minutes. Open and serve!