Tag Archives: Vegetarian Recipes

Sandwich of the Month: Grilled eggplant panini w/ dill and pickled onion

For this installation of my Sandwich of the Month series, I wanted to keep it light and corpse-free (i.e. vegetarian). Eggplant and mushrooms are the heartiest of all vegetables, and since last month’s edition featured baby portabellas, it was time to showcase our good friend the eggplant.

If you’ve ever cooked this lovely purple vegetable, you know how quickly and greedily it absorbs oil, which I decided to forgo by grilling it instead. Next, I thought of pickled onions for crunch, dill for earthiness, and the mild but easy-melting mozzarella for the necessary cheesiness.

Grilled eggplant panini

Don’t fret - you do not need a panini maker to make these sandwiches. Here is a nifty trick that I learned from Rachael Ray: Make panini on a regular grill pan instead, weighing the panini down with a heavy skillet or soup pot (making sure the bottom is clean, of course), which presses down on the sandwich as it cooks, just like a panini maker does. Ta-da!

(Yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 small yellow onion, sliced

3 oz white vinegar + 4 oz water

3/4 tsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 lb eggplant (1 large or 2 small)

Olive oil

About 5 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced

2 tbsp freshly chopped dill

4 whole wheat flatbreads

Procedure: In a bowl, combine onion, vinegar and water with sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and let stand for 30 min. In the meantime, slice eggplants lengthwise, 1/3″-thick. Place a grill pan over a medium flame and lightly brush with olive oil. Once hot, place eggplant slices on grill and cook about 3 min per side, flipping once - or until grill marks appear and the eggplant becomes pliable. Remove from grill and turn heat down to medium-low.

Drain the onions and discard marinade. To assemble panini, place two flatbreads on a flat surface. Distribute eggplant slices (season eggplant with salt at this point, if desired) and pickled onions between the two flatbreads, and top with cheese and dill. Cover with remaining flatbreads and carefully place sandwiches on grill pan. (Or, if you’re a proud owner of a panini maker, use that instead.) Place a heavy skillet or pot on each panini and cook for 5 min. Then, carefully flip using a spatula, replace heavy objects, and cook for another 5 min - or until cheese has melted. Cut each panini into quarters and serve.

Grilled eggplant panini

Do you have any fun ideas for vegetarian sandwiches?

 

Anticipation & garlic roasted Brussels sprouts

I was going to write an elaborate review of a renown pizza restaurant that I recently visited as today’s post but couldn’t bring myself to do it. My mind is a bit preoccupied right now because I’m flying out to Paris - which is like, my favorite place in the world - tomorrow night. I know, I know, I should be jumping-up-and-down, can’t-keep-my-pants-on, bragging-like-an-***hole, excited right now. But instead, I am nervous and a little scared. This is the first time I’ll be flying by myself, and to a foreign country, at that. Hopefully my nerves will calm as soon as I land across the ocean and this turns out to be as fantastic a trip as I originally anticipated.

There will be no new posts for the next 12 days or so, but follow me on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates!

Garlic roasted Brussels sprouts (8) copy

Here is a simple, healthy, vegan recipe for Brussels sprouts that is inspired by, oddly enough, the Provencal-style roasted potatoes at Home/made in Red Hook.

(Yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb Brussels sprouts

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dried thyme

8 garlic cloves with skins intact

1/2 tsp salt + 1/2 tsp pepper

Procedure: Heat oven to 400F. Wash sprouts and pat dry. Trim bottoms, peel off outer layer and cut in half lenghtwise. Scatter onto baking sheet and toss with remaining ingredients. Roast 35-40 min, flipping twice while roasting, until sprouts are brown on the outside and mushy on the inside. Serve hot.

Spiced refried beans

I wish I could write a witty little intro blurb about this bean recipe - a sort of literary version of the Mad Men dancing-in-slow-motion Heinz beans (some of you must know what I’m talking about, right?) - but I cannot. Beans are beans, and they are not romantic. Beans are a utilitarian, cheap, peasant food. And like many other peasant foods, beans are versatile, nutritious and filling. Pinto beans, for instance, have 100 calories per one 1/2 cup serving, and they are high in fiber, protein and help decrease cholesterol. Although they’re not very dreamy, beans are definitely worth incorporating into your diet.

Spiced refried beans

These beans can be a dip, topping or side dish.

Ingredients:

2 15 oz cans pinto beans, drained, rinsed

1 large onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 c water

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/3 cayenne pepper

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Procedure: Pour half of the beans into a blender with water and puree. Set aside. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic with a pinch of salt and cook until softened, about 4 min. Add beans and bean puree along with spices and a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 min - until beans are warmed through. (Add more water if thinner consistency is desired).

Spiced refried beans

Taste and re-season if necessary. Serve hot.

Spiced refried beans

What are your favorite ways to prepare beans?

Potato and squash frittata

Hello, readers. Happy new year!

Although I hope that you all have enjoyed a bountiful holiday season, along with the basted birds, creamy casseroles, grandma’s pies, and neighbors’ cookies, the holidays are O-V-E-R. The time has come for us to stop stuffing our faces and consider what’s happening inside our bodies. I’m sure I speak for more than myself when I say that January is the month when I want to put the indulgence on hold and bring my waistline back to the way it was before November 22nd. Here is a healthy, vegetarian, and might I add beautiful, dish to get us on the right track for this month.

Potato and squash frittata

Here is a healthy, vegetarian, and might I add beautiful, dish to get us on the right track for this month.

(Yield: 6 servings)

Ingredients:

1 large russet potato, sliced 1/8″-thick

1 small green squash, sliced 1/8″-thick

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp butter

4 eggs

1/4 c milk

1/3 c grated Parmesan cheese, plus 2 tbsp

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 chopped scallion for garnish

Procedure: Preheat oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, 1/3 c cheese and a pinch of salt and pepper. In another bowl, toss together potato, squash and thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Grease pie dish with butter. Evenly layer vegetables into dish and pour egg mixture over the top.

Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 25 min. Then, uncover, sprinkle with remaining cheese, and bake for another 10-15 min, until the top is golden brown.

Potato and squash frittata

Let stand for 10 min before slicing. Garnish with scallions.

Potato and squash frittata

What to do with frozen cooked shrimp: Peanut-y shrimp w/ cilantro

This recipe came to me when I was in bed late at night, the night that that bitchy hurricane first reared its ugly head. My mom had just stocked up on several pounds of frozen cooked shrimp and I knew I’d want to do something cool with it the following day. Except, this ingredient is not my favorite. People who take their cooking seriously aren’t generally fond of pre-cooked ingredients - unless they are Sandra Lee, of course. Using an ingredient like this can actually be kind of embarrassing. But you know what? Not with this recipe, it’s not.

Seriously, it’s amazing. Would I lie to you?

(Yield: 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb medium sized peeled de-veined cooked frozen shrimp

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbsp soy sauce

3 tbsp peanut butter (smooth or chunky will do)

1 tsp sriracha sauce (or another similar heat source)

1/2 tsp yellow curry powder

About 3 tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Procedure: Place frozen shrimp into a colander. Run under lukewarm water until shrimp starts to thaw. Leave in colander over a bowl and allow to defrost completely, draining off all liquid. Heat a saute pan over medium-low heat and add oil. Add onion and salt, stir, and cook until softened and just starting to brown. Then add soy sauce, peanut butter, sriracha and curry. Stir until thinned out and homogenous. Add shrimp and stir to coat evenly in sauce. Cook until shrimp are warmed through, about 4 min. Turn heat off and re-season if necessary. Top with cilantro right before serving.

I served this over red quinoa but it will also work over rice or noodles.

How do you feel about using pre-cooked shrimp?

Pan-fried Brussels sprouts

During a recent visit to the doctor, I was given a strange and unprecedented diagnosis that requires me to watch my diet for the next week or so. Basically, I was advised to avoid caffeine, chocolate, carbs, citrus, and tomatoes - oh, the horror! Between you and me, I believe I was misdiagnosed, but just in case I wasn’t, I’ll follow the doctor’s orders. As difficult as it is to avoid all the aforementioned items, health always comes first.

In light of this diagnosis, I decided to venture out into the world of unknown to me vegetables. I’ve eaten Brussels sprouts before but never cooked them at home. These mini cabbages are very high in Vitamin C and are in fact quite popular in Brussels. Also, it is said that they retain most of their nutrients whist roasting or sauteing, but lose them if boiled.

Note: Brussels sprouts are bitter when raw and when overcooked - make sure to taste them throughout the cooking process and turn the heat off at the right time. You will know when they are perfectly cooked when the inside is a little mushy and the outside is still crunchy.

(Yield: 4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb Brussels sprouts

2 tbsp olive oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp paprika

1/3 tsp yellow curry powder

Salt

Procedure: Rinse and drain sprouts. Trim white ends and peel off dark green outside leaves. Slice in half lengthwise. Place large skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. Add garlic, cook for 30 secs, and add sprouts. Season with paprika, curry and salt. Stir and allow to caramelize. Cook for about 12 min, stirring occasionally. Serve hot.

Pan-fried plantains w/ kick-ass sour cream dip

Latin-American cuisine is not something I cook a lot of at home. I am not quite sure why since it is one of my favorites, but ever since these tequitos and now these ah-mazing platanos, I hope my patterns are changing.

I tweeted about how excited I was to finally cook this exotic fruit and my e-friend Olga - from one of my favorite food blogs, Mango & Tomato - tweeted back and helped me figure out how it’s done. Thanks, gurrl!

You’re probably wondering just what is so kick-ass about this dip but I am not going to tell you. I guess you’ll just have to make it and taste for yourself…

Ingredients:

2 very ripe plantains

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp butter

Salt

“Kick-ass dip”:

3 tbsp sour cream

1/2-1 tsp sriracha sauce (to taste)

1 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp lime zest

1 small garlic clove, crushed

Procedure: Cut off about 1″ of both ends of plantains. Peel and slice on a diagonal into 1/2″-thick slices. Place skillet over medium heat and add oil and butter. When oil is hot, add about half of slices into oil and cook 2-3 min per side, until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt while plantains are still very hot. Fry the second batch and repeat procedure. Serve warm.

To make dip, simply stir together all ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

This dip would also pair fabulously with crudités (that’s raw vegetables to you un-cultured Americans) or tortilla chips.

In other news, I will be spending next week camping in Cape Cod. The thought of going an entire week sans manicure kind of gives me the shakes, but I am pretty excited for the change of scenery and the much, much needed relaxation. While there, I plan to visit Provincetown so I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions as to where I should eat/drink while there? Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Falafel w/ yogurt dipping sauce

Not too long ago, falafel was a sure fire sign of a good time for me. Over this past summer, my friends and I made it a point to go “dirty bar hopping” at least every other weekend, in either the East or West Village. These nights, more often than not, ended around four in the morning, with the acquisition of falafel sandwiches – at a thrifty $3 each - from Mamoun’s. If we were able to make it there by the end of the night, with our limbs and intestines intact, the night was considered a success. We would join the out-the-door line of belligerent young people like ourselves and wait to be handed our respective crispy falafel sandwiches, in a pita, with lettuce, tomatoes, onions and tahini sauce.

As of late, falafel has become quite repulsive to me. Every now and then, I work as a server in a catering hall on the weekends for extra cash. Falafel is a big hit over there, and even though their version tastes alright, it’s hard to appreciate it after seeing how the chef prepares it. Basically, there’s a vat of falafel dough, into which he plunges an ice-cream scoop and releases his prey into the depths of the deep-fryer, the oil in which is nearly black. Yes, I know, Mamoun’s technique is probably no different, but the experience is just completely different when I’m working, as opposed to when I’m drunk and excited in the hot New York City night.

The other day I was going through some of my papers and found a list of dishes I’d planned to eventually cook. As I checked off Boeuf Bourguignon, I noticed the word falafel underneath and thought, “It’s time.”

(Yield: About 12 pieces)

Ingredients:

1 19 oz can chick peas, drained and rinsed

1 small yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 generous handful of cilantro

1 tsp baking powder

1 tbsp cumin seeds

2/3 tsp salt

2/3 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cayenne pepper to taste

5 tbsp flour, divided

1 tbsp sesame seeds

Vegetable or Peanut oil for frying

Procedure: Combine the first 9 ingredients in a food processor with 3 tbsp flour. Pulse until combined but not pureed.

Taste and re-season if necessary. Cover and refrigerate for 30 min. In a shallow dish, combine the remaining flour and sesame seeds. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add oil. When the oil ripples gently, it’s ready. Moisten your hands with water and hold about a tablespoon’s worth of dough in your palms; roll gently into a ball and press to form a patty.

Dredge in flour, shake off access, and place in skillet. Place patties about 1/2” apart. Fry 4-5 min per side, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

These turned out pretty good but not exactly what I expected. I think next time I’ll use bread crumbs instead of flour. But, the yogurt sauce I served them with (1/2 c plain yogurt, a handful of cilantro, chopped, and 1 tbsp lemon juice) was perfection.

The ever-elusive chick pea wrap

Some years ago, I bought a wrap in my school’s cafeteria. The wrap was, along with the other items in that refrigeration unit, catered (for lack of a better term) by a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant. The overpriced, flatbread wrap contained lightly mashed, well-seasoned spicy chick peas, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I never ate it again though – I rarely eat cafeteria food – so I don’t know why I remembered about this insignificant school meal today but remember I did.

I attempted to re-create the wrap and I must say that I came dangerously close to success. However, I used a regular wrap instead of flatbread and added tomatoes for some pizazz. Next time, I think I will add garlic and sautéed onions.

It’s also worth mentioning that this is a great lunch or dinner idea for vegetarians (you sick bastards… Just kidding… Or am I?)

(Yield: About 6 wraps)

Chick pea wrap filling:

2 15 oz cans chick peas, rinsed, drained

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp lemon juice

1.5 tsp yellow curry powder

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 pinch cayenne pepper

¾ tsp freshly ground black pepper + ¾ tsp salt

Procedure: Combine all ingredients in a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Puree until chunky (we’re not making hummus) and re-season if necessary. Ta-da!

Orzo summer salad

This was my first time cooking orzo. I didn’t know what I wanted to make initially, though I definitely didn’t want to make a soup. This salad (and let’s face it: I’m only calling it a salad to feel less guilty about eating pasta) turned out light, simple, and therefore fabulous.

(Yield: 4-6 servings)

Ingredients:

1 c uncooked orzo, cooked al dente according to package directions

1 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

2 c spinach leaves

2 vine tomatoes, chopped

4 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed

Salt/pepper

While orzo is cooking, heat oil and butter in a large skillet over low-medium heat. Add garlic and cook for about 2 min, until fragrant. Add spinach and wilt, about 1 min. Turn heat off. Add orzo, tomatoes, cheese and black pepper to taste. Serve warm or at room temp.

How do you like to prepare orzo? Please share!

Eggplant and Chick Pea Sauté

This dish is one of those happy accidents, when you throw a bunch of stuff in a pan and hope for the best. This turned out to be a vegetarian success.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large eggplant

Sea salt

1 yellow onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced, divided

1 large can (about 2 c) chick peas, drained, rinsed

1 tsp lemon zest

Handful of fresh herbs, chopped*

Freshly-ground black pepper

*Parsley, dill, basil and/or cilantro.

Partially peel the eggplant (I like the texture. Peel entirely if desired.) and cut into ¾” cubes. Toss with a generous amount of sea salt and let stand for 15 min (to draw out the bitterness.) Then rinse, drain and pat dry.

Heat the oil on medium heat in a sauté pan. Add the onion and 2/3 of the garlic. Sauté 3 min and add eggplant. Season with ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper, stir and partially cover with lid. Sauté for 10-12 min until softened and browned, stirring frequently. Add chick peas and sauté for 2 more min. Add zest, herbs and the remaining garlic. Stir. Re-season if necessary.