What I've Been Cooking

Some of the latest recipes I have tried and enjoyed include:

Slow Cooker Black Bean Enchiladas - we didn't have corn, so I subsituted green pepper.  It was still pretty tasty.  I also used whole wheat tortillas and you couldn't tell.  This would be a great recipe for a chicken/veggie household because you could divide your crock in half with foil to separate the two.

Pecan Encrusted Salmon - seriously amazing.  We've been using a lot more nuts in our cooking, and this is recipe that is going to become a regular.

Slow Cooker Indian Spiced Chickpea Quinoa Stew - this was just so easy to put together.  I didn't have turnips or celery so just used other veggies we had on hand, which included onions.  I also found that it was somewhat lacking in flavor, so I added more salt and a dash of heavy cream, which made it pretty delicious.

Pecan Quinoa Stuffing - our acorn squash went bad before I made this, so Mr. Barefoot roasted up some sweet potatos and we had it with that.  Like I said, we've been using more nuts.

I found pretty much all of these recipes on Pinterest, which I both like and dislike as a search engine.  I like it because it allows me to sidestep all the spammy responses I get from Google that take me to sites which then force me to search again and only have terrible recipes.  I dislike it because when you google an ingredient, sometimes you just get a pretty picture of brussels sprouts and sometimes you get 300 of the same brussels sprouts recipe.  Does anyone have any way around that?

Eggplant Parmesean

I am a sucker for cooked eggplant.  Especially with tomato sauce and pasta.  So a few weeks ago, we had some extra eggplant and I turned to How to Cook Everything Vegetarian for a quick eggplant parm recipe.  I was surprised that Bittman recommended using flour, since in the past I've just coated the eggplant with breadcrumbs.

Ingredients:
Eggplant, sliced into 1/4 inch slices and dried out for at least an hour or so
Flour
Vegetable Oil
Spaghetti sauce
Parmesean cheese

Recipe:
1. Dredge eggplant slices in flour to coat both sides
2. Heat oil in skillet, heat oven to 350
3. Toss eggplant slices into skillet, allow them to get crispy brown on both sides.
4. Drain eggplant onto paper towels.
5. Pour spaghetti sauce into pan; place eggplant on top, top with Parmesan cheese.
6. Cook at 350 for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and browned.

Enjoy with pasta and more spaghetti sauce.

Cous Cous & Chickpea Salad

Mr. Barefoot made this for me for dinner tonight and it was amazing.  It's adapted from the Big Green Cookbook, which is a good cookbook but it's a little meat heavy.  This recipe originally had chicken in it, but it's really good with just the chickpeas - and it's vegan.

Ingredients:
1 cup broth
3/4 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

Procedure
1. Bring the broth to a boil
2. Add couscous & chickpeas
3. Cover with a lid and allow to sit for 10 minutes, then fluff.
4. Allow to cool slightly.  Then stir in the tomatoes, scallions, and vinegar.

Mustard Salmon

I'm not a big mustard person, but I do love mustard salmon.  It somehow has just the right blend of flavors, and it's amazing.
Tonight my husband made this - the original recipe is here, he added the breadcrumbs and they totally make the dish.
Salmon Glazed with Honey and Mustard
1 1/2 pound salmon fillet with skin (1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick)
1 garlic clove
3 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard 
2 tablespoons mild honey
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds, crushed
Panko bread crumbs
Preheat broiler. Line rack of a broiler pan with foil and lightly coat with oil. 
Pat salmon dry and put, skin side down, on pan. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt. 
Mince and mash garlic to a paste with a pinch of salt, then stir together with mustard, honey, vinegar, caraway seeds, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. 
Spread mustard mixture evenly on top of salmon, sprinkle panko on top of that, then broil 5 to 6 inches from heat until just cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. 
Transfer salmon to a platter with 2 large spatulas. 

Sweet Potato or Butternut Barley Risotto

Whenever I go on a Costco food purchasing binge, it's kind of a challenge to get to see whether we can eat everything I bought in the last week.  If we have to throw something away, Mr. Barefoot gets to be right and tell me I can't buy produce at Costco.

So how are we doing?  Last week, I bought a 6-pack of peppers, a 2 lb bag of green beans, 2 lbs of butternut squash and a giant bag of onions.  This week, I used the peppers as pizza toppings, and in the Quinoa and Pepper Saute, which was not very good.  Although it's better if you douse it in Greek yogurt or cheese. I used the green beans and butternut squash for the Indian Shrimp and Squash, which actually was pretty good.  Today, I used the last of the butternut squash in Sweet Potato Barley Risotto in the crockpot.  I went to link to this recipe and realized I'd never shared it.  How sad for my poor readers.  This recipe is from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes and you must go buy this book.  Seriously.  

You will need:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped

1 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried rosemary leaves

1 1/2 cups pearl barley, rinsed

3 cups vegetable stock

2 sweet potatoes peeled and cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I actually cut them into 1/2 inch cubes - with the butternut squash, I just used about a cup and a half.)  

Optional: mushrooms.  I've added baby bella mushrooms to this a couple times now and it's generally pretty good.  

Recipe:

1.  In a skillet, cook the onions until soft.  Add garlic and rosemary and saute for another minute.  Add barley, stir until coated with onions/garlic mixture.  Add stock and bring to a boil.  

2.  Place sweet potatoes and/or mushrooms in crockpot stoneware.  Add barley mixture.

3.  Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or slow for 4 hours.  

I'm not normally a person that eats barley, but firstly, I'll eat anything with sweet potatoes, and secondly, barley is actually pretty good - it has that nutty, wholesome flavor that anything "good for you" has, but this doesn't taste that much like a crunchy-granola type of meal.  Plus, it's very good for you.  I don't really eat anything else with barley in it, but I think I would like to branch out a bit - any suggestions?

Vegetarian Turducken

Mr. Barefoot's friends like to get together every year for a Turducken.  A turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken.  There was also stuffing involved.

Since I don't eat meat, I always challenge myself to come up with something vegetarian but equally impressive.  Once, peppers stuffed with peppers stuffed with peppers.  Once, peppers stuffed with mushrooms stuffed with onions.  This year, I decided to make a quiche stuffed with mini-quiche.  Something went wrong with the crust and it wasn't very good, but the quiche itself was pretty good, and not a disaster health-wise - I opted to use skim milk and greek yogurt rather than heavy cream, saving fat and adding protein.  

Recipes - for mini caramelized onion quiches

1 batch of quiche crust 

1 batch of caramelized onions 

2 eggs 

1/3 cup greek yogurt (or just pour it in.)  

Splash of milk

Shredded parmesean cheese

Procedure:

1.  Put crusts into mini-muffin cups.  Fill with Parmesan cheese on the bottom.  Add caramelized onions.    

2.  Mix together eggs, yogurt, and milk, until at a creamy consistency.  

3.  Pour mixture on top of onions.  

 4.  Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes.

Recipe:  Butternut Squash Quiche

1 cup butternut squash, cut into small cubes

3 eggs - separate whites from yolks.  

1 cup greek yogurt

large splash of milk

4 oz goat cheese

1 quiche crust

Procedure:

1. Cook the butternut squash on 400 degrees for 20 minutes until soft.  

2. Fit pan with quiche crust.  Add goat cheese to the bottom.  If you are stuffing the quiche with the mini-quiches, add the cooked mini-quiches into the pan.  

3. Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  

4.  Mix greek yogurt, egg yolks, and milk together.  Add butternut squash.  Fold in egg whites.  

5.  Pour over crust.  

Bake on 375 for 25-30 minutes.  

Menu Planning

I thought, with the new year, and slow-down of the schedule, as well as our recommitment to menu-planning healthy, vegetable laden meals, I would start by sharing our weekly or monthly menu plans with you.  This week, I'll be using up the bags of onions and green beans I bought at Costco, as well as the butternut squash.  I like to menu plan 4/5 meals for the week, because usually something comes up.  If we don't have a plan for the fifth meal, I'll make either veggie burgers with sweet potato fries, or pasta (this time with veggie crumbles meat sauce).  I'm also using recipes that I found in the January issue of Self magazine.  Usually I don't make most of these, but we're really trying to eat better and the recipes in this issue seemed to be better than usual, and a bit more veg-friendly.

So this week, we'll be eating (from www.self.com):
Quinoa and Pepper Sauté
Sauté 1 cup chopped red bell peppers, 1/2 cup chopped red onion and 1/4 tsp smoked paprika in 1 tsp olive oil until vegetables are soft, 5 minutes. Add 2 cups spinach; sauté until spinach wilts. Serve vegetable mixture over 1 cup cooked quinoa. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp grated Parmesan, 2 tsp chopped fresh parsley.


Indian Shrimp and Squash
Place 2 cups cubed butternut squash on a baking tray; drizzle with 2 tsp olive oil. Sprinkle with 1/2 tsp turmeric, black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper (optional); bake at 425° for 15 minutes. Add 4 oz frozen, raw shrimp to baking tray; drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil; sprinkle with 1/4 tsp ground cumin; bake until shrimp are cooked through and squash is tender, 10 minutes. Serve with 1 cup green beans sautéed in 1 tsp olive oil. Drizzle meal with lemon juice.


We will also be eating:  
Black bean and goat cheese burritos
Some kind of Butternut Squash Curry Soup or Butternut Squash Apple Soup

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Pizza

I never really thought pizza would become part of my cooking repertoire.  Pizza? That's for Joe Corbis.  However, I love trying different vegetables and cheese combinations and different sauces.  It's always fun and usually delicious (one spinach and feta experiment aside).
Tonight's pizza was eggplant; and upon realizing that we were out of mozzerella, I improvised.  The results are delicious.  You will need:

• 1/2 an eggplant, sliced thinly into small pieces.  
• Olive oil
• Garlic cloves
• Tomato sauce
• Pizza dough (use any recipe you like, I love the one from the New Best Recipe Cookbook)
• Goat cheese
• Parmesan Cheese, grated

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  
2. Spread eggplant, garlic, and olive oil in a pan.  Roast in oven for 20 minutes on one side, 15 on the other while the oven preheats.  
3. Prepare dough, preheat for 15-20 minutes in oven at the same time eggplant is roasting.  
4. Spread tomato sauce on dough; then top with eggplant, goat cheese, and parmesean cheese. 
5. Cook for 20 minutes.  

This is the first time a full sized pizza crust hasn't been soggy in the center, and I'm very pleased.  

Meatless Monday: Travel Easy Quinoa

Today's Meatless Monday recipe comes from Sister Barefoot, who introduced me to meatless mondays (as a vegetarian, every day is meatless, but I really love the idea and I try to be really supportive of my sister and other people who enjoy meatless Mondays.) Sister Barefoot has gotten much better at cooking from her first post-college days, in which everything she made was out of a box. (It was all delicious - she knows all the right boxes. There is nothing wrong with out-of-the-box eating - it's a pretty cheap, healthy, and easy way to eat without eating out all the time. Just watch the sodium.)
We went to Bonaire for a week, which means that some things can be found in grocery stores and some things can't be. We were diving up to 3 dives a day, and after that, you kinda want to just come home and sit and relax, not get all dressed up (meaning brush your hair) and go out on the town. We went on one trip where we went out to dinner every night, and it got pretty expensive. I'm also simply not a big fan of restaurant dining. We had three meals out while we were there, one featuring local Bonairian goat cheese, and cooked the rest of the time. It worked really well for us, because we are a "slow travel" type of family. If that's not your game, that's totally cool - but this meal was so good, I will totally make it at home.
Ingredients (feeds 5 hungry divers w/ some leftovers, or 8-10 normal people):

• 2 cups quinoa (brought from home)
  
• 1 can tomato paste (purchased at Cultimara Supermarket)
  
• Water
• 1/2 package frozen peas (probably about 1-2 cups. (purchased from Cultimara Supermarket)
  
• Optional: 1 pkg canned chicken (brought from home. If you don't like canned chicken, this is the best way to eat it.)
  
• Salt & Pepper

Procedure:

1. Rinse quinoa. If in a foreign land, use paper towels. If at home, use brand new quinoa friendly strainer you got for Christmas!!!!
   
2. Add tomato paste and water to pot. You want to add enough water that there is approx. 2 cups of liquid.
   
3. Add quinoa and seasonings. Cook for approximately 20-30 minutes, until delicious. If adding canned chicken, add after 15-20 minutes.
   
4. Add frozen peas. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, until peas are hot.
   

This meal was delicious, and made great leftovers, warm or cold.

Plantain & Black Bean Fritters

I tried these at a tasting for the wedding and decided I had to learn to make them myself. I tried this recipe from Sara Moulton and modified it a little.

Ingredients:

• 3 black plantains
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• minced garlic

1.) Start by mincing the garlic and sauteing it a bit, then add the black beans and cover with water.

2.) Add the plantains to a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.

3.) Eventually the plantains will start to split. Pull them out and mash them up. I would probably do this with a food processor next time. Add bread crumbs until dough is manageable. I used flour because I ran out of breadcrumbs, but I don't recommend it because it didn't cook entirely.

3.) Drain the black beans and onions. Put into a food processor and pulse into a paste.

4.) Mash into a kind of circle.

5.) Spoon black bean filling and shape into a fritter. Make more.

6.) Put oil in pan, fry fritters until delicious.

7.) Eat! Yummy!

(I think next time we might deep fry them. mmmmm.)

BB-Fu

I've been wanting to try barbeque tofu for a little while now. I tried it last Friday and served it up with some No Mayo Potato Salad, and some corn on the cob.
I don't have a kitchen timer yet, so I actually cooked everything when I got home from work, then tossed it in the crockpot to keep it warm while I collected Mr. Barefoot from the airport. I'm going to try it again soon (I found an Asian grocery store that stocks cheap tofu) without pre-cooking everything. I may still fry up the tofu because I like for it to be a bit crispy - although if I got some sub rolls, a messy barbeque sandwich with slightly soft/shredded tofu might be amazing...
Ingredients:

• 1/2 package of tofu, cut into 1-inch chunks. I froze mine and then thawed it out - for stuff like this, the tougher the better.
  
• BBQ sauce - I used some I bought at Trader Joes. Whatever flavor you prefer.
  
• 2 ears Corn on the Cob.

Equipment:

• 1.5 quart crockpot
• Stove, frying pan
• Microwave
  

Procedure:

1. Thaw and drain tofu. Saute in a frying pan until crispy on all sides (either kind of yellowish or brownish).
   
2. Pour BBQ sauce in the crockpot until bottom is covered. Add tofu. Pour more BBQ sauce on top and stir tofu until well coated.
   
3. Microwave corn for 4 minutes, in husks. Shuck corn under cold water. (Seriously - try it. It is the most helpful thing my grandpa ever taught me. Well, that and never try to exit a burning building via a revolving door. But I use this tip more.)
   
4. Cut corn cobs in half. Add to crockpot on top of the tofu. Don't worry if it gets a little saucy.
5. Cook for 2 hours.
   

If anybody wants to try doing this with the corn un-cooked before putting it in, I would say cook it for 4-6 hours and let me know how it tastes and whether the tofu holds up.

Overall, I hadn't really considered using the crockpot at a good way to keep things warm/finish things off before a dinner party - but it really is excellent for that, and I think it will come in handy at future family parties.

Vegetarian Wedding Food

Okay, so I contacted a vegetarian caterer in Bethesda to gauge how much food costs if you have it catered to a place like my church.
This was the food they/I suggested (I told them it would be fall, which is why there is so much pumpkin on the menu...and does pumpkin lasagna sound fantastic or weird?)
Appetizers
Veggie Platter with Hummus
Warm Artichoke Spinach Dip with Melba & Crusty Baguette Spears
Filo Triangles Stuffed with Pumpkin or your choice
ON THE BUFFET
Roasted Veggie or Pumpkin Lasagna
Ratatouille and Grilled Polenta Moons OR Veggie Chili
Romaine or Spinach Salad with Vinaigrette (chef's suggestion)
Artisan Bread & Butter
Coffee/Tea Service
Cranberry Punch

Does this sound like food that carnivores would eat? I think it sounds amazing.

Healthy Macaroni and Cheese?

It exists! These are some modifications to an allrecipes recipe. I used fresh sweet potatoes which I just mashed up by hand - but you could either use canned, or put em in the slow cooker at the beginning of the day so you don't have to deal with boiling them and everything. If you do that, put the beans in with them. Adjust accordingly to make a two-person serving.

• 1 (16 ounce) package elbow macaroni
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg, or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 can white beans
  
• 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups shredded, yellow sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup shredded, white extra-sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter

Procedure:
1. Boil water and cook macaroni. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour, and stir until the mixture becomes paste-like and light golden brown, about 5 minutes. Gradually whisk the evaporated milk and water into the flour mixture, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Season to taste with red pepper flakes, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until the mixture is thick and smooth, 10 or so minutes.
3. Grind white beans into a paste in the food processor, mix with mashed sweet potatoes. Once the sauce has thickened, add the sweet potato mixture to the sauce. Return to a simmer.
4. Add cheddar cheese and melt it. Then mix with pasta.
5. Put everything in a big dish. Cover with breadcrumbs. Cook for 30 minutes.

I love chinese food.

Yeah. The sweet and sour tofu was delicious.
The vegetables we used were mushrooms, peppers, and carrots. I wanted to use broccoli but somebody hates it. (In case you were wondering why we're not married, that's why.)

Slowcooker Curry

I don't like Indian food. Some of my friends from college claimed that our mutual dislike of curry made my roommate and I racist. I dispute that by pointing out that I have a number of Indian friends, and that I dislike as many American foods as ethnic dishes. That being said, I dislike spicy food. Like, a lot. It burns my mouth and I find it uncomfortable. I don't like the sensation of having my mouth set on fire. Some people apparently do. So I don't go out for Indian food.
However, making it myself? So I can adjust how much curry goes in? Yum.
Here is the recipe for a simple "No Hurry Vegetable Curry" based on the recipe in "Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker." It is adapted slightly for our mondo-normous six quart slow cooker.
Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 2-4 potatoes, diced
• Onion - 1 medium, diced
• 2-3 carrots, sliced on a diagonal
• garlic, minced
• curry powder
• cayenne pepper
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained
  
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  
• 8 oz string beans, sliced into 1 inch pieces
  
• frozen peas - half cup
• half cup of coconut milk.
  

Equipment:

• Six quart slow cooker
• Pan (I've renamed my 2 inch deep frying pan/skillet/cooking dish the "always pan" because I use it daily.)
• Spatula
  

Procedure

1. Put onion and carrot in pan on medium high heat in some olive oil to soften
2. Add garlic, curry powder, and cayenne pepper (this is where your personal spice tolerance comes in). Allow to coat and heat.
   
3. Put in slow cooker stoneware.
   
4. Add potatoes, chickpeas, green beans, tomatoes, and anything else except the frozen peas and coconut milk.
5. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. (If your crockpot is defective like ours and runs too hot, go for 5-7.)
6. Add coconut milk and green peas 1/2 hour before serving. Stir into curry.
   
7. Serve over naan bread or basmati rice. (I love the Trader Joe's Na'an bread. Its amazing.)
   

Meal planning

Mark and I are striving to do two things: Lead a more sustainable/environmental existence and meal-plan. Fortunately, the two work out well together. We have a farmer's market here in Columbia that is open on Sundays. It is in a parking lot of a grocery store. We pick up fresh produce, and then get whatever else we need from the grocery store. Everything (usually) goes in reusable blue giant bags.
Today we got zucchinis, fresh basil, asparagus, tomatoes, and yellow squash. I also got some cucumbers because I like them.
I'm starting to find recipes for this week - here is tomorrow's, courtesy of Giada De Laurentis

Broiled Zucchini and Potatoes with Parmesean Crust
Ingredients:
4 small new potatoes (red or white, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter)
2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 small zucchini, cut in 1/2 lengthwise (about 1-inch wide by 5 inches long)
Pinch kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Procedure:
Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes and cook until just tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes and let cool. When cool, cut the potatoes in half.

Place a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add the butter, garlic, thyme and rosemary and let cook until the butter melts, about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, season the cut sides of the zucchini and potatoes with salt and pepper. Carefully place the zucchini and potatoes cut side down in the melted butter. Let them cook until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes.

Preheat the broiler. Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the browned zucchini and potatoes on the baking sheet cut side up. Sprinkle the tops with the Parmesan. Place in the broiler until the cheese is golden brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a plate and serve.

I'll let you know how it is!