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Showing posts with label vegetarian. Show all posts
OK, I might have gone a little overboard with the hot curry... sure the recipe probably didn't call for hot curry, it just said said curry... note to self, and warning to all of you. DONT use hot curry unless you have a loaf of bread and an ice cold beer on hand to help with the slow burn that will be your mouth.
spicysoup
Other than the whole setting myself on fire part, this soup was delicious and amazingly flavorful. It pairs perfectly with a crusty loaf of homemade bread and is a hearty VEGAN meal. Yup you read that right. Not that you should be surprised the soup is vegan, lots of soups are vegan, and darn tasty too!

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
recipe from The Food you Crave

1 Tbsp canola oil
1 large onion, chopped (about 2 cuts)
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 teaspoons)
One 2 ½ lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch cubes
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 Tbsp plus 2 tsp curry powder
½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
2 Tbsp honey (sub agave for 100% vegan meal)

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.  Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add the squash, broth, curry powder, and salt and bring to a boil.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the squash is tender, about 15 minutes.  Remove the soup from the heat, stir in the honey, and puree until smooth in the pot using an immersion blender or in two batches in a regular blender.  Taste and season with salt, if necessary.

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Eating a certain diet rich with nutrients to stay looking and feeling young? That's the premise behind Foodtrients: Age-Defying Recipes for a Sustainable Life. The pages are filled with antioxidant and other super power filled foods. Will it work? Your guess is as good as mine, are there some tasty recipes? Absolutely! I admit I wouldn't make everything from this book, chicken livers anyone... But there were also some keepers for sure. Like this green tea noodle dish!
foodtrients2
It was a hit for dinner, although I'll probably use a little less ginger next time, I felt like it dominated things a little too much. Otherwise I loved this dish warm for dinner, and then cold the next day for lunch! (I made a double batch so we'd have leftovers, that plus we tend to eat more than a typical serving size... just saying)

2 cups brewed green tea
1 recipe ginger dressing (see below)
3 oz soba noodles (they also suggest using udon which I used)
2 Tbs chopped scallions
1/2 cup shelled cooked edamame
sesame seeds for garnish

Boil tea and use to cook noodles (the noodles only take 4 minutes), drain and set aside. Toss with dressing, scallions and edamame, serve with sesame seeds.

For sauce mix together: 1 Tbs grated fresh ginger, 1 Tbs soy sauce, 1 Tbs rice wine vinegar, 1 Tbs sesame oil.
FT_Cover-242x300 Apron FoodTrients

Now for the giveaway! The winner will receive a copy of Foodtrients along with an apron!
To enter, leave a comment telling me your favorite nutrient packed food to eat. (contest open to US and Cananda, must comment before May 11th at midnight)

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This weekend we had bitter cold weather. Waking up to 17 degrees outside does not make me want to go out and run errands, how about you? Weather like this also doesn't make me think of cooking things with fresh tomatoes, but I did have a crazy craving for bruschetta after receiving an email from a friend that used canned tomatoes to make them.

Canned diced tomato bruschetta? I can just hear some of you running away, but trust me, they tasted delicious.
bruschetta
Tuscan Tomato Bruschetta
Servings: 12

Ingredients
1 whole wheat baguette, sliced 1 inch thick
Extra virgin olive oil
1 (14.5 ounce) can Redpack Diced Tomatoes in Juice, drained or 1 (14.5 ounce) can Redpack Petite Diced Tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup diced red onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons fresh chopped basil (the store was out for some reason, :( so I used 1 tsp dried)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese ( I sprinkled on part skim mozzarella and some parmesan onto each one- I used less than a cup)

Directions
- Brush extra virgin olive oil onto both sides of bread slices. Grill or toast under the broiler until golden on both sides.
- In a bowl combine remaining ingredients, except cheese, stir to combine. Spoon the tomato mixture onto the toasted bread.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and broil for 1 minute to melt the cheese. Serve immediately.

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blueberryhill
A few friends and I skipped work on Friday to head up to VT for a long weekend. It's been a bi-annual tradition for me the last few years and each time I go I seem to pull along a new friend making it doubly as fun! Maybe one of these times all my prior "dates" will make it back with me for a big old reunion party!
sauna
The last few visits have started two new traditions, the first being a yankee swap which always ends in fits of giggle (seriously who brought the woman's bust vase this year???), the second being an appetizer potluck for Friday night. This time around I brought a VERY garlicky hummus, while Val and Brian brought along a loaf of my rosemary bread (she subbed 3 tbs of fresh rosemary for the dried) for dipping in the hummus. Since there were so many rave reviews for both I had to get them up here to share.
cookiemixer
Since I didn't take any shots of the hummus you'll just have to be entertained with these other pictures from the weekend... including one of me with my Sunday morning job... making the famous Blueberry Hill Inn chocolate chip cookies!! These things are to die for... and NOT healthy... kinda ironic it was my job to make them huh? The good news is they came out just as good as when the inn keeper makes them. Score one for me! ;)
cookiebowl

Ever been to VT? Do you love it? I LOVE IT THERE! Do you like garlic? Does your significant other like it or do they say no smooching allowed when you eat some?

"Don't expect anyone to kiss you tonight" garlic hummus
1 can chick peas (drained but save the liquid)
1/3 cup drained liquid from chick peas (maybe a little more if you need it)
3 large cloves fresh garlic
1-2 Tbs tahinni
2 Tbs olive oil
4 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt

Place everything in a food processor and whirl for 3-5 minutes. That's it. Amazing right?

cookies

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What's for dinner? We don't want the same old thing we have every week... and I'm hungry so get moving fast... and make it healthy I ate too much thanksgiving day chow last week.

Sound familiar? Don't worry, with a little help from Red Pack and the recipe below we'll have something healthy and delicious on the table in 30 minutes flat. Is that what you were looking for? :) Oh and if you leave a comment below you'll be entered to receive a fun care package from Red Pack filled with all kinds of goodies! (more info below)
redpackzitti
Armed with 6 varieties of canned tomatoes (thanks you red gold!) I started thinking up what exactly we should have for dinner last night. I was craving some carbs in the form of whole wheat pasta, so it was a pretty easy decision to make my own sauce and bake up some zitti. Don't go thinking carbs are all bad for you either, just get a whole grain variety and making your own sauce is the sure fire way to a healthy dinner. This way you know EXACTLY what's going into your meal... no random sugar, or excessive fat here, just straight up fresh tomatoes, a little seasoning, a few more veggies, and DONE!

Using what we had on hand I went with some vegetarian "ground beef", which really takes on the texture of real beef when you put it in pasta sauce! (Bonus, it's low in fat and high in protein so it fills you up). I started with one medium onion and 3 gloves garlic (chopped) with some olive oil in a heavy bottom pan (heat the pan first!). Then added in the "ground beef" and toss everything until it is nice and browned. Next pour in 1 can of seasoned diced tomatoes (basil, garlic and oregano, seriously even more of a time saver!) and 1 can of tomato puree (no blender needed here!). I added in some black pepper, a dash of red hot (if you don't put red hot in add a little salt to taste), and a drizzle of red wine vinegar. I let this simmer for 10 minutes and it was good to go! See, easy.

While you're doing all of the above boil a pound of small shaped whole wheat pasta until desired done-ness, I'm an al-dente kinda gal how about you? Drain the pasta and toss it in with your sauce along with a handful (or two) of part skim shredded mozzarella, and some grated parmigiana cheese. Now here's the tricky part... how hungry are you really? If you're starving, serve it up now and you're done. If you can still wait a little, toss your concoction in the oven (make sure your pot is oven proof) and bake for 20-30 minutes at 350, or until the top is nice and browned. Baked or not this thing is delicious.

Truth time: I can never wait and bake it, we always just end up eating it right away! Can you wait or are you impatient like us?
redpackzitti2

Now for the giveaway. US entries only (sorry my international peeps). To enter leave a comment below telling me what your favorite thing to make with canned tomatoes is. Additional entries if you tweet or FB about it. (leave separate comments to let me know you did). (example text: Want to win some @RedGoldTomatoes with @steph_chows enter at stephchows.blogspot.com ) You have until Monday the 12th to enter.


Sponsored by Red Pack

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greenmonster2

We're not talking about a green eyed monster here, we're talking about green monster smoothies!! I first heard about them on Oh She Glows and was scared. VERY SCARED.
questionable
I closed my eyes and down it went... I waited for the grassy disgusting taste to hit me in the face... but it never did. Opening one eye at a time I did indeed drink the green monster, but it didn't taste green? It actually just tasted pretty darn good! I've been against trying one of these for what feels like years now but I finally decided to try it for the better of my body. I'll explain more tomorrow, I was sent a book to review and although I went into it 100% skeptical it kinda got me thinking... and changing up a few things... enter in the green monster. Tune in tomorrow(here) to hear more about it :) But for now... go try a green monster, you actually just taste the sweet of banana and milk, nothing green or grassy about it. Believe me, I was TOTALLY skeptical about these, but John and I have been drinking them every day the past few days and loving them. We've tried adding some different berries/ nut butters as mix-ins too. Delicious!

greenmonster

I never would have guessed John would be drinking one of these with me, but I'm glad he is, if I'm going to be staying healthy and living a long time, he sure as hell better be along for the ride with me :)

Have you tried a version of the green monster? Think you will now? If you want to come over I'll make you one to try :)


Green Monster
Recipe via oh she glows
makes enough for 2 people

2 cups baby organic spinach
1 cup milk of choice (we used fat free milk but I want to give it a go with almond milk soon)
1 Tbs ground flax seeds
1 banana
ice

Layer in a blender, spinach, then flax, then banana, then milk. Blend until spinach is totally liquefied. Add ice and blend some more. Drink immediately, if you let it sit it will separate into layers and then it looks weird.

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Even though it's September and the kids are back in school I still felt the need to make this very summer style salad. I've been eating it as a side dish, on sandwiches as the main event.. pretty much on everything, it's just that good!

salad2
Delicious and simple as simple can be: tomato, thinly sliced cucumber, crumbled feta, a splash of red wine vinegar, and a little seasoning in the form of oregano and black pepper. Perfection.

salad

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I was very excited when I got the chance to try Sabra Hummus on the house via the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program! The even better part is they asked us to come up with a fun cocktail party use for the hummus. Not one to take the normal route John and I got to brainstorming ideas.

sabrayams3
We ping ponged many a recipe back and forth but in the end we decided on this one... Mashed potatoes... steph chows style. Now for a cocktail party a simple scoop in a bowl wouldn't do the trick.. something fancier, and easily portable...
sabrayams

Enter in the vintage cookie press that was my Nana's, a tiny dessert glass and mini spoon, and we were ready for business!
sabrayams2

Mashed yams with hummus anyone? With all of the flavors of hummus Sabra offers it would be easy to customize this to anyone's tastes. For us we went with the roasted red pepper variety. The recipe couldn't be simpler, and the creamy delicious texture is the perfect bowl of home style comfort.

Mashed Potatoes steph chows style
recipe by John aka steph chows husband
serves 2
2 yellow yams, you can use orange ones too
1/2 c - 3/4 cup roasted red pepper Sabra hummus

Boil yams for 10 minutes. Remove from water and mash with a potato masher (or use a food processor) add in hummus and mash some more. Serve warm... seriously that's it... and you are going to LOVE it!! LOVE IT!

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Another dinner straight from the CSA basket plus a few staples. I wasn't sure what to do with so many scapes and my bunch of swish chard but Vanessa was quick to send me this link! I improvised a bit, white beans instead of black, added some scallions in for good measure, used panko instead of bread crumbs. The result... I loved it! John hated it. You win some you loose some :)

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I'm a big fan of quick easy side dishes, especially ones that help use up all those CSA veggies we've been getting. In this past month's issue of Real Simple they had a whole section on 3 ingredient recipes, this one caught my eye since it involved bok choy (one of the things I happened to find in last week's basket).


I picked up this cilantro from the Rochester Public Market. For those of you who don't live here, it's an amazing open air farmers market open all year long. This is about half the bunch and it cost a grand total of $1.50. Plus the farmer told me how he pulled it out of the ground just that morning, you seriously can't get any fresher than that. (The market actually won a nationwide contest for America's favorite farmers market in 2010!)

Next time I make this I want to add something else... I'm not sure what though. John agreed that it was missing something... there was no pow... but maybe we just like super bold food.

Boy Choy and Pineapple Slaw
Recipe from Real Simple Magazine June 2011
4 cups thinly sliced baby bok choy
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
2 cups thinly sliced pineapple
3 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp pepper to taste

Toss together and let sit 15 minutes before serving.

Any suggestions on what you'd add to really make this sing?

PS. Don't forget about my awesome Clearly Fresh Bag giveaway!



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Yesterday was the longest day of the year (daylight wise that is) which means the days are getting shorter now, noooo!!!! But it also means it's officially summer! To celebrate I wanted to make something super fresh utilizing the copious amount of veggies we got from our CSA this week!


Arugula, turnips, garlic scape (anyone else have to google that? I had no clue what they were), bok choy, leafy greens! The best part is I'm storing all of my veggies in those Clearly Fresh Bags I told you about a few weeks ago! (I'm also going to mention that the sprouts are now officially 4 weeks old... and still aren't floppy or dried up.. insanity. I had some on my lunch salad today. And they were good!).


I decided to whip up a quick arugula pesto. Have you ever made your own pesto?? You really should, it smells so amazingly fresh it's unreal. All it takes is a few minutes in a food processor and you are good to go!


Arugula Almond Pesto (makes about 1 cup of pesto)
adapted by steph chows
In a food processor spin until well chopped
6oz arugula washed and dried (about 1.5 cups packed)
1 scape (or you can use a few cloves of garlic)
3 Tbs slivered almonds
1/4 cup parmigiana cheese
1/4 tsp salt

Then slowly drizzle in
1.5 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs water

We had this over pasta tonight, it was a bit bitter (just a warning) but delicious! We also grilled up some chicken and adding that into the mix made it a lot less bitter tasting.

Another great way to celebrate summer officially starting is a giveaway!

The wonderful people at Clearly Fresh Bags have offered 20!!! of my readers a package of Clearly Fresh Bags to try out!! Want to know how to enter?

You can enter up to 3 times. Just leave a separate comment for each entry.
Shipping is only to the US at this time (sorry my international peeps).
1. Comment and tell me what would you store in your Clearly Fresh Bags?
2. Tweet /FB / or blog about the giveaway (then come back here and comment to let me know) Example: Check out this awesome giveaway @steph_chows for Clearly Fresh Bags! http://stephchows.blogspot.com
3. Like me on Facebook, then come back here to comment and tell me know you did!

You have until Friday July 1st midnight to enter the contest! Good luck!! But come on, 20 people will win!! That's crazy good odds!

Can't wait that long? Head on over to Clearly Fresh Bags and you can take 15% off your total purchase by using the code stephchow15 while supplies last (so head on over!)



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Last night I wanted to make salads for dinner topped with falafel patties... but I got seriously lazy, so lazy that I didn't even pull out a recipe and instead just started tossing things into a bowl. Lets just say the only thing these things have in common with falafel is that they contain chick peas... the similarities pretty much end there :)



The recipe is non existent. 1 can of chick peas, drained, rinsed and smashed up. Add in a few garlic cloves, some grated up red onion, half a grated up zucchini (random much?), seasonings to taste (salt pepper cyan red hot) toss in an egg for good measure and about a 1/2 cup of panko. Mix, and now for the really lazy part. I didn't even make patties, I just tossed the whole shebang into a lightly drizzled with olive oil pan and stirred away until it all got crispy.


Toss on top of some greens, cucumbers, snap peas, tomato, carrots, sprouts, add some dressing and you're got dinner in about 15 minutes flat. Perfect timing for a hungry husband to walk through the door and say "I'm starving what's for dinner??"

Do you have any delicious recipes that came out of you being straight up lazy?


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This weekend wasn't very eventful. We worked in the yard (the winter totally killed ours, how about you?) After what felt like 8 hours we gave up on it and called it a day. Other exciting things included painting John's man cave, looking into sofas, and lots of laundry.. we sure do know how to live on the wild side... Please tell me you all did something more exciting??

Anyway, on a totally unrelated note, sometimes side dishes can be so boring and colorless... enter in these crazy easy potatoes! Simply cubed up with some onions, a good helping of rosemary, black pepper, a little sea salt and olive oil. Toss and you are good to go!


Chop up into equal size pieces:

1 large yam
3 medium red skin potatoes
1 medium onion

Drizzle with olive oil

Add rosemary, black pepper, sea salt to taste.

After mixed together dump onto a tin foil lined pan, roast at 350 tossing around every 10 minutes. Roast for a total of 35-45 minutes or until browned.

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Spaghetti squash... you are a weird vegetable... people say to sub you for pasta and that you'll never know the difference. I was skeptical... really people... this is going to taste like I'm eating a big bowl of veggies... NOT pasta. Normally I'm in for trying any recipe once, but for some reason I never felt the need to give this one a go. Until last week.

John is actually the one who wanted to try this... wait... John who hates squash... wants to eat spaghetti squash for dinner... Who are you and what have you done with my husband?? I informed him that he wasn't going to like it, and neither was I, but I'd make it for us anyway... and then there would be cereal for dinner once we decided we did indeed hate it.

Full disclosure: I was wrong

It actually tasted good. No it didn't taste like spaghetti, but it had the feel of it, which kinda tricked my brain... I never said I was the sharpest knife in the block. I think the copious amounts of diavola red sauce might have helped though... I mean cover anything in that sauce and it's going to taste good.

So thank you long time work out buddy Krissy for convincing John to try this... and in return making me try it!

Simple and easy to make: Pierce the squash with a sharp knife and bake it for 1 hour on 350 – take it out, let it cool, cut in half, scoop out the seeds and it comes out like angel hair pasta! Add your favorite pasta toppings and chow!

UPDATE: For those short on time:

Renee in Syracuse said...

I make this often, it's my go to diet item in the fall. I typically make the squash in the microwave for a QUICK side. Cut in 1/2 length wise, clean it, invert it in a bake dish with little water on bottom to help steam it and cook till fork tender. Also good with a little fresh grated romano on top!


I've been on a roll with messing up recipes lately... sorry John. He's a trooper and eats them up anyway. Full disclosure: I didn't make these right, I thought I did, but I realized after I didn't let the balsamic reduce enough and I think that was a big part in this not tasting right. Too much balsamic intensity for me, but if you are a big balsamic fan and you reduce it correctly I bet you'll love it! Also it might be the carnivore in me but I felt like it could use some shrimp tossed into the mix. You can find the full recipe over at How Sweet it is.
Less than a week till Christmas... I'm sure you are all too busy to actually be reading this... so I'll keep it short and sweet (kinda like me)

Yes I'm doing shots of soup... don't you do that?


So are you done shopping? Waving a white flag and saying good enough? I still need to get to the post office to ship off my gifts to the family in NJ... hmmm they may not get there on time at this point... uhoh.

Butternut Squash Soup
by steph chows

1 medium butternut squash skin and seeds removed, cubed
1 medium white onion
5 garlic cloves chopped
1 tsp hot yellow curry powder (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups light coconut milk
water or stock to thin to desired consistency

Saute onion and garlic until fragrant and slightly browned, add spices and squash and continue to saute until squash is slightly tender. Add coconut milk and water and simmer until squash is wicked tender. Use an immersion blender to puree the soup to get rid of all the chunks.

Serve with toasted fresh whole wheat rolls.

YUM
Is it friday yet? Really?? WOOHOOO! We were supposed to get a snowicane... a snow storm and hurricane mixed together. So far not so much... this is a picture from Thursday morning... I'm writing this Thursday evening so it's rather possible when this posts I'll be burried under the snowicane... lets cross our fingers and hope it's not too bad :)


This dish has nothing to do with snow... I love an asian twist on cole slaw. My go to recipe is a tasty PB sauce for sure... but what if we mixed it up and used almond butter instead? The result... delicious!

Almond Asian Coleslaw
1/2 head green cabbage chopped into thin strips
2-3 carrots, sliced into thin strips using a vegetable peeler

3 Tablespoons almond butter

2 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce

2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

Sprinkle top with sesame seeds

Chop and slice cabbage and carrots and place in a festive bowl. In a small bowl blend together almond butter through brown sugar. Once your sauce is all incorporated, pour over cabbage/carrot mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until ready to serve, then sprinkle with sesame seeds.

This stuff tastes even better the next day after it's had time to marinate.
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