vegetarian

Insta(gram) good: Baked stuffed peppers with brown rice and spinach

October 28, 2013 by Eva Louise 1 Comment

As my brother would say, this dish is a total smokeshow…OK, I think he uses that in reference to chicks, but let’s diversify its meaning. I wasn’t planning on posting this on the bloggy but one of my friends just asked for the recipe on Instagram and then I realized that I’d like to remember how I made this too! I really hate peppers and I really hate brown rice but for some reason I always crave this dish, especially after the gym. It’s quick, easy, hearty, healthy and vegetarian…oh, and cheap, that’s always a plus. What’s not to love? Here’s what you need to make: Baked Stuffed Peppers with Brown Rice, Spinach and Pepper Jack Cheese.

Makes 2 really huge post-gym servings

3/4 dry cup of brown rice, cooked per instructions (yields about 1.5 cups, cooked)
1.5 cup sour cream
3/4 cup grated pepper jack cheese
2 medium white onions, diced
3 garlic cloves, or if you’re me, 5 cloves
2 packages frozen spinach, defrosted and drained
3 beautiful bell peppers, tops cut off and ribs removed or cut in half with ribs removed
smoked paprika
cayenne pepper
S/P

Pre-heat oven to 350.

In a large, shallow pot, heat 2 T olive oil at medium-high heat. Add diced onions and crushed or pressed garlic cloves. Soften for about 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Take the spinach by hand and break apart into the pot and mix in with the onion-garlic mixture. Fold in the cooked brown rice, sour cream and 1/2 cup of the pepper jack, reserving the rest for the tops of the stuffed peppers.

Sprinkle about 1.5 T of smoked paprika and a few shakes of cayenne depending on your preference over the mixture. Adjust flavors accordingly, it might need more salt and more garlic at this point.

While the spinach, cheese and sour cream warm, line a cookie sheet or casserole dish with tin foil, placing the bell pepper halves snuggly together, insides facing up. Salt the bell pepper halves lightly; no need for oil as there is enough moisture in the peppers to keep them from sticking or burning.

Spoon the delicious mixture into each of the pepper halves, packing it down as you go. Sprinkle the remaining pepper jack cheese over the stuffed peppers and bake in the oven until golden brown and fragrant, about 30-35 minutes. Serve as is, or with shrimp, chicken or salmon.

Follow me on Instagram @evalou for more!

Heaven is a South African Kitchen

July 11, 2013 by Eva Louise 4 Comments

***This is the third and final post from my trip to South Africa. The previous posts are here and here***

Heaven on a plate

On our final morning at the whimsical Miner’s compound, something amazing happened – I met the Miner’s wife, Jackie, who had been in the city during our drunken escapades the day before. We bumped into her at the back door of her kitchen in our efforts to say goodbye to our host and friends. She was directing a platoon of housemaids, with a voice so sensational it was like the Cheshire Cat or an Afrikaans Miranda Priestly were yelling orders from behind a buzzing fan. She had fiery red hair in a coif that Marge Simpson’s sisters might request at the hair salon and gorgeous bright eyes that will keep her looking youthful even when she turns 100. Just amazing.

“Come, come, come. You must have something to eat!” She said in same breath as her introduction.

Instead of staging our departure, Stingray and I let Jackie take us hostage (rather willingly) onto the back porch to enjoy a decadent breakfast of fruit salad, fresh yogurt, charcuterie and her homemade preserves (umm…is this real?!). We ended up staying so late that it was already time to enjoy lunch which we did, at the very same table.

I was gorged, spoiled and feeling rather useless so Jackie was gracious enough to let me cook with her in her amazing kitchen. She and I whipped up a Tuscan-style tuna salad with cannellini beans, fried eggplant with cilantro, a simple salad with a vino cotto vinaigrette, and a caprese salad with olive oil so rich it looked like gasoline.

As I chopped, (she and I in matching aprons) she told me the story of her gorgeous Chinese linens, her fruit trees, herbs and spices from her travels to the Middle East, and the painting class she’ll take in France later in the Summer. So intimated by her amazingness, I interrupted her a few times to ask, “How do you want this chopped? What else should I add to this? Am I doing this right?” “Dahling, everything you’re doing is just perfect, simply perfect. Add whatever you’d like!” My only thought was: Eva, burn your passport so you can live with Jackie forever!…Do it, burn it now!

Once I finished shaking up my vinaigrette and the meal was almost ready, I started to chop a littler slower in attempts savor this moment with her. When I go to Heaven, I know that the cafeteria will look just like Jackie’s gorgeous kitchen.

Tuscan-style Tuna Salad

Ingredients

1 can of good albacore
1 can of canellini beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 shallot or small red onion, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, grated
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup chopped cilantro
Olive oil
S and P to taste

Toss all ingredients together, in a beautiful bowl, except for tuna. Add tuna and incorporate gently to try to keep it from breaking up too much. Taste, adjust flavors accordingly.

Fried Eggplant with Cilantro

1 large eggplant
1 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 garlic cloves
juice of 2 lemons
Pepper to taste
maldon salt

Chop eggplant into 2 inch “pegs” and fry in olive oil until crispy and tender. In the meantime, mix the lemon juice, grated garlic and pepper in a large bowl. Once the eggplant is done, put directly in bowl with lemon juice mixture. The olive oil absorbed in the eggplant will naturally balance out the acid. Sprinkle maldon salt or another large-grained salt right before serving.

Caprese salad (everybody knows this one, right?)

Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil with high quality olive oil (lemon juice or balsamic were not added to the version pictured)

Green Salad with Vino Cotto Vinaigrette

1/2 cup walnut oil
1 pinch sugar
1-2 T vino cotto (Italian sweet wine syrup)
1 heaping T dijon mustard
1/2 clove garlic, pressed or grated (optional)
S and P to taste

Shake all ingredients in a jar. Too sweet add more dijon, too thick add more oil. I served this with arugula and butter lettuce, some red onion left over from the other salads, a ripe avocado and some paprika for color.

Spiced, Wine-Poached Pears with Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

In case I wasn’t already in food ecstasy at the end of our lunch, Jackie brought out some of her spiced, wine-poached pears and homemade vanilla ice cream and served it drizzled with grappa. It’s a miracle I didn’t implode into stardust after that.

Spiced, wine-poached pears with homemade ice cream

A diptych of her lemon tree…why not?

Lemon-Tahini Dressed Kale with Pine Nuts and Cranberries

April 28, 2013 by Eva Louise 1 Comment

These days I’m addicted to kale and totally over my normal vinaigrette go-tos: homemade apple cider and balsamic vinaigrette, so I tried my hand at a lemon-tahini dressing. I always feed bad for that lonely can of tahini that sits in my fridge after I’ve gotten the urge to make humus–the only reason I can normally think to use sesame paste. With this new addition, that sad old can is put to good use with this kale salad tossed with toasted pine nuts and cranberries.

Lemon-Tahini Dressing

juice of 1 lemon
1 heaping tablespoon tahini
3 tablespoons of water
1 tablespoon olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of paprika
crushed garlic clove

Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli

December 23, 2012 by Eva Louise 3 Comments

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage-Infused Olive Oil

Christmas is coming and one of the nice things about this time of year is, of course, gathering with family. There are several of my recipes that I reserve especially for these times, so I can take advantage of the extra man-power. Homemade butternut squash raviolis definitely fall into this category. A simple but labor-intensive dish, these raviolis are a great way to incorporate the whole family so everyone feels like they are part of the meal.

I adapted my recipe from Emril Lagasse’s and used wonton papers instead of fresh pasta dough. For my sauce, I used olive oil simmered with rosemary and sage, instead of the butter that Emril’s recipe calls for. One trick I use to finish this dish is to purposely allow the starchy pasta water to drip into the serving dish when I transfer the raviolis. This makes the sauce sauce-ier and more delicious.

Butternut squash and Parmigiano-Reggiano are the stars of this dish, but they could be easily substituted with different combos like crispy prosciutto and ricotta, goat cheese and mushrooms, salmon and chives (with a cream sauce instead). You could even do sweet raviolis with cinnamon-apples and mascarpone with a caramel sauce…mmm.

Cubes of squash are simmered with chicken broth and herbs while onions are softened. Their powers combine in the Cuisinart to make the filling.

A little Ecuadorian princess delicately folds the wonton papers filled with sweet and savory squash into perfect raviolis

Button Soup

November 21, 2012 by Eva Louise 1 Comment

Piping hot matzoh ball soup, fresh challah with salted Irish butter…Mom would be pleased!

Last weekend my sister came over; we pulled out my big stock pot and spent the whole day (punctuated by cookies breaks and catnaps) leisurely making our mom’s good ol’ Jewish Matzoh Ball Soup. We jokingly call it “button soup” after a short story we used to read: An old woman traveling takes shelter at a poor and grumpy old man’s house. She ends up making the old ~~ungrateful bastard~~ man a scrumptious soup with a button as it’s first and most important ingredient. Like button soup, matzoh ball soup is a peasant soup, simple and modest in it’s composition, making nothing more comforting. It’s a great time to share this recipe especially with the turkey surplus we’re all about to experience.

Mom’s recipe ( adapted from her Grandma and Aunt):

Matzoh Ball Soup

I learned how to make this soup as I have many dishes from my Grandma Ida and my Aunt Josie. Having said this, these recipes are never exact, never measured rather “eye-balled” and approximated. So, this is my way of saying, I too add a little of this and a bit more of that ….and so will you. The most important ingredient is that you make it with love! Here is the best I can do without showing you.

For a Large Pot of Soup:

A whole kosher chicken, rinsed off and patted dry, or alternately pieces of chicken with bones 6 to 9 leg/ thigh combos (boneless breasts would be too dry and stringy)
** Two different ways: I put in 8 cups of Swanson chicken broth and 8 cups of College Inn Chicken Broth into the pot bring to a simmer, add the whole chicken breast side down. Add enough water or more broth, if necessary, to cover chicken and come up to fill ¾ full of your soup pot. ** (Of course Grandma Ida just used water, especially with the kosher chicken as it is already salted, hence the reason I am having you rinse and pat it) but you would then need to add chicken bouillon, probably 2 tablespoons or to taste. I like my way better, I must admit.
Add to pot with the chicken in it:

-2-3 rough chopped medium sized yellow onions
-2 sliced and peeled parsnips
-3-4 stalks peeled and cut up celery
-4-5 peeled and sliced carrots
-3-4 crushed garlic or a couple more if you have a cold

Don’t add yet, Set aside: 4-5 Tablespoons of very well washed parsley (no sand, uh!) well chopped, to add in the last 15 minutes. Pretty much for color.
Cover and simmer for probably 2 to 2 ½ hours. Check on it, stir every once in a while and test along the way. Skim off any creepy stuff that may or may not float to the top and discard….of course.
At the end you can remove the chicken, cool it, disassemble, cut it up and add back into soup.
Serve with either wide egg noodles already prepared separately or Matzo balls…Yum!!