Tofu Noodle Soup

A Meg original... Helpin' me through the sniffles.

‎1 tbsp canola oil
3 carrots, thinly sliced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp ginger, grated
4 cans vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 ½ tbsp white vinegar
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 bunch green onions
Kale or other cabbage (about ¼ head)
1 pkg firm tofu, cut into small squares
2 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp chili sauce (or more to taste)
Half a package (7 oz) Phad Thai rice noodles, broken up

In dutch oven or stock pot over medium high, heat canola oil. Add carrots, cook until they just start to get tender. Add garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, a few seconds. Add broth, water, rice vinegar, and white vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Add green onions, kale, tofu, corn starch, and chili sauce. Cover and heat until all veggies are tender. Add rice noodles and cook until those are tender, about 5-7 minutes. Enjoy!

Broccoli Pesto with Bowties

6 Tbs. blanched hazelnuts, plus more for garnish, optional

2 cups broccoli florets
1 1/2 cups loosely packed parsley leaves
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. olive oil, plus more for drizzling, optional
1/2 cup mint leaves
...4 tsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp. capers, rinsed and drained, optional
5 large garlic cloves, peeled
12 oz. farfalle pasta

1. Toast hazelnuts in skillet 3 to 5 minutes, or until golden, shaking skillet often. Cool, coarsely chop, and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, bring large pot of water to a boil. Cook broccoli in boiling water 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender. Remove with slotted spoon. Drain, and rinse under cold water. Drain again.

3. Pulse hazelnuts, broccoli, parsley, oil, mint, lemon juice, lemon zest, capers (if using), and garlic in food processor until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

4. Cook farfalle according to package directions in broccoli cooking water. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking water before draining. Toss farfalle with pesto and pasta cooking water. Garnish with toasted hazelnuts, if using,
and drizzle with olive oil, if desired.

from Vegetarian Times

Butternut Squash Enchiladas

Still celebrating my favorite vegetable. My dad made these Butternut Squash Enchiladas for me a while ago, they were awesome! I'm serving it with Spanish rice.

Butternut Squash Enchiladas:

‎1 Tbs. olive oil
1 butternut squash (11/2 lb.), halved and seeded1 medium onion, diced (1 cup)
1–2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, drained and diced, plus 1 Tbs. sauce
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp. )
3 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
...1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 green onions, chopped (1/3 cup)
1 16-oz. can enchilada sauce
8 whole-wheat or corn tortillas
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Place squash cut-side down on baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes, or until soft. Cool until easy to handle. Scoop squash into bowl, and mash.
2. Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft. Add chipotle, adobo sauce, and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring often.

3. Stir in mashed squash, cream cheese, cumin, and nutmeg. Cook 3 minutes more, or until heated through. Remove from heat, and fold in green onions.

4. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread 1 cup enchilada sauce over bottom of 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Lay tortillas on baking sheet, and warm 3 minutes in oven to soften. Divide filling among tortillas, and roll loosely. Place filled, rolled tortillas in baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and Cheddar cheese. Bake 30 minutes, or until top begins to brown and sauce is bubbly.

recipe from Vegetarian Times

 

Spanish Rice:

2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chopped onion
1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice
2 cups vegetable broth
...1 cup chunky salsa

Heat oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix rice into skillet, stirring often. When rice begins to brown, stir in vegetable broth and salsa. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 20 minutes, until liquid has been absorbed

Butternut Squash Bisque

What's your favorite vegetable? I think mine is butternut squash. There are so many ways to cook it: use it as a filling for ravioli, put it in enchiladas or quesadillas, serve it mashed as a side dish like mashed potatoes, or as a yummy Butternut Squash Bisque! Just made this for a sick friend last night.

‎1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
½ c diced onion
¾ c diced carrots
4 c peeled and cubed butternut squash
...3 c vegetable stock
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Nutmeg to taste
½ c heavy cream (optional)

Heat oil and butter in large pot over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion in until tender. Mix the carrots and squash into the pot. Pour in vegetable stock, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until all veggies are tender. In a blender or food processor (or with a “boat motor”: http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=289916), puree the soup mixture until smooth. Return to the pot, and stir in the heavy cream. Heat through but do not boil. Serve warm with a dash of nutmeg. ♥

from Allrecipes.com

Vegan Chilli

My friend Nick made this vegan chilli for me for my birthday weekend. It was amazing! This is not a very precise recipe, but you can add spices and veggies to taste.

‎2 zucchini (chopped)
1 yellow squash (chopped)
1 medium onion (chopped)
3 cans of seasoned kidney beans
3 cans of diced tomato and green chili peppers
...1 pound "Gimme Lean" vegetarian sausage
1 clove of garlic (minced)
Cumin to taste
Chili powder to taste

Start off by crumbling up then browning the sausage. Then you just add everything else, add your spices until it tastes right, and let it simmer for awhile to cook the zucchini. The tomatoes should provide enough liquid, but if you want to change the consistency, just add water or veggie broth. YUM!

Grilled Vegetable, Herb and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

¾ c sundried tomatoes (from jar, with oil) finely chopped
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
½ c olive oil
½ c of your favorite fresh herbs, I like to use mostly basil, and some rosemary and thyme
Salt
...Pepper
2 zucchini, ends cut off and sliced lengthwise ¼” thick
1 small eggplant, cut same as zucchini
1 baguette, sliced lengthwise
1 c goat cheese, at room temp
Baby spinach

Preheat grill or heat grill pan on stove over medium-heat. In bowl (or blender) mix sundried tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, herbs, and salt and pepper to taste. Place zucchini and eggplant slices in larger bowl. Take backside of spoon and press into the tomato mixture, collecting some of the infused oil. Spoon some of this oil, and some tomato mixture, into larger bowl with zucchini and eggplant. Toss until coated. Cook vegetables on grill until tender (about 4 minutes on each side). Let veggies cool. Spread tomato mixture on both sides of baguette. Spread goat cheese on both halves, over the tomato mixture. If the cheese isn’t easy to spread, mix in a little bit of milk to make it smoother. Place vegetables on bottom half, and top with baby spinach. Assemble baguette and cut into four sandwiches. Enjoy!

Apple Walnut Gorgonzola Rustic Tart

Please check out http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/apple_walnut_gorgonzola_rustic_tart/ for pictures on how to fold the crust.

‎1 pâte brisée for 10” tart or packaged flat pie crust
½ c walnuts, chopped
¼ c crumbled gorgonzola
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 tbsp maple syrup
...2 large granny smith apples (or jonagold or fuji) peeled, cored and chopped
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Toss the walnuts, gorgonzola, thyme, apples and syrup together in medium bowl. When working with apples, you can sprinkle with lemon juice if you’d like to prevent discoloring. Cover mixture while preparing crust. Preheat oven to 350F. Roll pastry dough out to 13” with thickness of 1/8”. Place on rimmed baking sheet. Mount mixture in middle of rolled out dough, spread evenly to 1 ½ - 2” from edge of dough. Pleat edges of dough over filling, leaving an opening in the middle. Bake 45 minutes to 1 hr or until nicely browned. If walnuts get burnt, cover the center of tart with tin foil. Remove from oven and let cool 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe borrowed from SimplyRecipes.com... and approved by Meg :-)

Vermicelli

 

½ lb vermicelli nests
½ c olive or grapeseed oil
½ yellow onion, minced
2 fresh medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (or several romas)
2 c veggie broth
...Salt and pepper

In 9 in frying pan with lid, fry nests in oil on both sides to golden brown. Remove from nests pan. In same oil, brown onion. When onions have browned, add tomato and veggie broth. Season with salt and pepper, bring to a boil. Once boiling, add nests back to pan and reduce to low simmer. Cover and cook until nests have soaked up all the liquid, about 20-30 minutes.

Borrowed from SimplyRecipes.com