Roast your Veggies!

Roasting vegetables is one of my favorite cooking methods - it's a great way to bring out the flavors and an easy technique when you don't feel like doing anything particularly fancy but want a delicious veggie dish.  I also find that I often roast vegetables when I am cooking a casserole or another dish in the oven - I figure, as long as I have the oven heated up, I may as well pop something else in to cook as well (this is also often when I cook pita bread or other bread).

These are two simple roasted vegetable "recipes" (really more of a technique) that I have been wanting to share, so I thought I would combine them into one post.

Kale Chips/Roasted Kale
Recipe from AllRecipes.com

I basically followed the recipe at the link above so I won't retype it here, but I did substitute olive oil spray for the regular olive oil as suggested in the comments.  I also baked them on one of my silpat mats because I didn't have any parchment and it worked fine (I am sure you could also just bake them on the cookie sheet, too).  I think I baked/roasted them for about 8-10 minutes but I don't really remember.  These seemed more like a vegetable side dish to me than a finger food or a chip, per se, but they certainly were yummy so I definitely would recommend making them!

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Recipe adapted from Veganomicon

• Brussels sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, and cut in half
• Olive oil to coat
• Salt and pepper to taste

Interestingly, this is basically the same recipe as the kale.  It really is the perfect way to bring out the delicious taste of the brussels sprouts without anything else to distract from them.  I just bought another bag of brussels sprouts so I plan on making these again soon!

To make these, preheat the oven to 400 F.  Toss the cut brussels sprouts with the oil, salt and pepper in a baking dish, than arrange them facing down on the baking dish.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they start to brown at the edges.  Serve warm.

What are your favorite types of roasted vegetables?

Bulgur Salad with Mushrooms, White Beans and Arugula

I made this salad a number of times last summer and really enjoyed it, so it was a happy coincidence when I realized recently that I had all the ingredients sitting either in my fridge or in my garden and needing to be used up.  As you might expect with beans, mushrooms and bulgur, the salad is rich and earthy tasting (in a good way), but the arugula and paprika give it an interesting kick.  This is from the cookbook veganomicon which I use frequently although I am not a vegan - the recipes are great and stand well on their own, whether you are vegan or not.

I have modified the recipe pretty heavily from the original as I found it overdressed and kind of greasy when I first made it, and a bit too heavy on the red onion - but you can of course add more of either dressing or onion if your tastes differ.

I used baby arugula sprouts because I was thinning my arugula in the garden, but full-size works fine too.

Bulgur Salad with Mushrooms, White Beans, and Arugula
Adapted from Veganomicon

Salad:

• 1 cup bulgur
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups diced cremini or white mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups white beans (canellini or navy), drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
• 2 cups arugula leaves, chopped

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1-2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon paprika (I used spanish smoked paprika but regular is fine too)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste

Put the bulgur in a small pot or heatproof container and cover with boiling water, then cover the pot/container.  Let sit for 20-30 minutes then drain most of the excess water, leaving moist.  While the bulgur is cooking, mix together all the dressing ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Add the mushrooms, beans and onions to the dressing and let them steep while the bulgur cooks, stirring occasionally.  Add the bulgur to the dressing mixture while still warm and stir, then add the arugula and mix well.  You can serve this warm or chill and serve cool - it improves when it has a chance to sit for an hour or two and keeps well for several days.

Healthy Creamy Spinach Dip

This dip is an old favorite which I have made a number of times, most recently yesterday for a superbowl party we went to.  It is always a hit, and people are usually pretty surprised to hear that it really is actually relatively healthy.  It doesn't taste fatty and over-the-top, but it also doesn't taste like it's made with tofu and low-fat dairy products, which it is.  Unlike a greasier spinach dip, this one is still delicious but won't give you that same weighed-down feeling from all the fat... particularly helpful for a party like the super bowl where you end up mindlessly muching away throughout the game.  This dip comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Entertaining for a Veggie Planet, which has a variety of really great vegetarian dips in addition to other great recipes.

It's healthy enough, in fact, that the picture above is from my lunch today (the recipe makes a pretty large amount... what else am I going to do with all those leftovers?).  I used a smaller bowl that I made last year to hold the dip and then served it on one of my plates.  I actually made this bowl as a glaze test; since the color in glazes is an actual chemical reaction, you won't know how two glazes will interact until you test it out (and it will be different depending which glaze is applied on top).  Rather than just making test tiles to do tests, I made a whole set of smaller bowls and tried out different glaze combinations, some with drips like this one, some with the glazes overlapped.  It was fun to see how they turned out and they were much more useful than a test tile would have been!

What treats did you make or eat for the superbowl?  What are your favorite dip recipes?

Healthy Creamy Spinach Dip

 Ingredients:

• 10 oz box thawed frozen chopped spinach (or you can use 10 oz chopped fresh spinach)
• 1 cup finely chopped red onion - about 2/3 of a medium onion
• 1/2 cup low fat small curd cottage cheese
• 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/2 cups firm tofu (about 2/3 of a 16 oz container)
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream (or regular)
• 2 tablespoons light mayonnaise (or regular)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice (I use the kind from a squeeze bottle, but if you prefer to juice a fresh lemon this is about 1/2 lemon's worth)
• 1/2 teaspoon table sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 - 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• sesame seeds for garnish (optional - I didn't do this)

Fully defrost the frozen spinach (I used the microwave b/c I forgot to defrost in advance, and it turned out fine), then place in a fine colander and press out as much of the liquid as possible with the back of a spoon or a spatula.  In a medium to large bowl, combine the spinach, onion, cottage cheese, and garlic and mix well to combine.

Cut the tofu into slices and lay out on a clean dishtowel, then fold it over (or place another dishtowel on top) and press to remove liquid.  Chop the tofu into cubes and transfer to a food processor or blender.  Add the remaining ingredients and process or blend until smooth.  Add the tofu mixture to the spinach mixture and stir gently to combine.  Taste and adjust salt if needed and add pepper if desired.  Serve chilled or at room temp.  Best if eaten within 2-3 days.

Simple Hearty Lentil Stew with Potatoes and Spinach

I have been realizing that I tend to post on here about the more complicated (and usually less healthy) recipes that I make, but I don't always put up the day-to-day staples that we eat all the time.  I am a huge proponent of eating solid, healthy meals on a regular basis which don't take hours of prep time, so I am going to make more of an effort to share some of the simpler meals we eat, too.  These recipes aren't necessarily sexy or exciting, but they are simpler to prepare and often create plenty of leftovers that you can eat in a pinch when you just don't feel like cooking at all... I keep a few servings in the fridge but often stash most or all of the leftovers in the freezer to eat more than a few days later.  I hope that these more basic types of recipes won't be totally boring to folks.  These lentils fit solidly in the basics category - the recipe is flexible to what you happen to have on hand, they cook up pretty quickly and with minimal prep and make a big batch which keeps well.  They are hearty and delicious and can stand on their own or are great served with bread, brown rice, or a side of salad or veggies.

On a related note, I realized that I have a lot of gluten-free and vegan recipes up here, not because I purposefully follow either of those diets but I guess just because I love to cook beans and lentils and other things that happen to fit in those two categories.  I have gone back and added gluten-free and vegan tags to past posts, so if you are looking for recipes in those categories feel free to poke around!

A note on the bowl the soup is in - this is a pot that I made after college when I was playing around more with surface decoration.  I have made a number of pots with this kind of line decoration around the middle, made by holding a textured or pointed object on the surface of the pot while turning the wheel.  In this case I used a plastic fork and slowly moved it up and down to give the design some movement - I like how it turned out!  This bowl is a bit on the small side but still a much-used and well-loved one in our house.

Hearty Lentil Stew with Potatoes and Spinach

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 1 lb bag lentils, rinsed/looked over to make sure no foreign objects
• 6-8 cups water
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped
• box of frozen spinach, defrosted if possible (or bunch of fresh spinach, rinsed, if you prefer/have on hand - or this works well with Kale as well)
• salt/pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a medium to large pot, add onions and saute for 3-5 minutes on medium-high heat, until onions begin to brown.  Add herbs (note - you could substitute 2 teaspoons of an herb mix such as italian herbs or herbes de provence if you prefer), and saute for another 1 minute.  Add the lentils and water and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  You can chop the potatoes while the lentils simmer; I left the skins on but you could peel if you prefer.  Add potatoes when chopped and simmer for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the spinach and raise heat to return to a simmer, then lower heat again and cook until lentils are fully cooked, another 10-15 minutes.  Add salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Note: you could cook this in a slow-cooker if you started the onions/herbs on the stovetop and then transferred to the slow-cooker, but it would take significantly longer to cook.  It would probably turn out well if left to cook all day on low, however (maybe add spinach in the last hour to half hour).


So... what are your favorite kinds of basic everyday meals?  And do you enjoy my little pottery updates or are they distracting from the recipes?

Butternut squash lasagne with bechamel sauce

I made these for a dinner party before the holidays and almost forgot to take a photo, thanks to our guests for reminding me!  In any case, this is the only one I took, hopefully you get the idea.  This lasagne has butternut squash with sage and walnuts, yummy cheeses and a bechamel (white) sauce inside, and is served over cooked Kale.  I really cannot say enough about how deliciously this turned out, the squash and nuts and cheese were a rich and well-matched flavor combination.  It took a while to prepare (partly because I was inefficient, and partly because it is just complicated), but it was well worth it.  This is a great dish to serve if you want a vegetarian-friendly main course for a nice dinner, or really anytime.  I served it with more homemade bread from artisan bread in 15 minutes a day (a half white half whole wheat ciabatta loaf), and with braised leeks. I will definitely be making this again.... Yum.

The recipe is adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers.  I also have the companion book, Vegetable Soups and really like both of them.  I love her Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, and use it as a reference but often find it daunting when I am just trying to come up with an idea for dinner starting from a blank slate.  These two books are much more accessible, with longer descriptions, serving suggestions (including wine pairings in the suppers book), lots of color photos, and a more curated selection of ideas, it feels like.  I have found all the recipes from both books that I have made so far to be really delicious - she does a great job combining flavors and the cooking techniques are thoughtful and well-matched to each dish, not cookie-cutter.  The suppers book presents itself as an everyday cookbook, but I have found so far that the dishes are more elaborate than I would normally make for an everyday meal - but knowing that, it has been a great resource for times when I want to make something more interesting and complex.  I would definitely recommend either or both books!

Butternut squash lasagne with Bechamel Sauce
Adapted from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Suppers

For the Bechamel:

• 3 1/2 cups milk (1% worked fine for me)
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
• 1 slice or section of onion
• 1 bay leaf
• 1-2 parsley sprigs
• 3 1/2 teaspoons butter
• 3 1/2 teaspoons flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste

For the Lasagne Filling:

• 1 large butternut squash (2 1/2 - 3 lbs)
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 15-20 fresh sage leaves or 1 1/2 tablespoons dried
• 1/3-1/2 cup parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 cup finely chopped lightly toasted walnuts (or hazelnuts)
• salt and pepper to taste
• package no-boil lasagne noodles
• 1 cup grated gruyere cheese
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan or romano cheese

For the Kale:

• 2-3 bunches kale, washed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, pressed/crushed or minced
• pinch of red pepper flakes (I used Aleppo flakes but regular would be fine)

Start by heating the milk in a small pot with the garlic, onion, bay and parsley.  Slowly heat the milk until it is almost boiling, then turn off the heat and cover the pot and let stand.

While the milk is sitting, peel and chop the squash into a rough dice of about 1/2" cubes.  Chop the garlic together with the sage and parsley - it may be easier to chop the garlic and herbs separately first and then chop them together.  Heat olive oil in a wide skillet or dutch oven, then cook onion and squash over medium high heat for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You can preheat the oven to 375 F mid-way through cooking the squash.

While the squash is cooking, continue with the bechamel sauce - melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour (it will be pretty dry); add the milk, pouring through a strainer and whisking as you add it.  Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until it thickens, then add salt and pepper.  I did this in a double-boiler and it took 25-30 minutes, but it may be quicker if you are cooking directly over the heat.

Meanwhile, after the 15 minutes, reduce the heat on the squash to medium-low and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the squash is pretty tender and starting to get brown in some places, another 5-10 minutes.  Add the garlic-herb mixture and the nuts and cook for another few minutes, then add salt and pepper and turn off heat.


To assemble the lasagne, butter or oil a 9"x12" baking dish, then spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of the baking dish and then lay down 3 noodles (or however many will fit).  Cover with half the cooked squash mixture, then 1 cup of the sauce, half the gruyere and one third of the parmesan/romano (I used a mix of the two).  Add another 3 noodles and then repeat the other layers and cover with a final 3 noodles.  Spread the remaining sauce on top and then the remaining parmesan/romano and then cover loosely with aluminum foil.  Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil and keep baking for another 20 minutes.  It will be bubbly and lightly brown at the edges.  Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

While the lasagne is cooking, prepare the kale.  Remove the stems and chop the kale into 1/2" strips/chunks.  Heat the oil in a skillet or pot and add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes, then add the pepper flakes and kale.  Add a pinch or two of salt and stir the kale to coat with oil, then add 2 cups of water.  Lower the heat and cook, covered, for 15-20 minutes, until the kale is tender.  Drain the kale or remove with tongs to serve - let drip so that it is not too soggy on the plates.  Serve each plate with kale topped with a square of lasagne (or the kale could be served on the side if you prefer).

Serves 6-8.

Spaghetti with Overgrown Arugula

This is a recipe we ate a lot last summer, since I grew lots of arugula. I didn't grow much this summer, but I did have this one pot that definitely counted as overgrown (not to mention neglected and ignored).  I had pretty much given up on eating it and was just putting off pulling it out and composting it, but then I remembered this recipe... It still had quite a nice level of spiciness but wasn't too strong to eat.

I harvested the whole pot of arugula, but after I sorted through it and threw out the bad parts, there was not quite as much.  It cooks down a lot and ends up looking like not much greens for your pasta, but if you pull apart the clumps and spread it throughout the pasta the taste is certainly strong enough to carry the dish.

Spaghetti with Overgrown Arugula
Adapted from Local Flavors by Deborah Madison

• 1/2 lb whole wheat spaghetti (or I used barilla plus)
• 1 large bunch or bag mature/overgrown arugula
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• several pinches of red pepper flakes
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup toasted walnuts
• 1/4-1/2 cup ricotta or goat cheese (optional - we were out so I omitted)
• freshly grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

I have adapted this to make it a one pot meal - takes just a few minutes longer.  In a large pot, salt water and bring to a boil, then cook spaghetti until al dente (still slightly firm).  Drain the pasta and reheat pan over medium heat.  Add the olive oil and when it is warm, cook the garlic and pepper flakes for 1 minute.  Add the arugula (slightly wet) and a few pinches of salt, and cook until arugula is wilted, 2-3 minutes, stirring to make sure it all gets cooked.  Add the cooked spaghetti and walnuts to the pan and stir to mix thoroughly.  Serve topped with ricotta/goat cheese and grated parmesan.

Tip for toasting nuts:  it is super easy to burn nuts.  I find the best way to toast is with the timer in my toaster oven - I just put them in on the tray and set it to the light setting and that way there is less of a risk of forgetting about them and burning them all (which has happened to me more times than I like to say).

Black bean and swiss chard quesadillas

This is literally what I ate for most of graduate school.  Quick, delicious, relatively healthy, and it has black beans... what more could I ask for?  I usually make this with swiss chard, since I grow it in my garden, but it works fine with spinach too.

Black Bean and Chard Quesadillas
Makes 1 full size quesadilla (sandwiching two full tortillas) or 2 folded over quesadillas.

• 1/2 cup cooked black beans
• 1 teaspoon chili powder (or less, to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (or mexican cheese mixture, or goat cheese)
• 4 large chard leaves, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup), or equivalent amount of spinach
• 1 tablespoon finely choppped cilantro (optional)
• 2 medium to large sized whole grain flour tortillas

Mix together the beans with the chili powder and cumin, then spread on the center of the bottom tortilla (or on one half of each of two tortillas, if you are making folded ones).  Mound the cheese in the center of the beans (or near the fold, if you are making folded ones) - the cheese will melt out as it cooks, so you want to put it near the center to start to keep it from getting too messy.  Put the chard and cilantro on top, then top with the second tortilla (or fold over).  I have always cooked these on a george forman grill or a panini press (folded over size works better on a forman, if you put the fold at the bottom it prevents everthing from coming out the bottom as it melts).  If you don't have either of those, you could try cooking them on a cast iron skillet, baking in a toaster oven (or conventional oven), or even microwaving (although I expect that would get soggy).  Serve with salsa, sour cream, or just plain.