Dinner - February 4, 2010

Pizza for dinner - no cheese.

I made a recipe and a half of the 50% whole wheat crust from Kornfeld's Healty Hedonist. I made three pizzas and backed them one at a time on my mom's oven hearth insert. I thought they all turned out great.

Carmelized Onion: Sauteed 2 onions in olive oil, added 3 sprigs of thyme, 1 large clove of garlic, and some salt. Removed the sprigs, spread on crust, and added olives that were sliced in half.

Asparagus Pizza: Sauteed 2 shallots in olive oil, added asparagus pieces, covered for a bit to cook, sauteed with out the cover until nearly dry. Spread on pizza and drizzled with 1 tbsp olive oil.

Potato Pizza: Boiled potatoes for 10 minutes then cooled and sliced. Blanched 4 garlic cloves then cooled and sliced. Spread a 1 tsp of olive oil on crust. Spread potatoes and garlic on pizza. Sprinkled with chopped rosemary, salt, and pepper. Drizzled with 1 tbsp olive oil.

Baked them at 500 degrees for 10 minutes.

Served with a little green salad. We have enough pizza left for lunches tomorrow.

Lunch - February 4, 2010

This morning I made chili and cornbread for our lunches. The night before we had some prepared soup and bread along side a big green salad for dinner. All of those ingredients were delivered by our new grocery service, Farm Fresh Delivery. It was great to have an easy, healthy, and tasty meal. Next time I will have to order enough for leftovers.

I am working on developing my own chili recipe. Below is a quick rundown on the ingredients.

Kristen's Chili - Try 1
1 onion chopped
2 shallots chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 jalapeño chopped
3 mini peppers chopped
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp cumin
8 oz seitan ground in food processor
2 tbsp tomato paste
12 oz chopped fire roasted tomatoes
1 14 oz can black beans rinsed
1 14 oz can chickpeas rinsed
1 cup vegetable broth
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tbsp lime juice
1/3 cup cilantro
Salt

Vegetable broth
Onion trimmings
Shallot trimmings
Carrot tops
Celery
Olive oil
Water

I made the broth as I was making the chili.

We both thought the chili was quite good. I had planned on developing a chili with pinto beans but I was pretty happy with the texture of the chickpeas today. I am not sure which way to go next.

Dinner - February 2, 2010

This is Berley's Wehani and Wild Rice Stew with Cremini Mushrooms, Winter Squash, and Kale from Fresh Food Fast. I substituted another red rice for the Wehani rice. I also had to substitute some fresh oregano and dried sage for the fresh sage. I am never sure what to do with the slices of ginger with the peel on them after the rice is cooked. This time I put about half of them through the garlic press and added back into the stew. I also smashed the garlic and left it in the stew.

The toasted pumpkin seeds really make this dish. I served them hot off the frying pan so they were still popping and snapping on the table. I would say this is a nice dish for real vegetarians. I will be making it again but it I am not sure I would serve it to a guest.

My produce delivery started today. I am quite impressed with the condition of the produce. It all looked better than the grocery store selection. The real test will be how long the stuff lasts. I am really excited about this service and what it could mean to my life.

From Farm Fresh Delivery into this dish:
- Carrots
- Celery
- Pumpkin Seeds
- Acorn Squash
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Kale
- Cremini Mushrooms

I forgot to turn the flash on for this picture but I tried to save it in iPhoto.

Dinner - January 31. 2010

This was Berley's Quinoa with Brussels Sprouts, Tempeh, and Toasted Almonds from Fresh Food Fast. I made a single recipe which was much easier as it fit nicely in the pan.

I used 1/4 cup of oil instead of the 1/3 of cup called for. With that modification I got 684 calories per servings for four servings.

I think this is a simple tasting dish that is very satisfying. I could serve it to vegetarians but I probably would pick something a little more fancy if I were going to being serving guests. This will remain a standard for me for week nights. The left overs make a nice lunch too.

Menu - Week of 1/31/10

On the menu for the week:

Israeli Couscous & Mushroom Pilaf with Spiced Tofu
(A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, Bishop)
with a green salad

Wehani & Wild Rice Stew with Cremini Mushrooms, Winter Squash and Kale
(Fresh Food Fast, Berley)

Indian-Spiced Cauliflower, Chickpeas, Potatoes, and Kale
(The Healthy Hedonist, Kornfeld)

Orecchiette with Spicy Broccoli
(The Complete Italian Vegetarian, Bishop)

Whole Wheat Pizza with Asparagus and Assorted Vegetables
(Crust from The Healthy Hedonist, Kornfeld)
with a bean salad

Lunch - January 30, 2010

I created a make do lunch. I am going to call it Quick Tomato Pantry Soup.

1 large shallot finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 28oz can chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup chickpeas, rinsed
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
2 tbsp basil chopped

Saute the shallots in the olive oil in a chef's pot. Add the tomatoes and bring to a low boil. Mash tomatoes with a tomato masher. Add the chick peas and corn and heat through. Add the balsamic and salt and pepper. Stir in the basil and serve.

I am going to say this was 3 servings and tasted pretty good.

Dinner - January 29, 2010

From my meal plan for the week we have Black Bean Tostadas with Cherry Tomato Salsa from Berley's Fresh Food Fast. We have liked this recipe for years and have served it to guests.

This night I tried reducing the lime juice in the salsa to half and doubling the black beans in the black bean and seitan mixture. I rounded the measures on the spices to compensate for the extra beans. I used a potato masher to smash some of the beans while they were cooking. I put about half of the seeds and core from the jalapeno in the salsa and that was plenty hot for me.

I think these adjustments are improvements. Next time I think I will try and make a little more salsa to balance the increase in the bean mixture.

I made up all ten of the tortillas in the package into tostadas. Two is probably a meal but I think someone ate four.