Category Archives: Meatless Mondays

October 3, 2011 · 11:47 pm

Meatless Monday: Fennel Puff Pastry Bites

For this easy gourmet starter, I used the sort of store bought puff pastry dough you can easily find in the frozen food section at your local supermarket. I love cooking with puff pastry: it’s magical watching the yeast/baking powder-free creature rise and poof up in the oven.
I made some new friends this weekend at the Starchefs International Chefs Conference, including Emmi Rothkase who provided the Le Gruyere Switzerland AOC Reserve cheese for this recipe. It’s a ten-month aged, grass fed, perfect companion to this savory recipe. You can omit the cheese if you like, but know that the combo of savory and sweet pineapple paired with the buttery, flaky puff pastry is what makes this guy so irresistible.

Ingredients
Makes about 14 bite size servings in various shapes
Puff pastry (thaw out to package directions)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups fennel, shaved with a mandolin
½ cup vegetable stock
1 stem lemongrass
½ pineapple, diced
2 cups gruyere cheese
½ teaspoon kosher salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
Cooking spray

Directions
In a saute pan on the stove top, add vegetable oil and saute fennel at medium heat for about 3-4 minutes. Deglaze with vegetable stock and add lemongrass and pineapples. Reduce heat to a low-simmer and continue cooking for 30-40 minutes stirring frequently until fennel is very tender. Remove from heat and cool at room temperature.

Roll out puff pastry dough and use a cookie cutter (round-shaped) to section off your puff pastry.

In a greased (cooking spray) muffin pan, place puff pastry and dock (puncture little holes with a fork). Bake in the oven for about 10-12 minutes, or until puff pastry rises. Remove from oven, cool for a few minutes (5 minutes), unmold and place on a baking sheet. Place fennel with pineapples, sprinkle cheese, add more fennel and pineapples. The gruyere cheese will act as an instant adhesive and pull all your ingredients together once it hits the heat in the oven.

Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove, plate, and eat up!

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September 26, 2011 · 4:46 pm

Meatless Monday: Slow Food $5 Challenge, Autumn Succotash

I love challenges and paying bargain prices for nice looking veggies. If you’re not that familiar with seasonal produce shopping, then friends let me introduce you to my little friend: the fine art of buying the freshest, nicest looking and great tasting vegetables (and cheaply) from your local farm supply.
Steps to figuring out what’s cheap or what’s on sale: 

1. What’s on sale at the big commercial supermarket (though they most likely do carry seasonal items) is not always what’s in season. Just because something’s on sale doesn’t mean it’s in season. The key word you’re looking for is local. Look around you. Don’t be shy if you don’t know. Ask a few older folks — they’ve likely been around the block longer than you and might just know a thing or two about the region.

2. Looking on the web doesn’t hurt. Search the key words: “Farm”, “farmer’s market”, plus (+) your zip code and see what pops up.

3. Last but not least, visit websites like this one (Food2.com, meatlessmondays.com, slowfoodusa.com) where we list what’s local and in season right now, and tell you how to cook up the recipes!

I am very lucky to live nearby a little forest of local Farms (not literal, just describing here folks). At De Piero’s farm in Montvale New Jersey, they grow their own varieties of heirloom tomatoes that just left us recently. If you haven’t been following my farmer posts and where to buy what, check out my heirloom tomato article here.

Right now is the beginning of the Fall Harvest Season. The last “pick your own” farm I visited had ripened pumpkins ready to be ransacked by herds of mommies and their kids. I was very much tempted at grabbing them right then and there, but thought to leave room for the upcoming weeks of cooking, so I left the pumpkins alone. I went there to nab some of the local apples (which are also very much in season right now). I picked my golden, delicious gala apples two weeks ago and managed to cook off a beautifully fragrant apple butter.

This week I’m writing about my $5 Slow Food Challenge. At De Piero’s, I found one of my favorite fall/winter vegetables: Butternut Squash, boys and girls, and for only $.79/pound! I was ecstatic. The sight of the sale-sign (much like the time I found zucchini flowers) and fact that they were local and ripe for the cooking had me planning my meal before I had even picked out the produce. I also managed to pick me up a cute little orange tagine clay pot-cooker-serving piece. Clearly the meal was shapping up.

I found zucchini and squash, too (fortunately, since supplies are limited at this time of year), a beefsteak tomato and fresh cranberry beans. I looked at my little shopper’s basket and visualized a fragrant succotash in my orange tagine, brewing up in my kitchen, its sweet aromas filling up the air, luring little children from the backyard to come back into the house and eat their vegetables. Ok, so maybe there weren’t any children involved, but you get the point — I couldn’t wait to get cooking. So I rushed home that afternoon and made my stirred up  Autumn Succotash.

It’s seasonal, it’s sustainable, and the best part of it is that it cost me just about $5.00 to create a beautiful, bountiful fall harvest dish (that DEFINITELY serves more than one person). I’d eat this any day of the week, whether in September, October, November or December, and certainly before any fast food value meal that would cost me more money and health.

So go on, taste the season, and for 5 bucks only.

Succulent Autumn Succotash Recipe:
Yields 2 servings

 

Ingredients
1 butternut squash, diced
1 zucchini, sliced with mandolin
2 yellow squash, sliced with mandolin
1 eggplant
2 cloves garlic
1 beefsteak tomato, sliced
1/2 cup fresh cranberry beans
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a tagine, place slices of tomato on the bottom. Add diced butternut squash with cranberry beans. Place sliced zucchini and squash on top. Drizzle olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Simmer on the stove top for about an hour stirring occasionally.

Uncover and enjoy!

Here’s the break down of the food cost for this recipe:
Butternut Squash (in season right now in the NE Coast $1.71 @ .79/pound)
1 Zucchini and 1 Yellow Squash ($1.74 @ 2.99/pound)
2 Garlic Cloves (pennies)
4 tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (pennies)
1 Beefsteak Tomato ($.98 @ $2.49/pound)
½ cup fresh cranberry beans ($1.15/3.99/pound)
Grand total: $5.58/ dinner for 2=$2.79/person!

You can include bread in your shopping trip if you’re dining as a pair and that would bring the grand total to less than $5.00/person for the $5 Slow Food Challenge!

 

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Filed under Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes, September 2011, Slow Food Challenge, Uncategorized

September 19, 2011 · 2:35 pm

Meatless Monday: Mixed Vegetable Medley

Here’s an easy and quick way to enjoy your summer vegetables all year long. Eat it as a side dish, or stuff your sandwich bread and pack it as a weekday lunch for the office. Don’t worry if you’re not yet a cooking expert — this recipe is so easy that even the most amateur cooks will come out looking like a pro.

Mixed Vegetable Medley
Yields 4-6 servings 

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ yellow onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 Japanese eggplants, peeled and sliced (lengthwise)
½ head red cabbage, sliced (lengthwise)
2 roma tomatoes, sliced into 8 parts
½ cup fresh perilla leaves, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute onions and garlic until onions are translucent for about three minutes. Add eggplant and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Stir in cabbage and continue cooking for an additional 10-15 minutes then add tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes stirring frequently. Stir in perilla leaves and cook until they are wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Cooking tip: season with salt and pepper every step of the way to extract the flavors of each vegetable as it cooks!

Total cooking time 30 minutes.

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Filed under Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes, September 2011

September 12, 2011 · 2:33 pm

Meatless Monday: Vegetable Bibimbap with Jujube and Ginseng Hot Chili Sauce

Bibimbap is a signature Korean comfort food. The word directly translates as “mixed meal.” I rummaged through my fridge and found all sorts of vegetables and herbs, and thought about making a quick and easy version here.

I went to a local market and found American ginseng over the weekend. Ginseng is used as a natural remedy to help boost the immune system and lower blood pressure. It’s a bit on the bitter side, so mix it into sauces or use as an aromatic in brasing liquids. I paired it here with Korean jujubes, persimmon vinegar (another great find) and gochujang (Korean fermented red chilli paste), and it was amazing.

Vegetable Bibimbap with Jujube and Ginseng Hot Chilli Sauce

Ingredients
For the sauce
2 tablespoons persimmon or apple vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginseng
2 jujubes, chopped
1 cup cooked medium grain rice (sticky rice)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 California carrots, julienned
1 zucchini, julienned
1 cup daikon radish, julienne
1 cup hydrated shitake mushrooms, julienned
1 cup assorted peppers, julienned
1 egg, cooked sunnyside up (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a medium non-stick skillet, add a tablespoon of oil and sauté vegetables starting with zucchini (least pungent) on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until tender. Repeat steps for carrots, shitake mushrooms and peppers. Daikon is served raw (but you can cook them if you wish).

In a big bowl, place rice in center with vegetables surrounding it. Serve it with an egg or you may substitute it with tofu or any other legume. Mung bean sprouts are excellent also! 

Mix hot chilli sauce to desired level of spiciness and enjoy!

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Filed under Food2, Korean Food at Home, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes, September 2011, Uncategorized

September 5, 2011 · 2:24 pm

Meatless Monday: Roasted Purple Potatoes and Heirloom Grape Tomatoes

Purple potatoes taste delicious, come packed with antioxidants, and are reputed to help lower your blood pressure. I found these at a local farmer’s market and couldn’t resist bringing them home to try and taste for the first time. Pairing them with little heirlooms and seasoning them with olive oil, garlic, rosemary and thyme, proved a fantastic (and yummy) way to savor some of the season’s best produce.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Roasted Purple Potato with Heirloom Grape Tomatoes 

Ingredients
1 pound purple potatoes
1 pound fingerling potatoes
2 sprigs rosemary
1 sprig thyme
1 bay leaf
6 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon whole peppercorns
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup grape tomatoes
2 tablespoons fresh sage, chopped
kosher salt
pepper

Directions
1. Par-boil purple potatoes with fingerlings in salted boiling water. Add rosemary, thyme, bay leaf, garlic and peppercorns, and cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, strain and peel while potatoes are still warm/hot. Then slice purple potatoes in half lengthwise.

2. In a baking sheet, drizzle olive oil and place potatoes on top. Top potatoes with remaining olive oil and season with salt, pepper and sage. Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes turning the potatoes about half way through.

3. Slice grape tomatoes in half, drizzle with olive oil, add salt, pepper and combine in a bowl with potatoes!

4. Devour.

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August 29, 2011 · 12:40 am

Meatless Monday: Campanelle with Perilla Pesto and Summer Vegetables

This summer, I’ve managed to target every backyard garden belonging to friends and family to source the freshest seasonal ingredients for my home cooking. The perilla leaves for this recipe came from my mother’s backyard garden where she’s been growing them for at least a decade now. Sometimes green, and sometimes purple, perilla leaves tend to resemble the stinging nettle leaf.
Widely available in Asian markets, perilla leaves are a staple ingredient in South Korean and Japanese cooking — the Japanese call theirs shiso, while the Koreans call their deulkkae. Using the flavorful herb, I put together a bright and beautiful pasta dish for late summer.

Recipe: Rina Oh
Campanelle with Perilla Pesto and Seasonal Summer Vegetables
Yields 4 servings

Ingredients
1 pound campanelle pasta, cooked as per package directions
1 cup perilla leaves, blanched in boiling water
3 cloves raw garlic
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cup toasted walnuts
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 Hungarian peppers, sliced
2 medium size tomatoes
½ cup fresh perilla leaves

Directions
In a blender, pulse cooked perilla leaves with garlic and walnuts. Drizzle in olive oil slowly until pesto is fully blended for about two minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.

Next, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet. Add shallots, peppers, tomatoes and fresh perilla leaves. Saute for two minutes stirring continuously until perilla is tender.

Stir in cooked pasta and pesto sauce.

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August 22, 2011 · 12:35 am

Meatless Monday: Corn Soup with Spiced Olive Oil Grissini

Bread-making can be intimating — there’s no doubt. Worries about yeast failing to rise or bread coming out of the oven too hard have confronted even the most confident of cooks. The secret is easing your way in. 

Rather than stumbling over more complicated fare, try an easy grissini bread stick as your first attempt at home baked bread. This bread recipe can be used as a base for any variety: add your favorite spices or grated cheese, and you’ll already be on your way to mastering the art of baking breadsticks. I spiced mine up with hot pepper flakes and loads of fresh ground pepper, the perfect complements to my simple, summery corn soup. 

Recipe: Rina Oh

Corn Soup with Spiced Olive Oil Grissini
Yields 6 servings

Ingredients:
Corn Soup
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 leeks, white parts only chopped
1 medium white onion, diced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
6-8 cups water
4 corn ears, kernels removed and core kept aside
2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and roughly chopped
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Pepper to taste

Spiced Olive Oil Grissini
1 package of dry active yeast (about 11 grams)
1/2 cup Luke warm water
Pinch of sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dry red pepper flakes
Pinch of paprika
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground pepper

Directions:
Corn Soup
1. In a large saucepot, combine olive oil with onions, leeks, celery and garlic, and cook at a simmer for about ten minutes, or until vegetables are tender.

2. Add water, corn, the leftover core and potatoes. Bring mixture to a boil and reduce heat. Allow soup to cook for about 45 minutes, or until potatoes are very tender. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Remove core and pulse soup in a blender for about a minute in several batches.

Spiced Olive Oil Grissini
1. Combine yeast, water and pinch of sugar. Allow yeast to rise until it doubles in size, or about 30 minutes uncovered in a warm area.

2. Combine teaspoon of salt, flour, olive oil and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. Knead gently for about a minute, or until dough forms slightly. Add pepper flakes, paprika and fresh ground pepper, and continue kneading gently for another minute.

3. Place a tablespoon of olive oil inside a clean mixing bowl. Place dough inside and let sit for about an hour covered in a warm area with a towel or plastic wrap.

4. In three or four batches, roll dough into elongated strips and then cut into 5 inch pieces with a pastry cutter or butter knife. Roll strips into braids, and form into desired shapes.

5. Place strips of grissini dough on baking sheets lined with cornmeal. Spray cooking spray lightly over the strips, and sprinkle with kosher salt. (You can add more spices to top the crust with more flavor!)

6. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under August 2011, Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes, Soups

August 15, 2011 · 4:47 pm

Meatless Monday: White Eggplant Quiche

I recently visited the family owned Weed Orchards in Marlborough, NY where I picked an array of local, seasonal vegetables, and discovered the amazing white eggplant. I decided to make them for myself and a few friends – if they managed to stop by before I ate it all, that is! Luckily for those who live in my neighborhood, I made sure they got a chance to taste this amazing and almost seedless version of the classic purple vegetable.

Milder, less bitter and a tad sweeter, white eggplant cooks up beautifully in quiche. If you don’t have the homebody bug like me and want to skip the batter and dough, don’t worry! A store bought pie dough will suffice your adventure!

Recipe: Rina Oh

White Eggplant Quiche

Quiche dough 
Yields 1 10″ x 2″ quiche or 3 4″ x 2″ round quiches

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
4 ounces of butter cubed
1 egg, beaten or 3 tablespoons of ice cold water
1 tablespoons of ice cold water
Pinch of salt
Pinch of sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour with pinch of salt and sugar and place on a flat surface. Place cubed butter on top of flour and cut through using a pastry scraper until flour reaches a crumb like consistency.

Make a well in center and add egg and fold in dough. Gently knead dough for about a minute. Add the tablespoon of water at this point if the dough is too dry and cracks.

Form dough into a round shape and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

In the meantime, grease three 4″ springform pans with butter and line with parchment paper. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin until dough is about 1/8″ thick.

Place dough into pans and blind bake with beans for about 15 minutes, remove beans and dock (poke with fork on bottom). Continue baking dough without beans for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from oven, place on cooling racks and allow to rest for about 30 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Eggplant filling & quiche custard
Yields 1 10″ x 2″ quiche and some left over for healthy snacking

Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 egg yolk
½ cup cream
3 white eggplant, evenly sliced thin
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

On the stovetop, place olive oil in a medium size skillet and allow pan to get hot on high heat.

Add eggplant slices, about ½ cup and saute for a about a minute on each side. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Cook eggplant in batches for best results.

Combine eggs with yolk and cream in a mixing bowl and whisk together for about a minute.

Place eggplant into baked quiche crust and pour in the custard mixture. Bake at 300 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.

Remove from heat and place on a cooling rack for an additional hour.


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Filed under August 2011, Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes

August 8, 2011 · 4:43 pm

Meatless Monday: Stuffed Zucchini Flowers with Summer Vegetables

Corn, zucchini, tomatoes, and arugula are all local seasonal ingredients widely available at just about every market in town during the hot summer months. I made this dish for a light, summery lunch, but bring it out onto a metropolis rooftop along with a few bottles of pinot grigio and close friends and now you’re talking.

I happened to stumble upon a few family gardens this weekend and found these beautiful zucchini flowers. Rare and extremely fragile, I knew I had to take advantage of the gorgeous summer veggie and its unique flavor.

Recipe: Rina Oh

Stuffed Zucchini Flower with Summer Vegetables

Ingredients
4-6 zucchini flowers
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil for frying
2 cups cooked corn kernels
1 cup arugula
1 cup baby Roma tomatoes, quatered
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions
Place about a tablespoon of ricotta cheese into zucchini flowers, season with salt and pepper and lightly coat in flour. In the meantime bring frying oil to a temperature of about 350 degrees in a medium-size skillet.

Fry zucchini flowers for about 1-2 minutes until crust is golden brown. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

In a medium-size skillet, heat olive oil on medium to high heat and saute corn kernels for about 2-3 minutes. Add arugula and toss until they are wilted, or approximately another 3 minutes.

Stir in roma tomatoes and lightly toss in the vegetable mixture for a minute or two. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

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Filed under August 2011, Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes

August 1, 2011 · 4:39 pm

Meatless Monday: Supergreen Pesto Hummus Pumpernickel Crostinis

In the warmer months, pesto reigns king among spreads and sauces. Light and fresh, an almond and parsley-studded smear is ideal for imbuing bright notes of deliciously herby flavor. Spruce it up with a bit of creamy chickpea hummus though, and you’ll be spooning mouthfuls straight from the jar.

Great as an appetizer or afternoon snack, but even better when brought along for a picnic in the park, pesto hummus is a wonderful condiment to keep around. I spread it over pumpernickle toast, and then topped it with diced mango. As beautiful as the teeny squares looked, I couldn’t help but devour them one after another, not when they were that delicious.

Here’s a quick and easy mid summer snack you can shake up and serve as a hipster alternate to your every day hummus. Pesto meets the traditional hummus. It’s tasty, healthy and fun to serve at a cocktail party to kick off and cool off that summer heat. Here’s the supergreen hummus recipe below!

Recipe: Rina Oh

Supergreen Pesto Hummus

Ingredients

1 pound arugula, blanched and drained

2 cups gazpachio beans cooked and drained

3 garlic cloves, blanched

juice of half a lemon

2 tablespoons tahini sauce

2 tablespoons parsley

½ cup almonds

½ teaspoon salt

pepper to taste

1 cup olive oil

8 ounces pumpernickel bread

1 mango, diced

Directions

In a food processor or blender, combine arugula, beans, garlic, lemon juice, tahini sauce, parsley with almonds and pulse for about a minute. Slowly add olive oil on low speed until desired consistency is achieved. Season with salt and pepper.

Spread the arugula hummus over pumpernickel bread and top with a few pieces of diced mango.

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Filed under August 2011, Food2, Meatless Mondays, Rina's Food2 recipes