Last Sunday, I decided to laze about and do nothing but actually enjoy my day off by doing the things I love. Since I love to cook, I did cook a bit. I made a wacky cake with peanut butter icing and I whipped up curried coconut tofu.

I kinda just made this up as I went along, but since I was asked for the recipe, I will try to replicate it here.

First, I mixed up my curry powder because I didn’t think I had any. Using my mortar and pestle, I ground black peppercorns, whole cloves, turmeric, cinnamon, poppy seeds, cardamom pods, and a garlic powder. After all of this, I realized I had some curry powder, so I threw some in the mortar and pestle. A warning: make sure the cloves are either well ground or you pick them out. I ended up biting into a few whole cloves when I ate this. Also, after grinding the spice mixture, fish out the cardamom pods as well. You don’t want to choke on one of these. Naturally, if you only have curry powder, you can use that. I didn’t really want to mix my own, but I am often the victim of an overflowing spice cabinet.

I heated some light olive oil and a little hot chili oil in my wok. As that was heating, in a separate bowl, I tossed some drained and cubed tofu in corn starch. This was my first time doing so, and I think it turned out well. It makes the tofu a little crispy.

When the oil was hot enough, I threw the tofu in the wok and let cook for a bit. I then added some chopped green onions and minced garlic to the wok.

After the tofu was nice and crispy and the garlic and onion was cooked down, I lowered the heat and stirred in a whole can of coconut milk, adding the spice mixture, a splash of lime juice, a little more garlic powder, and some sambel olek, because I like things spicy. A dash or two of hot sauce is good too.

I didn’t serve this over rice, but you could. Also, I had a few florets of cooked broccoli hanging out in the fridge that I just threw into my bowl. The next time I make this, broccoli and maybe some carrots. Red peppers would be nice too, as would just about any veggie you would like to add, except celery, because we all know how I feel about celery.

Have a great day everyone and keep cooking!

I mentioned in my last post that I had an idea to use up any bitter lettuce you might have.

It dawned on me to use the lettuce as the base of pesto!  This is a wonderful way to make pesto when you don’t have an abundance of basil  plants or to make this in the winter, when fresh basil can be scarce.

Lettuce Pesto

A few handfuls of mixed lettuce, torn in to pieces

10 fresh basil leaves, torn

½ cup of olive oil

3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon minced garlic or 3 cloves of garlic

Two tablespoons slivered almonds

1 teaspoon of dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Recipe yields approximately 1 and ¼ cups of pesto.

Variations

This is my favorite part, because I hate to make anything the same way twice. This would taste great with grated romano or asaigo cheeses. You could add fresh oregano and parsley. I used dried because my plants aren’t really that big. I think using spinach would be a nice addition, if not the sole leafy green you use. Feel free to use your wilted salad greens, too!  I used slivered almonds because that is what I had. I am sure you could use pine nuts or walnuts as well.  Have fun with it!

In case you were curious, I served the pesto on some sourdough Italian bread from local business, The Bakery at Conroy’s Organics.

Have a great day friends!  As always, keep cooking!

Hello friends!  I have so much lettuce! Unfortunately it had decided to bolt.  I didn’t know what that meant, so I searched wikipedia and I found this definition:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lettuce#Description.

Apparently, bolting makes the leaves bitter.  My husband and father noticed the bitterness, but I haven’t.  To me, it tastes like arugula, which I love, even though it is bitter.

Because we have so much lettuce and I always feel guilty buying bottled salad dressing (unless it’s Annie’s Green Goddess or blue cheese dressing), I decided to whip up something while I was in my typical morning-running late-tizzy.

Mustard be in a Tizzy Dressing

-Store brand Dijon mustard (I use Hannaford brand.)
- Badia Complete Seasoning
-Rice vinegar (I use Nakano Natural flavor.)

It should be noted, I threw this together and I didn’t measure anything. What I usually do is squirt some mustard in a small bowl and gradually add the vinegar until the mustard is thinned out to a consistency I like. I then add a few dashes of the Complete Seasoning. Also, if you have a sensitivity to or are anti MSG, be aware the Complete Seasoning contains MSG.

Now, I love salads, but what else can I do with this much lettuce? I can make a lettuce soup, which apparently makes good use of bolted lettuce. I have looked up a few recipes and I plan on knocking together something this week. I have also been blending the lettuces and the Swiss chard into my Green Smoothies. I also have a ton of raw broccoli left over from a party, so that has been going into my smoothies as well.

Besides these ideas, while writing this, I came up with a great idea to use up some of the plentiful lettuce…but I am not sure it will work, so keep your eyes peeled and if it works, I will blog about it.

Have a great day everyone, and keep cooking!

Hi friends!  Today want to talk about garlic scapes.  In case you don’t know what a garlic scape is, it is the flower stalk of  a hardneck garlic plant, picked before the flower can bloom, thus enabling the garlic to grow bigger, without having to use energy to bloom a flower.

Here’s one of my little helpers, hanging out in the garlic.

When we first bought our house, I noticed that a previous occupant grew several garlic plants against the garage. But, because we were so busy working on the house, I didn’t do anything with them last year. Now we have our garden in and the garlic is flourishing. When the plants started shooting out their scapes this year, I wasn’t going to let them go to waste.

With a little help from one of the gnomes, the scapes were harvested.

All clean and ready to go!

As you can see, my harvest was a large one!  I didn’t quite know what to use them for first, so I decided to use them as a  topping on myblue cheese  BBQ tempeh sandwich.

I also figured they made a dandy replacement for the yucky stalk of celery in a Bloody Mary.

I also chopped some up to use in a polenta Parmesan dish I made last night, which I will be sharing on the blog soon.  I plan on using as many as I can and then freezing the rest.  You can use the scapes to make pesto too, but I my basil plant isn’t big enough for that, yet.

Have a great night everybody, and keep cooking!

Soup indeed, black bean soup more specifically. My friend asked me for this recipe after she had the soup almost a year ago at my house. That made me happy, because apparently she liked the soup so much, she remembered it and wanted to make some herself.

If you were to come to my house for dinner, there is a good chance I will feed you soup, salad, and good crusty bread. That is my favorite meal to feed people. There is something so satisfying about this type of meal. I love the communal feel of this type of meal (sorry for the rhyme). It’s easy to throw together or make ahead, giving you time to enjoy your guests company, instead of fussing about every last detail. The reason you invite guests over for dinner is to hangout and catch up, not be stressed.

So, soup! This is is my tried and true black bean soup that I make often. Now I know summer is approaching, but since here in Upstate New York, our evenings are still chilly from time to time, you could easily justify whipping up a batch of this on the stove top, or you can even throw this in your crock pot for an easy meal.  Sorry the photo isn’t great.  The light was low and I was hungry by the time I got to snap a photo.

Mandy’s Black Bean Soup

2 teaspoons of olive oil

1 cup chopped red onions

3 minced garlic cloves

1 cup chopped bell peppers (I like red or orange)

2 large cans Goya black beans

1 can (14.5 oz) Redpack diced tomatoes (my favorite brand!)

1 cup vegetable broth

1 envelope Sazon Goya

To taste:

chili powder

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

cayenne pepper

hot sauce

garlic powder

lime juice

If you make this in a crock pot, cook your onions and garlic down in a frying pan first and then add the rest of the ingredients.

For stove top cooking:

Heat oil in the soup pot, and add the onions, garlic, and peppers. When these ingredients have cooked down, add the beans (use one can with all the liquid and drain the second can), the tomatoes (drain all of the juice out of the tomatoes), and the Sazon. Now, add the vegetable broth and give everything a big stir. Add the remaining ingredients, using your own taste buds as a guide.

I usually let this simmer on low for about 45 minutes, stirring often. If the soup looks too thick, just add a little water.

Serve with sour cream, pickled jalapeno slices, and tortilla chips. The last time I made this, I didn’t have any bell peppers, so I sliced up two lonely, leftover carrots I found in the crisper. It made a nice addition to the soup, so I might do this again. I think adding a cup of corn kernels would be nice as well.  As for the tortilla chips you see here, these were some leftover whole wheat tortillas that I brushed with olive oil,  sprinkled with salt, cut into triangles, and baked on a baking sheet until crispy.

I also wanted to mention that I am harvesting the garlic scapes from my garden tonight and I would like any suggestions you may have for preparation. I am going to attempt to freeze some as well, so let me know your favorite way to eat ‘em!

Have a lovely day friends and keep cooking!