Portobello Eggplant Sandwich

With the vegetarian and/or me working virtually every night this month, my mission has been to find quick, easy and satisfying dinners that will neither require too much prep nor leaving us feeling so full afterwards that we can't go to sleep at a reasonable hour. Last night, that led me down the path of sandwiches. With so much wonderful produce from the greenmarket, I've definitely been on a vegetable kick and I started thinking about grills and, not for the first time, wishing we had one. And what are my three favorite vegetables to cook on a grill? Portobello mushrooms, onions and eggplant. Even though I don't often eat eggplant these days, when I find it fresh and local and organic at the greenmarket, I make an exception.

Alas, we have no grill. But, if you can stand heating up the apartment for fifteen minutes, mushrooms, onions and eggplant are just as (if not more) delicious roasted. And, bonus, you don't have to worry about the bits of onion falling through the cracks of the grill!

I wanted to elevate these from a "typical" sandwich so, while the veggies were roasting, I whipped up a quick tahini spread with fresh basil (better and more nutritious than a more traditional mayonnaise or, worse, ketchup). We also served these with some big arugula leaves on sprouted sesame bread and had a salad on the side. Bon appetit!



 Portobello Eggplant Sandwich

Sandwich

• 4 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed
• 1/2 large red onion, thinly sliced
• 8 slices bread
• 1 bunch large arugula leaves
• 1 American eggplant, sliced

Spread

• 1/2 cup sesame paste
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon salad seasoning blend
• 1 teaspoon tamari
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1 small clove garlic, chopped

Preheat oven to 375. Arrange mushrooms, onion and eggplant on a foil-covered baking sheet (or two). Roast 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the spread by blending together all ingredients in a food processor until creamy.

When vegetables are cooked, remove from oven and let cool slightly. Toast bread. Generously spread spread onto half of bread slices and top with 1-2 leaves arugula, 1 mushroom, some red onion and 1 slice eggplant. Cover with second slice of bread. Enjoy!

Links:

• Grilled Eggplant & Portobello Sandwich from Eating Well
• Crispy Eggplant and Portobello Mushroom and Cheese Sandwiches from Food Network
• Grilled Portobello Sandwich with Roasted Red Pepper and Mozzarella from AllRecipes.com
• Eggplant and Portobello Mushroom Melt from Wine and a Spoon
• Grilled Eggplant and Portobello Mushroom Sandwich from Roman Meal

Rigatoni with Garlicky White Beans

So here we are several days into spring and I'm still cooking and craving winter foods. And why is that, you may very well ask? Because Mother Nature has decided to ignore the astronomical calendar and instead snow is predicted tonight. That's right, snow. At the end of March.

But instead of whining (or, at least to distract me from it), I've gotten back into the kitchen and revisited a delicious pasta and beans dish I adapted from Smitten Kitchen two months ago but never posted. This was the perfect occasion to remake it, perfect the pictures and write it up! This recipe is hearty and infinitely adaptable. You can use virtually any kind of pasta and any kind of bean. It's a great change of pace from tomato sauces and, even though it's vegan, it's definitely stick-to-your-ribs food. You can serve it with garlic-rosemary oil (instructions below), as we did the first night, but it's also delicious as is, reheated (or not) for leftovers. You can also swirl in a spoonful of pesto, homemade or from a jar. If you are eating peppers, I recommend a dash of red pepper flakes. And if you do want some meat, cook up an Italian sausage (sweet or spicy depending on your mood), chop it up and mix it in with the pasta. Leftovers also make a phenomenal soup. Bon appetit!

Pasta with Garlicky White Beans
adapted from Smitten Kitchen

• 1 yellow onion, quartered
• 5 baby carrots, halved
• 1 stalk celery, cut in thirds
• 8 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon green pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 cups water or vegetable broth
• 2 cans great Northern beans
• 12 ounces rigatoni (we used a kamut and buckwheat blend)
• 1 tablespoon rosemary

In a food processor, chop together onion, carrots, celery, 5 cloves garlic, parsley and pepper. (Be careful -- it goes quickly from chopped to pureed.). In a heavy pot over medium heat, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. Add chopped vegetables and sprinkle with salt. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so they color but don't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. Add tomato paste, stir, and cook 1 minute. Add water or vegetable broth and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Simmer 5 minutes.

Add beans and 2 other cups water or vegetable broth. Simmer 15 minutes.

While beans cook, boil water and cook rigatoni according to package directions. Drain well, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

Once beans are cooked and tasty, take out 1 cup and add it, along with 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid, into food processor (no need to clean it in between uses!). Puree, then stir back into beans along with rigatoni. Mix well.

While waiting for everything to come together, remove rosemary leaves from stalk and crush remaining 3 cloves garlic. In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, heat final 1/4 cup olive oil. Add garlic and rosemary and cook just until starting to color, 2 minutes. Pour hot oil over rigatoni in bowls. Enjoy!

Links:

• Rigatoni, White Beans and Browned Butter from Eating Out Loud!
• Country-Style Rigatoni from Delish.com
• White Beans with Rigatoni from Taste of Home
• White Beans and Rigatoni with Kale from Washington's Green Grocer
• Tuscan Rigatoni & White Beans from Food.com

Fennel, Celeriac, Parsley and Red Onion Salad

I'm spoiled. I live in New York City, surrounded by wonderful supermarkets (I have three to choose from everyday, not to mention the two that I choose not to frequent because there are better options) and one to two Greenmarkets within walking distance as well as countless others a short subway ride away. I can get fresh vegetables (in and out of season) and, while I try to eat seasonally to keep costs down and quality up, I don't fret about it too much if one of us has a hankering for eggplant or tomatoes in the middle of February.

As for how this affects my cooking, unless we're having company over, I try not to buy too many ingredients for any one meal (another side of keeping costs and waste down). So I take for granted that I'll have flavorful ingredients that don't need much to make them vibrant and tasty.

But this salad brought all these facts starkly into relief. A simple winter salad, it's a delightful mix of fennel, celeriac and parsley, all tied together with a simple olive oil and lemon juice dressing and sprinkled with toasted pumpkin seeds. Sounds perfect, no? Well, it was good but neither my celeriac nor my fennel was anywhere near as flavorful as it should have been. So, while it was tasty, it wasn't fantastic. As the vegetarian put it, "The flavors are all good but they're so quiet!"

So why, you might ask, am I even sharing this with you? Because it is good. And it's a winter salad (which is exceedingly rare. And, if you make it with exceptionally fresh ingredients (like from a garden if you're lucky enough to have one), it will be phenomenal.

I'm entering this in Raw Foods Thursday on Gluten-Free Cat. Join us!

Fennel, Celery Root, Parsley and Red Onion Salad
adapted from the Washington Post

• 2 tablespoons raw (preferably sprouted), unsalted pumpkin seeds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 bulb celeriac, peeled and cut into long thin strips
• 1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• leaves from 1 bunch Italian parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• 1 avocado, cubed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss pumpkin seeds with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roast 6 minutes. Set aside and let cool.

In a large bowl, toss together celeriac, fennel, onion and parsley. Add oil, lemon juice, sea salt and pepper and mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.

Serve, sprinkling each portion with pumpkin seeds and avocado. Bon appetit!

Additions? If you want to add some protein, a can of tuna is a delicious addition. This also works nicely on a sandwich with some sliced turkey.

Drink? A glass of Riesling.

Links:

• Fennel, Celery Root, Parsley and Red Onion Salad from Washington Post
• Fennel, Celery Root, Parsley & Red Onion Salad from My Haus
• Fennel, Celeriac, Parsley and More from Delicious Dialogues
• Fennel, Celery Root, Parsley & Red Onion Salad with Lemon & Olive Oil from Svelte Gourmand
• Fennel, Celery Root, Parsley and Red Onion Salad from ZipList.com

Red Quinoa, Roasted Celery, Brussels Sprouts, Cippolini Onions and Dulse Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Lemon Juice

Most kids, when asked for their least favorite food, immediately say "Brussels sprouts"! When I talk to adults about Brussels sprouts, however, they usually tell me how pleasantly surprised they were to find like Brussels sprouts because of their bad rep (although spinach was always one of my favorite foods and Mom would have to make an extra batch of it just for me because I had no desire to share). I don't really remember them being a regular feature on our dinner table though, if they were ever served, I'm share I ate them because I ate everything. Except sun-dried tomatoes. But more on that another time.

One thing I know is that they're actually quite tasty! For me, I think I assumed that I didn't particularly

The first time I really remember getting into Brussels sprouts was where I got into most foods and cooking in general -- while I was living in Paris. I wish I could say that I fell in love with Brussels sprouts because of some incredible French chef at a little bistro that I stopped into but, really, I first had them because I saw a big bin of them at my local produce store and they were by far the cheapest green vegetable available for sale on that cold winter day. I had gone to the store with a French friend who said "Choux de Bruxelles? Vraiment?? But I thought Americans hate them!"

"I'm a good cook and they're cheap," I replied. "How bad could they be?" He responded that I was finally a vraie parisienne.

I don't really remember how I made them that night, but they were probably simply cooked with butter and lardons and really what could be bad with those two additions? After that night, however, they became a regular addition to my table, to the relief of both my stomach and my wallet.

Because not everyone (including the vegetarian) is such a fan of Brussels sprouts, for this recipe I shredded them and mixed them with quinoa, onions and other goodies. Bon appetit!


Red Quinoa, Roasted Celery, Brussels Sprouts, Cippolini Onions and Dulse Salad with Pumpkin Seeds and Lemon Juice
inspired by Eat to Live Cookbook

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup cippolini onions, peeled and halved
• 1 1/2 cups celery, diced
• 1 1/2 cups Brussels sprouts, shredded
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• dash gourmet pepper
• 1 pinch dulse
• 1/2 cup goji berries
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped

Rinse quinoa to remove bitter coating. Drain. In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa and water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 15 minutes. When cooked, remove from heat (it will have absorbed the water) and let sit until you've finished the vegetables.

Heat a large saute pan over high heat. When very hot, reduce to medium and add onions. Sear for no more than 5 minutes and remove to a bowl.

Add celery and Brussels sprouts and saute 5 minutes. Add garlic, pepper, dulse, goji berries and pumpkin seeds and saute 1 more minute. Add onions back into the pan along with lemon juice. Saute, scraping up any browned bits that are sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add black pepper, reduce heat to medium-low and cover, cooking another 5 minutes or until vegetables are as tender as you like them.

Add thyme, parsley and quinoa and toss together until herbs are evenly distributed and quinoa is warmed. Excellent served either warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!

Links:

• 118 Guacamole from The Daniel Plan
• Greek Wowie Salad from Mystery Lovers' Kitchen
• Roasted Halloumi, Bacon and Tomato Salad from The Bacon Show
• Pininyahang Manok -- Pineapple Chicken from Deaghaidh Recipes
• Hunter's-Style Chicken from Last Night's Dinner

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce

From the 1930's through the 1960's, the Upper East Side (where we live now) was known as "Germantown". In fact, East 86th Street was called the "German Broadway". The expression "to 86", used in restaurants to signify to stop serving something (or someone), possibly came out of anti-German sentiment during World War II. (Now, I have to admit, this was a story I always grew up hearing but could find no proof of it after an etymological search on the internet. Do any linguists care to enlighten me?)

In any event, we decided to celebrate our new neighborhood's former roots at our last dinner party by serving Stuffed Cabbage and Apple Streusel Egg Muffins. Always on the search for cookbooks that will support my diet rather than remind me of all the wonderful foods I'm now denying myself, I picked up a copy of Practical Paleo. Putting aside the health claims of going back to how cavemen ate (and, I'd venture to guess, none of these recipes bare any resemblance to cavemen's diets), the Paleo diet focuses on eating eggs, fruits, meat, nuts, seafood and vegetables and eliminates dairy, grains and sweeteners. Sounds familiar, no? (I haven't completely eliminated all grains but I do try to limit my intake of them so this seemed like an excellent jumping-off point.)

The biggest problem, in my mind, with a Paleo diet is that, realistically, it's not vegetarian-friendly. Sure, you can have lots of vegetables, but without legumes, grains or dairy, there's nothing there to really "bulk up" your foods and make them filling. There's also a heavy reliance on animal protein. That said, "vegetarianizing" recipes is now old-hat. So, it wasn't too hard to adapt the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce to both our tastes. I'm including the recipe for both the omnivore and vegetarian versions. Guten appetit!


*Vegetarian's Note:  Normally I handle the photographic elements of this blog, but this was one of the more enjoyable meals we've had the pleasure to serve.  As you can see from the picture here, this dish was a HUGE hit with our guests :)





Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce

• 15 ounces fresh (or frozen and defrosted) cranberries
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon apricot juice
• 1 head savoy cabbage, leaves separated carefully (you'll need about 15 cabbage leaves)
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 1 cup cauliflower, grated (do this in the food processor -- much easier)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, ground
• 1 pound ground lamb (for omnivores)
• 1 pound beluga lentils, cooked (for vegetarians)
• 4 cloves garlic, grated (as long as you've already broken out the food processor ...)
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (roasted red peppers would be a delicious addition as well!)

First make the cranberry sauce: Cook cranberries and water together in a saucepan for 15 minutes, until all cranberries have popped. Stir in apricot juice. Remove from heat and let come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Fill a large pot with a few inches of water. If you have a steamer basket, place it in the pot, filled with cabbage leaves. Bring water to a boil and steam cabbage leaves until soft and pliable, about 5 minutes. Let cool.

Meanwhile, melt coconut oil in a large skillet. Add cauliflower and saute, stirring, 3-5 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

In a large mixing bowl, combine lamb (or lentils), cauliflower, garlic, onion, thyme and 1/2 teaspoon each, salt and pepper. (If you don't mind getting your hands dirty, that's the best way to ensure that everything's well mixed together.)

Fill the bottom of 1 cabbage leaf with 1/4 cup filling and roll, first the bottom, then the sides, finally tucking the ends underneath. repeat with remaining leaves. As you fill them, nestle cabbage leaves tucked side down, in a dutch oven.

Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and cranberry sauce together in a skillet over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, until the flavors are blended together. Pour sauce over cabbage rolls.

Place dish in oven and cover with foil or a lid. Bake 45 minutes. Enjoy

Links:

• Stuffed Cabbage Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce from Practical Paleo
• Cranberry Rolls with Tomato Cranberry Sauce from Ruby Reduction
• Alex's Mom's Stuffed Cabbage from smitten kitchen
• Stuffed Cabbage Leaves from The Shiksa Blog
• Floosh's Stuffed Cabbage from Hungry Girl
  

Green Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes, Shallots and Olives

Hello, Upper East Side! Believe it or not, the vegetarian and I have moved again -- this time to the Upper East Side. This is my first time living on the Upper East Side and, trepidatious as I first was, I'm now settling into my routines here and really enjoying myself. For the vegetarian, this is a homecoming of sorts -- his first apartment in NYC was only four blocks away from our current home. While a lot in the neighborhood has changed, much is also still the same and we've been having lots of fun discovering new places and rediscovering old ones.

My favorite new discovery thus far (surprise, surprise) has been the 82nd Street Greenmarket. Having grown up with the Union Square Greenmarket (and then spent time getting to know the various markets in Paris when I lived there), it's always been comforting for me to be able to walk to a market, talk to farmers and base my purchases on what's actually fresh and tasty and seasonal rather than whatever the supermarket managers decided to put on sale that week.

This Greenmarket is one of the best I've been to. It's mostly in a church courtyard but also spills out onto the surrounding sidewalk. Nowhere near as big as Union Square, I actually find it more manageable. There's fruit, vegetables, fish, goat (I got some goat merguez), baked goods (including some that are sugar-free and gluten-free!) and eggs. I went with a list and came home with two bulging bags -- including lots of surprises I wasn't planning on getting. Two things I was thrilled to get were green beans and heirloom tomatoes. This time of year, I can have tomatoes three times a day (and I often do) and they went wonderfully with the green beans. Alongside Mustard Greens with (Anchovy)-Garlic Dressing they were the stars of our Housewarming party. Bon appetit!

Green Beans with Heirloom Tomatoes, Shallots and Olives
adapted from Vegetable Literacy

• 3/4 pound green beans
• 1 shallot, sliced crosswise
• 4 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 10 dried black olives
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 heirloom slicing tomato
• 1 tablespoon + 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• handful basil leaves, torn into strips

Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a boil. While the water's boiling, prep your other ingredients: trim the tails (and tips, if necessary) from the beans. Stir the shallot together with the vinegar in a small bowl. Chop the olives and garlic together. Chop the tomato into small chunks.

Once the water comes to a boil, add 1 tablespoon salt along with the beans. Cook for 5 minutes. Drain and dry in a dish towel.

Put the beans into a large bowl and toss with olives and garlic. Add salt and pepper to taste. Drain shallots from vinegar, reserving both separately. Whisk olive oil into vinegar and pour over beans. Strew shallots on top, along with tomatoes and basil. Gently toss everything together. Serve room temperature. Enjoy!

Links:

• Green Beans with Onions and Heirloom Tomatoes from My Chic Life
• Sauteed Green Beans with Heirloom Tomato Marinara Sauce from With Food + Love
• Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad from smitten kitchen
• Sauteed String Beans with Heirloom Tomato Marinara Sauce from Groundworks Farm
• Heirloom Tomato and Green Beans with Ginger Vinaigrette from Parade

Rosemary Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

Sometimes, the best-laid plans just don't work out quite as well as you had hoped. Take today's recipe, for example. The original recipe featured flavorful chicken cooked in the slow cooker on a bed of onions and Yukon Gold potatoes. Sounds delicious, no? I figured I would eat the chicken and the vegetarian and I would split the onions and potatoes.

Fast forward several months, however, and I'm now avoiding white potatoes. But no problem; I can still have sweet potatoes. That won't change things too much; the vegetarian and I love sweet potatoes! So I loaded up the slow cooker and set it to cook for 6 hours.

Then life got in the way and I decided to give everything another two hours. But we still weren't ready to eat (we were rehearsing at home that day) so the slow cooker flipped over into its "warm" mode. Several hours later, I finally dished everything up, along with some Rice Salad with Cucumber and Dill Dressing, and, starving, we sat down to eat.

So how was it? Truth be told, it wasn't very good. The chicken was certainly tender but everything was SO greasy! And the sweet potatoes and onions had melted together (along with the chicken juice, which normally doesn't bother the vegetarian but this time, well, it just wasn't very good) into a sweet and gooey mess. Yuck!

So what did we do? I salvaged what I could. The chicken (drained and stored without its greasy liquid) ended up making many meals for the next week. Reheated (or cut up cold to form salads), it provided a delightful protein addition. And the vegetables? I kept planning to make them into a soup of some sort but, truthfully, I never had the heart to so I eventually threw them out.

Now, you may be wondering why I'm even including this recipe? Well, first of all, the flavors were really very good! I would definitely try this again, but with a few adjustments:

• 6 hours of cooking time on low and no "warming time"
• Defatting the chicken before placing it in the slow cooker
• Leaving the sweet potatoes whole (or, if you eat them, using Yukon Golds)

What else would you do differently? Do you ever have a great recipe idea, only to have it not come out exactly (or at all) as planned? Let us know in the comments!

Rosemary Chicken with Sweet Potatoes
adapted from Recipe.com

• 12 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound sweet potatoes, cut in half (2-3 sweet potatoes)
• 1 red onion, cut into thin wedges
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons potato starch
• 1 tablespoon rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1 teaspoon juniper berries
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground

Rinse chicken, defat as best you can, and pat dry. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add chicken (you may need to do this in batches, depending on the size of your skillet) and brown, 1-2 minutes per side.

Place sweet potatoes, onion and garlic in the bottom of your slow cooker. Top with chicken. In a small bowl, whisk together pomegranate juice, lemon juice potato starch, rosemary, juniper berries and black pepper. When well combined, pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6 hours. Enjoy!

Links;

• Rosemary Chicken and Sweet Potatoes from Food.com
• Rosemary Chicken & Sweet Potatoes from Healthy Choice
• Chicken and Sweet Potatoes with Shallots from Real Simple
• Sweet Potato Chicken Rosemary Recipes from Yummly
• Rosemary-Roasted Chicken Legs with Sweet Potatoes from BrokeAss Gourmet

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Quick Sauteed Wild Mushrooms

Not surprisingly, the most difficult thing to get used to when adapting to eating animal proteins at every meal is how to still make a satisfying meal for the vegetarian without too many extra dishes and too much extra work. When we're both home early enough, the vegetarian helps, often making an extra starch for himself and/or baking a few veggie burgers alongside my protein of choice.

But many nights I'm alone in the kitchen, which I find surprisingly relaxing. Those nights, my movements are more fluid and I follow my recipes less closely. I cook more based on taste and smell and excitedly await when the vegetarian comes home and (hopefully) remarks on how delicious the house smells.

I'm sure not everyone would agree with this, but I think sauteed mushrooms (especially with lots of garlic and shallots) are a delicious smell. And they have enough substance to be a perfect meat substitute. Over quinoa linguine, they became the vegetarian's main dish. And a smaller portion alongside deviled eggs with anchovies was a perfect dinner for me. You could also up the protein by adding some crushed almonds on top of the mushrooms or (if you're cooking only for omnivores) mixing in some anchovies. Bon appetit!

Quick Sauteed Wild Mushrooms
(adapted from Whole Foods and Macrobiotic Cooking and Healing)

• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms
• 4 ounces cremini mushrooms
• 8 ounces portobello mushrooms
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup Innergy Biotic
• 2 teaspoons thyme, chopped
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped

With a damp paper towel, clean mushroom caps. Remove woody stems from shiitakes and slice all the mushrooms thinly. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and cook 1 minute. Add mushrooms, stir frequently, and cook 8 minutes, until they become fragrant and begin to brown.

Add garlic and Innergy Biotic, increase heat to high and cook 2 minutes, until liquid all-but evaporates, stirring occasionally so as to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pan. Turn off heat, add thyme, salt and pepper and stir well. Serve, sprinkled with parsley. Enjoy!

Links:

• Sauteed Wild Mushrooms from Food Network
• Sauteed Wild Mushrooms from Food Network
• Quick Sauteed Wild Mushrooms from Whole Foods Cooking
• Wild Mushroom Saute from Epicurious.com
• Wild Mushrooms Sauteed in Butter, Sherry and Lemon from Closet Cooking

Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding

I spent my junior year of college abroad in Paris, France. For the first time, I was in charge of my own meals, cooking dinner around 5 nights a week. Much to my surprise, I started coming up with some wonderful creations and, wanting to remember the recipes, I started blogging. My blog was the now-defunct Noshes, Thoughts & Reves.

When the vegetarian and I started this blog, it was for several reasons. One was to bring us closer together, to create a way in which we could become excited about food together. It was also a way for me to share my own triumphs and tribulations of cooking mostly vegetarian with a wider audience. In the back of my mind, I think I imagined myself eventually becoming an occasional meat-eater myself, with virtually all my cooking becoming sustainable and vegetarian.

When I adopted the Body Ecology Diet, my food needs changed again and I adapted our diets to become gluten-free and sugar-free. At first, I made a point of making meat or fish several times a week but I slowly got tired of putting so much effort into a meal that only the two of us were eating and, mixed with all the reading I do about why vegetarianism is better, our kitchen produced more and more vegetarian meals.

Sadly, a year after starting the Body Ecology Diet I still have a compromised immune system and tire easily. Last month, I took the inevitable next step and consulted a holistic doctor. He explained that I'm suffering from adrenal fatigue, so I've been focusing more on being good to my body and resting. I'm also taking homeopathic supplements. I am continuing to avoid sugar and gluten, although I can now have sprouted grains. I can't have dairy, potatoes, peppers or eggplant. And I have to eat animal protein at every meal.

So what has this meant for our home? I've started cooking fish and meat again. Not all kinds -- I'm avoiding pork, beef and processed meats -- but it's definitely been a change. We add veggie burgers for the vegetarian to many meals and share a vegetable dish. And I've been eating a lot of eggs. It's taken adjustments but so far it's fun. It means I have to plan meals farther in advance than I was wont to do. And I really miss cheese.

I made this bread pudding for our last dinner party. I adapted it from Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa Foolproof and I think it's a keeper. We served it with Accidental Turkey and Ratatouille with Penne. Bon appetit!

Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding
inspired by Barefoot Contessa Foolproof

• 1 1/2 loaves sprouted French bread, diced into bread cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 4 leeks, sliced (white and light green parts only)
• 1 1/2 pounds cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tablespoon basil, chopped
• 1/4 cup CocoBiotic
• 1 tablespoon special pasta/ratatouille blend
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
• 1/3 cup Italian parsley, minced
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1 cup chicken stock

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spread bread cubes out on a baking pan and bake 15 minutes. It's ok if they get a little browned. Set aside.

Meanwhile, over medium heat, heat oils in a large skillet. Add leeks and cook 8 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, basil, Cocobiotic, spice blend and pepper. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and stir in parsley.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk and chicken stock. Add bread cubes and mushrooms, stirring everything together. Push bread cubes down into liquid so they're as submerged as possible. Set aside for 30 minutes so bread can absorb the liquid. Pour into a 13 x 9 baking dish and bake 45 minutes until custard is set. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Links:

• Mushroom & Leek Bread Pudding from Food Network
• Savory Prosciutto-Gruyere Bread Pudding from Discover Rias Baixas Wines
• Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding from Noble Pig
• Mushroom and Leek Bread Pudding from Garnish with Lemon
• Mushroom, Leek and Parmesan Bread Pudding from Food & Wine Magazine

Braised Pinto Beans & Shiitake Mushrooms

Back before Hurricane Sandy, I went to Tokyo for a week for work. Luckily, I was able to to have most afternoons (and several evenings) to myself when I could explore that exotic city -- definitely the most foreign place I've ever been to. Never having been somewhere where I couldn't at least read the street signs, it was a totally new experience for me and one I hope to be able to share with the vegetarian at some point in the future!

Of the culinary delights, I of course indulged in fantastic sashimi (it's so hard to eat it back in the States

now!), udon and lots of tea. Not being able to speak the language, I mostly ordered by pointing at various items on a menu so half the time I didn't really know what I was eating: not something that bothered me in the slightest!

My favorite afternoon in the city was spent in the company of Mom's best friend from high school, who happens to live in Tokyo. She took me around kappabashi, "kitchen town", where we wandered in and out of various kitchenware, restaurant depot and dried goods stores. Of the delicacies I brought home, the largest was a package of dried shiitake mushrooms. I could smell them even through the plastic and they sat on our hutch waiting to be used.

The opportunity presented itself last week as I scanned my brain for what to braise my newest batch of beans with. Mushrooms! I exclaimed. I soaked the shiitakes all day and then when it was time to make dinner, I was also rewarded with the soaking liquid which turns into a fantastic stock (I've since used it several times). Serve these over linguine. Leftovers? We had them over spaetzle one day and as part of a mixed green salad the next. I recommend a rioja alongside. Bon appetit!

Braised Pinto Beans & Mushrooms

• 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil with chili (you can substitute olive oil)
• 1 tablespoon butter, unsalted
• 10 yellow onions, finely diced
• 12 cloves garlic, crushed
• 6 ounces dried shiitake mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 cup chicken broth (can substitute vegetable broth)
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 2 teaspoons oregano, chopped

Soak mushrooms in a bowl of clean cold water for at least 1 hour, ideally 8 or overnight. Drain and slice thinly. Save soaking liquid and use as mushroom broth.

Heat oil and butter together in a pan over medium heat until butter is melted. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms and saute 8 minutes, until onions are soft. Reduce heat to medium-low and add tomato sauce, paprika, beans, salt, pepper, broth and fennel seeds. Cook another 15 minutes, until beans are warm and soft has thickened slightly. Garnish with oregano and serve warm.

Links:

• Braised Beef & Mushrooms from Eating Well
• Black Beans with Mushrooms from VegWeb.com
• Onion Rings & Green Bean Casserole from Jules Speaks Gluten Free Blog
• Grilled Portobello Mushroom Tacos with Mango Black Bean Salsa from Tasty Yummies
• Mushroom Burger from Vegetarian Food
• Slow-Cooker Black Bean-Mushroom Chili from Eating Well