Lime Shrimp (or Tofu) "Ceviche" with Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips

Happy Summer! I know -- we still have a few weeks astronomically-speaking but I just can't wait! And with temperatures in the 80s and Memorial Day behind us, I'll ignore the ever-present rain, slip on my sandals, open all the windows and start making summer meals!

Ceviche is, to me, a quintessential warm-weather dish -- barely-cooked light, refreshing fish or seafood mixed with refreshing vegetables and lime juice, what's not to love? And this was a perfect excuse to showcase those first heirloom tomatoes of the season. So why, you may ask, is this a "ceviche" and not just a ceviche? Well, although I have no problem eating raw fish, seafood and even beef in restaurants, I'm always a little nervous about making it myself. So I boiled my shrimp for not-quite two minutes before chilling them and marinating them with lime juice and other goodies.

For the Vegetarian, I used new (to us) tofu cutlets: organic tofu that's already been cooked so you just have to cut it up and either heat it up or eat it cold. Very convenient! 

The one note I'll make with this ceviche is to make sure you cut everything up as small as you can. That makes it easier to scoop up and eat with these homemade tortilla chips, see. Oh and do use fresh lime juice. I'm a big fan of convenience but, in this case, bottled lime juice just won't cut it. I guess that's two notes. Ah, well. Bon appetit!

Lime Shirmp (or Tofu) Ceviche

• 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined (or firm tofu)
• 3/4 cup lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 small cucumber, finely diced
• 1 tomato, finely diced
• 1 avocado, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, finely chopped

Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips

• 6 sprouted tortillas
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt
• 6 teaspoons garam masala

First, bring a pot of water to a boil and cook shrimp for 1-2 minutes, until they just turn pink. Drain and let cool, then chop them into pieces small enough to be scooped up with a tortilla chip. If using tofu, just cut up into small pieces and pat dry.

In a large bowl, coming lime juice and red onion. Stir in shrimp or tofu. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour.

After an hour, stir in cucumber, tomato, avocado and cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips (homemade are best).

For Masala-Dusted Tortilla Chips:

Preheat oven to 350. Lay a tortilla on a cutting board. Brush one side with olive oil. Top with another tortilla and brush it with olive oil as well. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Cut into 8 equal pieces. (Since they're all stacked one on top of the other, this becomes really easy as you can cut them all at once.)

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly oil it. Place tortilla pieces on it in a single layer, oiled side up. You may need as many as 3 baking sheets or to cook these in batches.

Sprinkle with salt and garam masala. Bake for 10 minutes, until crispy. Enjoy!

Links:

• Tequila Shrimp Ceviche from We Are Not Martha
• Chipotle Chicken Salad from KUTV.com
• Tofu Ceviche Tacos from TonieGirl
• Shrimp and Avocado Ceviche from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
• Tofu Ceviche Tacos from Epicurious Community Table

Potato and Celeriac Puree

Nutritionists often tell us to eat as many different colors as we can. And on a good day, I can probably get three or four onto my plate -- white, green, pink and red. But there are some colors that we almost never get such as my favorite, purple.

That all changed the other night with this delectable puree. Yes, it's another celeriac (white) recipe but this time I mixed the celeriac with purple potatoes. The celeriac blended right in with the potatoes and we wound up with this exquisite meal, served alongside baked eggplant (for the vegetarian) and chicken (for the omnivore). Leftovers we reheated in a 350F oven for 20 minutes and served under buffalo steak (for the omnivore) and portobello mushrooms (for the vegetarian). A great take on a more traditional (and less colorful) meal!

A note about dairy: as many of you know, I have been avoiding dairy (to the best of my cheese-addicted abilities) for almost a year. I recently re-introduced clarified butter (ghee) into my diet and I love it. It brought an especially rich quality to the puree and mixed perfectly with the rice milk. If you're avoiding dairy of all sorts, feel free to substitute coconut oil instead.

This puree ended up a little chunky (which I love -- anything too silky smooth bores me about halfway through). If, however, you prefer a smoother puree, mash the potatoes and celeriac in the food processor instead of by hand. Bon appetit!

Potato and Celeriac Puree

• 1.5 lbs purple potatoes, cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 celeriac, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup rice milk
• 2-4 tablespoons clarified butter
• 1/2 teaspoon French sea salt

Put potatoes into a large pot and cover with cold water (make sure the pot is big enough to fit the celeriac too and that you put in enough water to cover both). Add kosher salt. Bring pot to a boil over high heat, covered, and cook 10 minutes. Add celeriac and boil another 10 minutes. Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring rice milk to a boil. Using a potato masher, mash potatoes and celeriac as smoothly as desired (you could also do this in a food processor). Add 1/4 cup milk and stir (and mash) vigorously until absorbed by the vegetables. Add 1/2-1 tablespoon butter and stir (and mash) until absorbed. Continue adding 1/4 cup milk and 1/2-1 tablespoon butter until puree is a cohesive texture and as rich and decadent as you desire. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve.

Links:

• Celery Root and Potato Mash from Bon Appetit
• Puree of Potato and Celeriac with Garlic from Delia Online
• Celeriac Mash from Epicurious.com
• Celeriac Mash from Allrecipes.com
• Celery Root and Potato Puree from For Love of the Table

Mushroom Soup, Pate, Porcini Sandwich

As Fall settles in and I reluctantly admit that the cold weather is here to stay, I crave soups. And no thin vegetable broths for me; I want thick, dense and warming umami-laden stews. But how to make one that's vegetarian (with the possible exception of chicken broth), gluten-free and sugar-free, thereby satisfying all our collective dietary restrictions?

Enter mushrooms; lots and lots of mushrooms. They're chewy, hearty, tasty and the epitome of vegetarian umami. Often sharing the spotlight with barley, I instead made them the star. I strengthened the flavor with homemade chicken broth (although vegetable would do just as well) and Shaoxing wine (you could also use grape juice). The vegetarian partially pureed it with an immersion blender so it was chunky enough that you had to chew, not merely slurp, it.

The soup was rich and filling. One of our guests declared it the best thing I'd ever made and the vegetarian, who normally avoids leftovers like the plague, heated it up for lunch the next day!

In order to make it into a full meal, we also served sandwiches with mushroom jam (made from dried porcini I brought back from Paris last year) and pate (duck liver for the omnivores and faux gras for the vegetarian). It was a delightful introduction to Fall. Bon appetit!

Mushroom Soup, Pate, Porcini Sandwich
adapted from Le Pigeon: Cooking at the Dirty Bird

Porcini Jam

• 1/4 cup dried porcini
• 1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup Shaoxing wine (or grape juice)
• 1/4 cup lucuma powder
• 1 teaspoon blue diamond salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Szechwan peppercorns
• 1 cup water

Mushroom Soup

• 1/4 cup clarified butter (or coconut oil)
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 2 1/2 pounds mixed mushrooms (get as exotic assortment as you can find and afford)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/4 cup sherry vinegar
• 1 cup rice wine (or grape juice)
• 1 cup Cocobiotic
• 8 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
• 1 Yukon Gold potato, peeled and chopped
• 1 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup pate (faux gras for vegetarians, liver pate of your choice for omnivores)
• 16 slices bread, toasted (use sprouted, gluten-free or whatever's appropriate to your diet)
• 2 tablespoons ghee (or olive oil)
• 1 tablespoon chives, minced

Begin by making the jam. Combine dried porcini, onion, rice wine, lucuma powder, salt and pepper in a saucepan over low heat. Cook for 1 hour, adding water as needed and stirring occasionally, until it achieves a jammy consistency but isn't completely dry and stuck to the pan. Remove from heat and set aside. Puree it or leave it chunky (we did the latter).

Now make the soup: Melt ghee in a pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and salt and saute 2 minutes. Add mushrooms and thyme and cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Add vinegar, wine and Cocobiotic and cook 2 more minutes. Add broth and potato, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for 2 minutes. Using an immersion blender, roughly blend soup so the base is thickened but there are still chunks of mushroom. (Unless you want to puree it completely smooth, in which case, do.)

Serve alongside pate, jam, bread and additional ghee. Allow your guests to make their own sandwiches. Sprinkle soup with chives as a garnish. Enjoy!

Links:

• Pates aux Cepes from Serious Eats
• Pressure Cooker Porcini Mushroom Pate from hip pressure cooking
• Warm Porcini Mushroom Flan with Wild Mushroom Confit, Truffle Emulsion and Crispy Phyllo Threads from Food Network
• Creamy Chestnut Soup with Porcini Mushrooms and Sauteed Root Vegetables from Food Network
• The Real Mushroom Soup from Jamie Oliver
  
  

Peppery Breakfast Wrap

I get bored easily. This doesn't mean that I can't watch long plays or movies or read long books -- quite the opposite, actually, if the piece is enthralling enough. No -- it's the repetition I can't take. I don't like doing the same thing every day. Nor do I like eating the same thing every day. (The vegetarian, on the other hand, pretty much subsisted on the same 3-5 meals his entire life until we moved in together.) Even as a child, I was never content with having a bowl of cereal every day for breakfast. That might work 1-2 days a week but, after that, I would just pick at it until my indulgent mother got the hint and provided me with something else.

Now that I've made the commitment to my health to have breakfast every day (and now that cereal is off the table for me), I've had to rack my brains to come up with interesting breakfasts that I can make in the mornings that will be protein-rich, healthy and not too time-consuming. When in doubt, I just fry an egg since that takes almost no time and I can pretty much do it in my sleep.

When I get bored, I've found the best thing is to add some vegetables. This also helps in the neverending quest to eat all the produce I buy with the very best of intentions but which always seems to be just a little bit too much for two people to eat. So now I base my breakfasts around whatever vegetable is "on its way out".

This wrap, however, is one of those wonderful egg dishes that can also qualify as "breakfast for dinner". In fact, I made it for our last Monthly Cooking Adventure and everyone devoured them! It was also very easy for entertaining -- I set everything up like a buffet so that guests could make their own wraps, perfectly suiting them to their tastes. We also made rice and chickpeas and some sauteed yellow squash (see what I mean about buying too many vegetables?). The recipe below is for one person; just multiply it by however many people you're serving breakfast to. Bon appetit!

Peppery Breakfast Wrap
adapted from The Skinny Rules

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup arugula, chopped
• 2-3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 brown rice flour tortilla, warmed

Over medium heat, heat olive oil in a skillet big enough to hold all your eggs. Add arugula and cook 2 minutes, until wilted. Meanwhile, scramble eggs in a bowl. Season well with plenty of black pepper.

Add eggs to pan, lower heat and scramble (I recommend a plastic whisk so you won't scratch your pan) until they're to your taste. Remove from heat and spoon into tortilla. Roll up and eat!

Links:

• Spinach and Egg Breakfast Wrap with Avocado and Pepper Jack Cheese from MyRecipes.com
• Spinach and Egg Breakfast Wrap with Avocado and Pepper Jack Cheese from Health.com
• Potato Pepper and Egg Breakfast Wraps from Finding Joy in My Kitchen
• California Avocado Breakfast Burrito from Hass Avocado

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

Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic

Spring has sprung! Today was the first warm, sunny days in months that actually made me want to spend as much time as possible outside, soaking up the magnificent (and all-but forgotten) warm sunshine.

What do you crave in spring? I often think in terms of colors and I crave light green foods, especially asparagus. The first heralds of spring (often appearing in markets, as they did this year, when the month at the top of each calendar page is at odds with the weather outside), they help pull me out of my annual winter doldrums and remind me that this, too, shall pass and there will be wonderful warm days again when I can once more revel in our beautiful terrace, our personal oasis in the upper extremities of Manhattan that almost makes our commutes worthwhile.

But back to asparagus. While most people grew up blanching or boiling them, my family always roasted them in a hot oven until they became slightly caramelized. Delicious! But what about those days when your oven is otherwise occupied or you just don't feel like turning it on? That, my friends, is when you turn to pan-roasting.

I served these four times in the past three weeks: at our monthly cooking adventure, alongside Iranian Shrimp with Turmeric, Saffron, and Lemon Juice and Persian Dill and Lima Bean Rice; at both Passover seders (without the Parmesan cheese) and at an impromptu Game of Thrones gathering we hosted last weekend. And, while the vegetarian doesn't like asparagus, everyone else gobbled them up. They're wonderful warm or at room temperature and equally tasty with and without the parmesan cheese. Bon appetit!

Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic

• 1 pound asparagus, tough ends snapped off
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
• 4 shavings Parmesan cheese (I used a vegetable peeler)

Cook asparagus, olive oil, water and garlic in a large lidded pan over high heat, uncovered, for 2 minutes. Toss asparagus (tongs are the best for this), cover, and cook 1 minute. Remove lid, toss again, return lid and cook 5 minutes. Add lemon juice, toss again, season with salt and pepper and shave parmesan on top. Enjoy!

Links:

• Pan-Roasted Asparagus with Lemon and Garlic from American Food
• Pan-Grilled Asparagus, Garlic and Parsley from Elegantly Gluten-Free
• Pan-Fried Asparagus from Allrecipes.com

Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls

I know what you're thinking. Have I gone off my rocker? What happened to being gluten-free? That, dear readers, is the beauty of these rolls -- they are gluten-free. And sugar-free. But they don't taste it. The vegetarian's been heating them up for after-work snacks and every time I bite into one my first thought is: "I'm cheating; I'm so going to regret this." But of course I'm not. And I don't.

They're also my most successful venture into gluten-free (and yeast) baking to date! How can it contain yeast and still be sugar-free? The sun-dried tomatoes have enough sugar that the yeast feeds off of them without any sugar necessary! And a successful gluten-free free adaptation of a "normal" recipe that I had bookmarked but couldn't imagine being able to try. What recipe, you ask? This one from Sass & Veracity, a blog I happened to stumble upon while on my endless search on how to sneak more cooking greens (like spinach) into our diet.

And these fit the bill perfectly. Have them plain, as a snack, with a plate of Burrata & Tomatoes, an Asparagus Tortilla, Sungold Tomato & Cannellini Bean Dip or Watermelon, Feta and Arugula Salad. And of course a glass of Research Cab. Bon appetit!

Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls
adapted from Sass & Veracity

• 1 pound spinach
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (two packages) active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
• 3 egg whites
• about 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water
• 6 1/2 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour, plus additional
• Cornmeal (no more than 1/4 cup)

Pour two inches cold water into a pot and add spinach. Place heat on high and steam 5-10 minutes, until spinach is wilted. Remove and drain. When cool, wrap spinach in a clean dishtowel and ring out excess moisture. Set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together yeast, salt, spinach, feta and tomatoes. Place egg whites into a measuring cup and add lukewarm water until you have 3 cups of liquid. Stir into the spinach mixture. Add flour one cup at a time and stir gently with a wooden spoon just until combined. Cover bowl with a clean dishtowel and place in a cold, turned-off oven for 2 hours to rise (this is always the scary part for me!).

After dough has risen (phew!), prepare your baking pan: place a sheet of parchment paper on it and sprinkle with cornmeal. Now divide your dough into ten even-sized pieces. The dough will be a little sticky but easy to work with (at least mine was). If you need to, sprinkle with a little bit of extra flour. Roll (in your hands) into a ball, then place on your prepared baking pan. Repeat nine more times with the rest of the dough. Place in the oven for 30 minutes to rest.

Remove pan from oven and allow to rest an additional 30 minutes. Place a tray (I used a roasting dish) on the bottom rack of the oven and preheat to 450F.

After dough has rested sufficiently, dust the tops of the rolls with flour and snip an X into the top of each with clean kitchen scissors. Slide the baking pan with the dough into the oven, on an upper shelf. Fill up a measuring cup (or two) with VERY hot water -- as hot as your tap can get. Pour this water into the dish at the bottom of the oven. Close the door quickly (you're creating steam to help the rolls cook evenly. Bake 20 minutes. Cool before serving. Enjoy!

Links:

• Crusty Spinach, Feta and Sun-Dried Tomato Bread Rolls from Sass & Veracity
• Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Rolls from MyRecipes.com

Garlic Aioli

I've been going back and forth with myself as to whether or not I wanted to post this recipe. Usually when I'm conflicted about a recipe, it's because, while it tasted delicious, the meatballs fell apart or it just wasn't very photogenic. In this case, however, the technique was brilliant but the taste wasn't quite what I wanted it to be.

That said, in the spirit of total honesty (and because this really was the best aioli-making technique I've ever used), I'm sharing it with you and am open to any suggestions from you, dear readers, as to how to make the taste as good as the technique.

So what's the trick, you ask? Using an Immersion Blender. I learned this from The 4-Hour Chef, a new "how-to cook" book that borders on the gimmicky but actually offers several excellent tips for "fancy chef tricks" that I'm more than happy to make use of. So enjoy! We had friends over for dinner and served it alongside far-more successful dishes: Roast Chicken, Roasted Potatoes and Chickpeas, Broccoli and Squash Medley and Steamed Artichokes. And white wine, of course, to wash it all down.

Garlic Aioli
adapted from The 4-Hour Chef

• 1 egg yolk
• Juice from 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic parsley salt
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup safflower oil
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place egg yolk, lemon, mustard, garlic and salt in a cup or mixing bowl (which you find easiest to use an immersion blender with). Mix well then, with the blender still on, pour in oils. That's it! The texture is amazingly creamy.

Links:

• Garlic Aioli from Food Network
• Gluten-Free Aioli from Ultimate Gluten Free
• Vegan Garlic Aioli from SparkRecipes.com
• Slow Cooker Tortilla with Lime-Garlic Aioli from Churros con Chocolate

Winter Minestrone

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed some time off. We certainly did! We celebrated for two weeks with friends and family and even got some alone time in (a trip up to Poughkeepsie where we first met and where we discovered a fantastic 50's diner/juice bar). All in all, it was a great month!

The only thing wrong with it, in my opinion, was the weather. Brrr! I am not a fan of cold and so winter is always tough for me (as evidenced by all the braised beans I kept making). It's so hard to be inspired you're cold and there's no exciting produce at the greenmarket. This month, I'll definitely make an effort to bring greens back into our diet but, in the meantime, I want to share this fabulous minestrone with you.

A thick, warming bean soup, chock full of vegetables and even some quinoa pasta, this soup is a meal in itself. It's fantastic sprinkled with crispy pancetta but, if you're serving vegetarians or anyone else who doesn't eat pork, it's just as good without. Serve with garlic bruschetta and Cranberry and Vanilla Bean Mimosas. Bon appetit!

Winter Minestrone
adapted from Barefoot Contessa Foolproof: Recipes You Can Trust

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta, diced (optional)
• 3 yellow onions
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 2 1/2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 stalks fresh thyme, leaves only
• 1 26-ounce box, chopped tomatoes
• 6 cups chicken stock (can substitute mushroom stock)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups quinoa pasta (penne), cooked (1 cup dry)
• 8 ounces baby spinach
• 1/2 cup sparkling wine
• 2 tablespoons pesto
• 1 ounce Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Heat olive oil in a heavy pot over medium heat. Add pancetta (if using), reduce heat to medium-low and cook 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Remove and set aside. Add onions, carrots, celery, squash, garlic and thyme, raise heat to medium (if you lowered it for the pancetta) and cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion is translucent.

Add tomatoes, chicken stock, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Raise heat and bring to a boil then lower and simmer, uncovered, 30 minutes, until tomatoes are falling apart.

Remove bay leaf and discard. Add beans and pasta and simmer 2 minutes, until beans are heated through. Add spinach and simmer, stirring, another 2 minutes, until spinach has wilted. Stir in wine and pesto. Serve sprinkled with cheese and, if desired, reserved pancetta and additional extra-virgin olive oil. Enjoy!

Links:

• Winter Minestrone from Food Network
• Winter Minestrone Soup from Simply Sugar & Gluten-Free
• Sal Bizzarro's Winter Minestrone from The Colorado College Bulletin
• Slow Cooker Winter Minestrone from Once A Month Mom

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

Allspice Pasta

Sometimes I think I should hand in my "foodie" card. I almost always use tomato sauce from a jar, I buy canned beans and lentils rather than making my own and I've never made fresh pasta. Well, while the MTA was still under-performing as a result of Hurricane Sandy and the vegetarian was still home from work because his office was powerless, I decided to change one of those things. So, even with no pasta maker, the vegetarian and I tried our hands at making gluten-free pasta from scratch.

Before beginning, I did some research on pasta-making, both gluten-free and regular. The regular recipes taught me to use my food processor to make the dough and that, if I didn't mind making my pasta malfatti, I could just cut it with a knife. The gluten-free recipes all seemed terribly daunting, talking about using extra egg yolks and various combinations of flours. Yikes! I wasn't interested in a trip to the grocery store, so I just went with gluten-free all-purpose flour and the two eggs we had in the fridge. I also added some allspice (my current obsession) because, really, what's the point of homemade pasta if you don't add your own flavorings?

So ... how did it turn out? Interesting. It wasn't my favorite thing I've ever cooked, though it wasn't terrible either. For some reason, it tasted "meaty" to me (the vegetarian disagreed) -- possibly as a result of the garbanzo flour in my mix? The vegetarian did find it heavy, a common complaint with gluten-free pastas and pizzas. With some (jarred) tomato sauce, it was dinner. And next time? I guess I'll have to start experimenting with different flours (not to mention spices). Suggestions welcome!


Allspice Pasta

• 1 1/2 cups + additional as necessary gluten-free all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water

In a food processor, combine flour and allspice. Slowly add in eggs (one at a time), olive oil and water. Pulse until just combined. Remove dough to a lightly-floured cutting board and roll out as thinly as possible. Using a sharp knife, cut dough into strips. Cook into boiling water for a few minutes, until it rises to the top. Bon appetit!

Links: 

• Fresh Pasta from Food Network
• Fresh Gluten-Free Pasta from Epicurious.com
• Healthier Italian Pasta Salad from Sugar-Free Mom
• Tuscan Vegetarian Pasta from Food.com
• Slow Cooker Pasta Meat Sauce with Ground Turkey from The Yummy Life