Monthly Archives: April 2012

Philly Cheese “Steak” Sandwiches

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Cheese "Steak" Sandwiches with Homemade Fries

Cheese "Steak" Sandwiches with Homemade Fries

Bread Dough Ready to Rise

Bread Dough Ready to Rise

The other night I decided to make philly cheese steak sandwiches with homemade fries. I started off by making homemade whole wheat bread…this is pretty basic with water, yeast, salt, and flour.

Seitan Marinating

Seitan Marinating

While the bread was rising, I started off by marinating the “steak” for the sandwiches. Obviously, I was not going to use real steak for these sandwiches, so decided to use seitan which I think absorbs sauces and marinades really well. I added worcestershire sauce, oregano, salt, pepper, and a little soy sauce to the thinly sliced seitan.

Bread Fresh out of the Oven

Bread Fresh out of the Oven

While the bread was baking, I started preparing the potatoes for the baked fries. I sliced potatoes thinly, mixed them in some olive oil, sea salt, and freshly-ground pepper, and then put them in the oven to get all crispy.

Onions and Peppers Sauteing

Onions and Peppers Sauteing

Next, I started preparing the onions and peppers. I thinly sliced an onion and red pepper and then sauted them in olive oil and oregano.

Seitan Cooking with Onions and Peppers

Seitan Cooking with Onions and Peppers

Once the onions and peppers were soft and flavorful, I added the marinated seitan to the pan to cook.

By now the fries were also done baking. I sliced the bread in half and topped it with the seitan/onion/pepper mixture. Jon’s sandwich got a piece of vegan cheese on top and went into the oven to try to melt (the cheese was not very successful at melting!). Served with the crispy homemade fries, the sandwiches made a delicious (but somewhat messy) dinner!

Yummy Homemade Sandwiches and Fries

Yummy Homemade Sandwiches and Fries

 

Asian Peanut Pasta

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Asian Peanut Pasta

Asian Peanut Pasta

When Jon said the other day that he needed comfort food for dinner, I immediately thought of this asian peanut pasta dish. It’s inspired by a dish that one of our good friends made for us one night, and now it makes regular appearances for dinner at our home. It is warm and comforting but also feels healthy because of all the veggies.

Tempeh Sauteing in Peanut Oil

Tempeh Sauteing in Peanut Oil

I like to add protein to this dish with tempeh, which I started off by sauteing in a little bit of peanut oil. The tempeh picks up the peanut flavors from the oil and almost tastes like little soft peanuts in the finished dish.

Carrots, Broccoli, and Pepper

Carrots, Broccoli, and Pepper

While the tempeh was cooking, I got all my veggies ready. You could really add almost any type of veggies you wanted, but I went with carrots, red pepper, and broccoli. I love the way broccoli picks up all the sauce in this dish!

Veggies Sauteing!

Veggies Sauteing!

Once the tempeh was done cooking, I put it on a plate to hang out while I cooked all the veggies. After adding a little more peanut oil to the pan, the carrots went in first, followed by the pepper and finally the broccoli. With the broccoli, I added a little soy sauce and then covered the veggies to steam for a bit.

The pasta had been cooking during this – I like to use whole wheat rotini noodles for this dish. Not exactly a classic asian choice, but they work really well with the peanutty sauce. The veggies were done, so I added lots of fresh ground peanut butter, a little more soy sauce, some sriracha sauce, and cooking water from the pasta to the pan. Once the peanut butter had dissolved into the liquids, it was ready for the addition of the tempeh and the noodles. Jon said it was exactly what he was in the mood for after a crazy day at work – I’m so glad I can read his mind (or at least his stomach)!

Asian Peanut Pasta Ready to Serve

Asian Peanut Pasta Ready to Serve

Pasta with Asparagus and Pesto Sauce

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Tulips from my garden

Tulips from my garden

Spring means two things – tulips cut fresh from my garden, and fresh asparagus. Several years ago, Jon, my dad, and I spent the better part of a day planting tulip bulbs in my side garden. (Full disclosure…my dad did the majority of the really hard work!) Every spring since then, I have this amazing cutting garden of fresh tulips for about 3 weeks. It doesn’t last long, but it is so much fun and helps bring spring inside our home.

Fresh Asparagus

Fresh Asparagus

I feel the same way about asparagus…it helps bring spring into the kitchen. So when I saw it at the store the other day, I decided to make orecchiette with asparagus in a homemade pesto sauce. Yum!

Red Onion Sauteing

Red Onion Sauteing

I started off with diced red onion, salt, and pepper. Once the onion had sauteed for a little bit, I added the roughly chopped asparagus to the pan to cook plus a little bit of allspice.

Asparagus and Onion Cooking

Asparagus and Onion Cooking

When the asparagus had cooked and everything was getting caramelized and yummy, I added a little bit of rice vinegar to the pan to deglaze it and help create a sauce. I have to say, I have never combined rice vinegar  with asparagus before, but the combination was amazing! Once the asparagus had absorbed some of the liquid, it got sweet and a little tartness from the vinegar. I could have eaten the asparagus/onion combination for dinner just like that. However, I knew Jon would be a little skeptical if I served him a plate of sauteed asparagus and onion so I continued with making the pesto sauce and cooking the pasta.

Basil Leaves Go Into the Cuisinart

Basil Leaves Go Into the Cuisinart

I decided to use walnuts instead of the traditional pinenuts in my pesto sauce, so put a handful of them to grind in the Cuisinart while I washed and separated the basil leaves from the stems.

Finished Pesto Sauce

Finished Pesto Sauce

I added the basil leaves along with a generous amount of salt and pepper, and finally adding olive oil to complete the pesto sauce.

By now the pasta was done cooking. It went into the pan with the asparagus and the pesto sauce, along with a little of the pasta cooking water. Once everything had been mixed together, it was ready to serve. It tasted like spring in a bowl!

Pasta with Asparagus and Pesto

Pasta with Asparagus and Pesto

Sweet and Sour Veggies

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Sweet and Sour Veggies Over Rice

Sweet and Sour Veggies Over Rice

When I was growing up, my mom would sometimes make a sweet and sour chicken dish including peppers and pineapple that I always really enjoyed. This was one of the first dishes I learned to cook on my own, and was also one of the first dinners that I made for Jon when we started dating.

Red and Green Peppers

Red and Green Peppers

As with most of my cooking, I used the original recipe primarily as inspiration. While the brown rice was cooking, I started off by chopping red and green peppers and onions.

 

Peppers and Pineapple Sauteing

Peppers and Pineapple Sauteing

The onions sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper, basil, and aleppo pepper flakes. The chopped peppers went into the pan next, followed by pineapple chunks and some vegetarian “chicken”.

While the veggies all sauteed together, I mixed up the sauce with pineapple juice, apricot jam, and a healthy squirt of Sriracha sauce.

Adding the Pineapple Apricot Sauce

Adding the Pineapple Apricot Sauce

Once the veggies were ready, I added the sauce to the pan and let it cook down a little bit to thicken and permeate the veggies with its sweet, sour, spicy goodness. To serve, I put some brown rice in each bowl and ladled over the veggies with lots of sauce. Jon remembered that it was one of the first dishes I cooked for him but said it has gotten even better with time. And of course, I thought of my mom and how glad I am that I got her love of cooking.

A Vegan Version of a Favorite Childhood Dish

A Vegan Version of a Favorite Childhood Dish

 

Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese

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Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese

Pizza with Homemade Vegan Cheese

I’ve tried making dairy-based cheeses in the past, usually with limited success…my mozzarella always seemed to turn into a ball of rubbery white goo that looked and tasted nothing like cheese! So, when I found this recipe for vegan mozzarella on Olives for Dinner, I was pretty skeptical and assumed my attempt would end up in a pizza that tasted like coconut. However, it turned out excellent! I followed the instructions to heat the coconut milk, and then mix in and whisk all the other ingredients. Once they were almost a pudding-like consistency the mixture went into the fridge to gel.

Pizza Dough Ready to be Topped!

Pizza Dough Ready to be Topped!

I started the pizza by spreading out the dough and then chopping up all my veggies, including red onions, tomatoes, kalamata olives, and some fresh basil.

Onions, Tomatoes, Olives, and Basil on the Pizza

Onions, Tomatoes, Olives, and Basil on the Pizza

After spreading out the veggies, I put a good amount of celtic sea salt, freshly ground pepper, aleppo pepper, and red pepper flakes over the veggies before adding the vegan cheese. After adding the cheese, I sprinkled a little olive oil over the pizza plus more freshly-ground pepper.

Pizza Topped with Vegan Cheese

Pizza Topped with Vegan Cheese

The pizza went into the oven for about 20 minutes, and when it came out I was shocked…the cheese was melty and bubbly looking just like real cheese! And tasting it was even better – it was warm and gooey and didn’t taste at all like coconut. I’ll definitely use this cheese recipe again; I bet it would work great in lasagna and other baked dishes!

Pizza Fresh Out of the Oven

Pizza Fresh Out of the Oven

Lemon Orzo Soup

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Lemon Orzo Soup - a Light but Comforting Treat!

Lemon Orzo Soup - a Light but Comforting Treat!

Last night’s dinner was inspired by a lemon chicken soup that I had many years ago. It was lemony, warm, and comforting and I’ve been trying to reproduce it ever since. Minus the chicken, I think this soup is pretty close!

The Distracting Lemon Zest

The Distracting Lemon Zest

I started off with some minced garlic in olive oil. I burned the first batch of garlic due to distraction from lemon zest and Jon, but the second batch spent just enough time in the oil to heat through and flavor the oil.

Lemon Zest and Garlic Sauteing

Lemon Zest and Garlic Sauteing

Next I added the lemon zest to heat for just a few moments before adding lots of veggie broth and lemon juice. While this simmered away, I cooked the orzo and defrosted some vegan “chicken” that I had in the freezer. The “chicken” went into the soup right away to absorb the lemony vegetable flavors.

Lemons Ready to be Juiced!

Lemons Ready to be Juiced!

Once the orzo finished cooking, I juiced the 2 lemons that had contributed their zest to the soup. Jon loves lemons, so he was definitely enjoying the fresh lemony flavors emanating from the kitchen.

I wanted to thicken the broth just a little bit, so I added some cornstarch mixed with cold water. To finish the soup, I added the freshly-squeezed lemon juice, salt, lots of pepper, basil, and a little sugar to balance out the flavors. After mixing in the orzo, it was ready to serve! Jon said “mmm…lemons” when I set his bowl in front of him.

Light and Comforting Lemon Orzo Soup

Light and Comforting Lemon Orzo Soup

Orecchiette with Peas

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Orecchiette with Peas

Orecchiette with Peas

Last night, I decided to make orecchiette with peas. Although Whole Foods didn’t follow my instructions to keep whole wheat orecchiette available (apparently they haven’t started reading my blog yet!), this is one of Jon’s favorite dishes and comes from the cookbook Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home.

LOTS of Onions

LOTS of Onions

Really, this dish should actually be called orecchiette with onions because of the extreme quantity of onions used…4 large ones! I started off by thinly slicing up the onions. My eyes were definitely watering by the third onion. After they were all sliced, they went into a big pan with olive oil for sauteing.

Onions Cooking Down

Onions Cooking Down

At this point, Jon was crying a little bit from the onion fumes and even the cats were blinking back tears! I like to let the onions cook down a lot and start to caramelize, adding a little bit of salt as they continue to cook.

 

Onions and Peas

Onions and Peas

While the orecchiette was cooking, I defrosted the peas and added them to the onions. I also decided to add a little bit of white wine to deglaze the pan along with lots of freshly ground pepper.

Finally, the pasta was done! I added the orecchiette into the onion and pea mixture, along with a good amount of the pasta cooking water to make a sauce. After combining everything together, it was ready to serve. Yum!

Orecchiette with Peas

Orecchiette with Peas