Saturday, October 31, 2009

chile infused beet and radicchio salad


Ingredients:
1 head radicchio, whole leaves
2 carrots, thinly sliced
1 lb beets
2 dried ancho chiles
1 tsp salt
8 small radishes
3 peppers
juice from 1 lime
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp chili flakes
cilantro, whole leaves for garnish
1/4 lb queso fresco, crumbled

Add beets and ancho chilis to a pot of boiling water with 1 tsp of salt. Adjust to a simmer and cook for 35 minutes. Remove beets from liquid and cool. Remove the chilis. Slice radishes and carrots thinly, and peppers in a 1/4" dice. Mix olive oil, lime juice, chili flakes, and salt and pepper to taste, in a dressing shaker. Let sit while beets cool so that the chili can permeate the dressing. When the beets have cooled, add them over the radicchio leaves. Top with other veggies and dressing. Then crumble queso fresco over the dish, and top with whole cilantro leaves.

I ate this for dinner the other night, and for lunch the past two days. The dressing and dish flavor just gets better with age. Sweet, spicy, salty, and just damn delicious. I kind of wish we would get this all in the box again sometime soon.

potato medley!

If you have known me for a grip, you know that there are two things I (and most of the Hub/Cone) were addicted to from Trader Joe's. I work at Whole Foods, and so do most of my friends. We shop there, and budget it well. (Don't even start the Whole Paycheck ish, you get what you pay for, or you aren't doing it right.) BUT, there were two amazing items that lead me back to TJ's again and again, and both have been discontinued within the last year or so. The first, which we will address here, is potato medley, the second (which would take a miracle to produce) were the veggie gyoza. There were many nights when our sustenance depended on these items, late nights, early mornings, bonding moments sharing recipes. In truth, some of the best times of my life.

So fuck you TJ's for letting these items go by the wayside; but I understand. If something is too popular with your customers, the factory HAS to produce it instead of giving you leftovers, and that makes the price go up for you, lessening your profit. Just raise the price and bring them back, I will buy cases, seriously. CASES!


Ingredients:
1 lb red potatoes, cut in 1/4" slices
1 onion, 1/4" slices
2 carrots. Julienned
3 peppers, Julienned
1 head broccoli, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
olive oil, for cooking

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Get a pot of salted water on the stove to boil. Slice potatoes and onions. Spray 2 baking sheets with oil and layer the potatoes and onions on them, seasoning with salt and pepper, and adding a layer of sprayed oil on the top. Place in oven for 35 minutes. Remove and let cool to room temperature.

Blanch all other veggies. Carrots 4 mins. Peppers 3 mins. Broccoli 1/2 a minute. And let them cool with the potato/onion mixture. Sprinkle with garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. Let cool, and store in the fridge. This should last 6-7 days, if you can wait that long. I have already eaten twice with this as an ingredient, and I am not near done!

Thursday, October 29, 2009

weekly delivery 10/29



2 Fuji apples
2 French fingerling potatoes
3 leeks
1 bunch rainbow chard
1 head broccoli
1 head Treviso radicchio
4 heads mixed baby lettuces
1 bunch cilantro
1 beets
4 kiwis
2 Fuyu persimmons
3 peppers

Thursday, October 15, 2009

going to ny!

We are headed off to New York on a red eye tonight. We canceled our box this week but we have a bunch of new posts coming up and of course some vacation photos when we get back! Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Monday, October 12, 2009

soft chili tofu

We still have some quick pickled veggies left over from last week. I guess now they're not quick anymore - just regular pickled veggies. We thought they would pair well with our favorite appetizer which we always get when we order Chinese takeout. Here's our own version of soft chili tofu. It's super simple, fast and the flavors very vibrant - fresh, salty, and little spicy.


Ingredients:
1 block soft tofu, small dice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 scallions, finely diced
2 tsp red pepper flakes

Cut the tofu into very small cubes and add to a large bowl. Pour in the soy sauce, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar and very gently toss to incorporate. Next add the scallions and red pepper flakes. Soft tofu is very crumbly so stir everything together as gently as possible. Garnish with pickles cucumbers, beets and onions. And you're done - it's that easy!

Saturday, October 10, 2009

potato and gruyere "sandwiches"

This recipe proves that you don't need a dozen ingredients to make something delicious.

Ingredients:
1 lb russet potatoes, cut into 1/8" slices (Got a mandolin? Use it!)
1/4 lb gruyere, cut into thin slices (Mandolin helpful here as well.)
Earth Balance, for frying (Like butter? Go for it!)
Salt and pepper

Grilled cheese and french fries, potato gratin, cheese fries, chili cheese fries, poutine, nacho fries, cheesy mashed potatoes... potatoes and cheese are just meant to be bestest buddies. I wanted to make something simple, delicious, and bite size since we were having some friends over for a little late night Rock Band and pissing off the neighbors, so why not make some mini grilled cheeses, but with potatoes for bread!!! I know, I'm a genius, or just a little drunk- take your pick.

Steam potatoes until just fork tender, about 6-8 minutes. Carefully remove them and set them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and let them cool in the refrigerator for 4 hours. We are trying to let the potatoes lose as much moisture as possible with this step so that they will crisp and absorb lots of buttery goodness when they are cooking. Assemble lots of little sandwiches, seasoning the middle with salt and pepper. In a saute pan over medium heat, add the Earth Balance and cook them until crispy on the outside, and the cheese gets happy and melty. Eat them! Repeat!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Kenny's legendary vegan cheese sauce

Ingredients:
5 slicing tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, seeded and chopped
5 red peppers, finely diced
a few leaves of arugula, about 1/4 lb
1/2 red onion, diced finely
3 cloves garlic, diced finely
1 lb pasta, your choice

vegan cheese sauce:
2 Tbsp earth balance
2 Tbsp all purpose flour
2 cups soy milk (unsweetened is preferable)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup nutritional yeast
salt & pepper to taste
1 Tbsp dijon mustard (optional)

We made some epic vegan mac using my famous "cheeze" sauce. Saute the onions and garlic over medium heat in 1 Tbsp. of olive oil until translucent. Add the tomatoes and peppers and continue to cook until the tomatoes begin to break down, about 10 minutes.

For the cheeze sauce, make a rue with the earth balance and flour and allow to cook over medium heat until it no longer smells like flour, and is a nice toasty golden color, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the soy milk and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Allow to boil for 1 minute, (still whisking!) and start to add the nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and finally the mustard. Season with salt and pepper, combine with the veggies and pasta, and wolf down!


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

weekly delivery 10/07

YES! Arugula has returned!

2 acorn squash
6 slicing tomatoes
4 yellow onions
4 red plums
1 bunch arugula

4 Valencia oranges
6 red peppers
1 head Romaine lettuce
5 Russet potatoes

3 red beets
8 Gala apples
1 bunch baby bok choy
1 bunch Italian parsley

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

vegetable curry



Ingredients:
1 lb russet potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 medium onion, roughly diced
1 lb tomatoes, seeded, and roughly chopped
1 head chard, stems removed, and julienned
1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into 1" segments
2 medium kombucha squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1" chunks
4 Tbsp curry powder
4 cups veggie stock
2 cans of coconut milk
2 Tbsp double concentrate tomato paste
Salt and pepper to taste

I've been really busy at work lately, and haven't had much time for cooking (or updating the blog), so I have been trying to come up with recipes that are quick, allow me to multitask and get other stuff done around the house, or just veg out in front of the tube for a few minutes to relax while some other appliance does the work. This one is no exception. Its fast, easy, and soooo freaking good you will want to spill it all over your favorite pair of jeans staining them yellow/orange with tumeric so you will never ever forget this tasty meal again. OK, don't do that. I did, and I am kinda sad about my favorite pants. Anyway, here is how easy it is. It only has 6 simple steps.

1. Chop all the veggies.
2. Add everything that isn't green into a large pot on medium heat, bring to a simmer.
3. Mix drink, sit on couch, watch Mighty Boosh Season 3.
4. Cover and cook for 15-17 minutes until squash and potatoes are ALMOST fork tender.
5. Add green things into pot, stir, cover and cook for 3-4 more minutes.
6. Taste, season, spill on pants.