falafels for the pita-less

 

homemade falafel balls, tzatziki sauce, tahini, tomato…all squished in a slice of whole wheat bread

traditional? no way. delicious? you bet!

(Best sandwich I ever made? Better ask this one…)

Black Bean –Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Kale Chips

Black Bean –Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Kale Chips

Kale chips.

Have you heard of these?

They’ve been somewhat of a sensation in the food blogosphere lately, or perhaps a while back (food trends move fast!).

I honestly didn’t know what to expect, but being a fan of all things green and leafy, and all things oven-roasted, decided to give it a try.

The verdict?

Delicious! I think what surprised me the most (aside from the fact that even a particular diehard veggie-hating frat boy ate them) was that they were, in fact, crispy, not just oven-roasted greens. Like shatter-in-your-mouth crisp. Mmm.

Kale Chips

Inspired by Honest Fare

• 2 bunches kale
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Paprika
• Cayenne pepper
• Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Wash kale and tear into chip-sized pieces, removing tough and bitter stems.
3. Toss with olive oil, salt, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
4. Spread onto a greased baking sheet and bake for approx. 12 min, or until crisp and starting to brown (but be careful not to burn, or it will taste bitter).
5. (Repeat with remaining kale. I used one very large bunch, and it yielded 3(!) pans.)
6. Sprinkle with sugar while hot.

Notes:

• Feel free to change up spices, or go simple with just salt, pepper, and olive oil. A sprinkle of sugar helps cut the bitter veggie taste. Amounts are inexact; the huge bunch of kale I used yielded 3 pans!
• I served them with this easy recipe from Eating Well (so good and so easy! I <3 sweet potatoes)

Now that’s alotta kale.

P.S.: this is a shout-out to you, seester. Now go and make kale chips!

portobello frittata and avocado on sundried tomato focaccia

 

perhaps the best sandwich I ever made.

thanksgiving 2010: snapshots

the menu.

the turkey. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roast-spatchcocked-turkey

the sides.

(beets with raspberry vinaigrette and orange http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/beets-with-orange-vinaigrette-recipe/index.html)

(parsnip brioche bread pudding http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/roasted-parsnip-bread-pudding)

the drinks.

the table.

(nothing like a little engrish on the thanksgiving table. )

the plate.

the pies.

(vegan pumpkin pie)

(no-bake pumpkin cheesecake)

the leftovers.

(turkey and sausage  jambalaya)

the recipes: to follow.

happy thanksgiving 2010!

TGIT and black bean butternut squash tacos

Thursday may be the new Friday here but that’s only because the four-day week feels like a six-day one, filled to the brim with problem sets, labs, and papers. Did I mention that it was my first midterms week?

Five thirty never felt so good, and as I left my last class yesterday I had the irresistible urge to come home to my nice upper-west side apartment building for a nice long unwind with a glass of red wine, a new recipe from the food network, my cat, and a foot massage from the loving husband.

 Instead, I waited 20 minutes for the elevator to reach the fifteenth floor (where my dorm room is), as each person insisted on getting off every other floor, climbed up two flights of stairs, and collapsed (finally!) on the dingy floor, sans wine, boyfriend (ha, ha), and most tragically of all, sans cat. And so I made the best of things, packing my reusable grocery totes and walking 3 blocks to the nearest supermarket, lugging a butternut squash back to the dorm and hijacking my friend’s suite kitchen. Because even if I am only a stressed-out 18 year-old, at the very least I can have some black bean and butternut squash tacos.

Black Bean and Butternut Squash Tacos

Makes: 4 servings

Adapted from foodnetwork.com

• 1 can refried black beans
• 1 small butternut squash
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt (approx 1 t), pepper (approx ½ t)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 8 soft corn tortillas
• sour cream for serving (for vegan recipe, simply use soy sour cream or omit)

Warm the refried beans gently over low heat. Cut the butternut squash in half crosswise at the narrowest point. Cut each half in half again lengthwise. Peel each section with a vegetable peeler or a flexible sharp knife. Use a teaspoon to scrape out the seeds and strings. Cut into 1/2- inch dice. Heat large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add olive oil. When it smokes, add squash cubes and toss well. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, cinnamon, cumin and black pepper. Sauté over high heat, tossing frequently, until browned outside and tender but not mushy inside, about 10 minutes.

To serve, heat tortillas until soft and warm. Assemble tacos by spooning in black beans, topping with sautéed squash and sour cream. Roll up and serve 2 per person.

Notes:

This recipe lived up to its promise—it was indeed simple, although cooking the squash takes a little time (not as much as I imagined, but it’s not an instant meal). And there’s something inherently therapeutic about sautéing warm sizzling squash, inhaling the spicy perfume.

Overall I would call it an interesting and tasty combo, although I will admit the flavor wasn’t mind-blowing (but the browned butternut was delicious!). Perhaps squash needs a sweeter compliment?

first (homemade) college dinner and a “recipe” for apple galette

Long time no post– classes have started and college life is busy, busy, busy– between work and homework (the workload is ridiculous!) there’s nearly enough time to sleep, let alone blog. Props to my friend S for making a delicious dinner– the potatoes especially were amazing! (Now, off to write a 6-8  page paper due tommorrow that I haven’t started yet…hello, dark roast coffee!)

Roasted potatoes roasted potatoes provençal

mixed greens salad, roasted potatoes, arugula and fontina frittata

Freestyle Apple Galette (serves about 6)

Note that this is really a freestyle kind of thing. I just sort of “winged it” and it came out fine. Feel free to use any fruits or berries of your choosing (S recently made one with peaches, raspberries, and honey and it was delish!)

• 1 refrigerated pie crust (I used Pillsbury)
• 3 apples (pilfered from the dining hall), washed, unpeeled, cored and sliced thinly
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 t cinnamon
• Sugar

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease or line a cookie sheet.
2. Toss sliced apples with cinnamon and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl.
3. Roll out pie crust onto baking sheet. Pile on apples, and fold edges over to make a “crust”.
4. Sprinkle the entire shebang with liberal amounts of sugar. (It would probably be easier to brush the edges with milk or egg wash first.)
5. Bake for approx. 30 min, or until edges are browned and apples tender.
6. Serve warm.

Maoz Vegetarian, NYC

 

Maoz Vegetarian, NYC

2857 Broadway

New York, NY 10025

www.maozusa.com (they have several locations in the US and worldwide)

This little vegetarian fast food place has been on my back burner for ages. I even saw it pop up in Amsterdam this summer when I went there for vacation (apparently the chain was founded on Reguliersbreestraat– another reason why I’m in love with that city, sorry New York!). And two days ago I spotted it in Union Square on the way to Whole Foods, another (more expensive) love of mine. So today I finally decided to stop by for lunch with a friend, in the Morningside Heights outlet, conveniently located across the street and a few steps down from Columbia.  

At $4.95 for a basic falafel sandwich with unlimited toppings, it’s a great deal for the college student and student-at-heart. Although I am no falafel connoisseur, the little chickpea balls were deliciously crisp-fried on the outside and a moist green (cilantro?) on the inside. Definitely beats the kind from the Jersey mall. The pita (choose from whole wheat and white) tasted fresh and fluffy, not cold and wimpy like the grocery store kind. I loaded my sandwich with dill marinated cucumbers, crispy roasted broccoli (it was addiction at first bite!), and tons of yogurt sauce, my favorite. There was a bounty of veggies and sauces to choose from, including roasted peppers, chickpeas, mayo, tahini sauce, and much, much more, and with the self-serve format, feel free to try them all! (I went up three times for more yogurt sauce.)

$2.25 bought me a mint lemonade to wash it all down, with a real mint leaf floating in it. It was nothing mindblowing but a nice change from the usual flat diet coke.

Overall, a definite recommend—I will be visiting this place again. Fast cheap food with a vegetarian vision, what’s not to love?

P.S.: Here’s to my first blog post in college!

quick polenta w/ tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, and seitan sausage

quick polenta w/ tomato sauce, cherry tomatoes, and seitan sausage, originally uploaded by monpetitchoufleur.

italian seitan sausage

italian seitan sausage , originally uploaded by monpetitchoufleur.

This was my first attempt at making seitan “faux meat”, and i’m pleasantly surprised. Although wouldn’t fool a meat eater, and i am admittedly a seitan-lover, it has a nice spice blend, slices well and has a pleasing, “meaty” texture. I used a bit of an ad-lib recipe, based on several other ones from Vegan Dad and the PPK. I didn’t use any nutritional yeast (can’t get any around here!), which seems to be a common ingredient in many “sausage” recipes, so perhaps that would have improved the flavor.

birthday brunch!

broccoli cheddar and spinach mozzarella quiches

chocolate chip scones

corn muffins

mango upside-down cake

half-set table

gifts!

hello kitty disguised as red panda?

lol cat bible!

Food footnotes:

• due to poor planning, I ran out of eggs and substituted silken tofu for the quiches– they turned out really delicious!
• chocolate chip scones were adapted from Vegan with a Vengeance. They were surprisingly tasty– with a great “scone” texture and taste. They tasted very “scone-y”, if you know what I mean.
• mango upside down cake adapted from here. the mangoes were delicious– I used defrosted frozen mango halves from Trader Joe’s. The cake was okay, sort of dense. Next time I’d use a standard vanilla cake recipe, but definitely worth experimenting.