Mexican Slaw

I'm excited to share this utterly simple, utterly healthy, utterly delish side dish recipe with you from Rick Bayless's Authentic Mexican cookbook.  This goes perfectly with oven-baked burritos, but I know you'll find many other perfect combinations for it, too. 

Ingredients:

1/2 small head cabbage (about 10 ounces)

2 thin slices of onion, broken into rings

3 T. cider vinegar

2 T. canola oil

1/2 t. salt

Method:

Core the cabbage and slice it very thinly.  Place it in a bowl with the onion.

Mix the vinegar, oil, and salt, then toss with the cabbage and onions.

Voila!  Refrigerate until ready to use.

Serves 4 - 6.

Mexican Rice

Here's a tasty Mexican rice dish from Rick Bayless's seminal cookbook Authentic Mexican, which I bought because I loved Mr. Bayless's PBS series "Mexico:  One Plate At A Time".

This recipe is easy enough for Scott to make.  I know, because he's the one who made it!  Of course, we made a slight modification (which we usually do) to suit my vegetarian diet and our busy lives.

Enjoy! 

 

Ingredients:

1.5 T. canola oil

1 c. long- or medium-grain rice (We use whatever we have at the time.  The dish in the photo was made with basmati rice.)

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 ripe, medium-small tomato

1.5 c. vegetable broth

salt (about 1/2 t. if using salted broth or 1 t. if using unsalted broth)

1.5 c. frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (We used one with peas, carrots, corn, and green beans.)

Method:

About 40 minutes before serving, heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.  Add the rice and onion, and cook, stirring regularly, until both are lightly browned (7 - 10 minutes).  Mix in the garlic and cook another minute longer.

While the rice is frying, puree the tomato in a blender or food processor.  Also, pour the broth into a small pan, add the salt, and bring just to a simmer.

Add the pureed tomato to the browned rice and cook for a minute, stirring several times.  Add the simmering broth, stir the rice, and scrape down the sides of the pot.  Cover and reduce the heat to medium low.  Cook 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let the rice stand, covered, 5 - 10 minutes until the grains are tender but not splayed.

While the rice is cooking, warm the mixed vegetables with a small amount of water in a separate small pan.

When the rice is ready, fluff the grains with a fork.  Drain the vegetables, and stir into the rice.  Serve warm.

Serves 4.

Lemony Orzo with Vegetables

Here's yet another Food Network magazine recipe for a quick, light weeknight dinner.  As you can tell, I've found lots of vegetarian inspiration from that magazine lately!

This recipe originally called for the addition of a can of tuna at the end, which Scott added to his portions only (and enjoyed), but it is perfectly tasty without it.

Ingredients:

2 T. extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, thinly sliced

4 scallions, thinly sliced

1 14-oz. can petite-diced tomatoes

1/4 t. dried oregano (or 1 t. fresh)

1.5 c. orzo (This is a rice-shaped pasta.)

salt and freshly-ground pepper

1 14-oz. can cannellini beans (or other white beans...I used Great Northern.)

1 small bell pepper, chopped (The recipe calls for sliced, which you'll see in the photo, but you end up cutting these to eat them anyway.)

juice of 1 lemon

2 T. chopped fresh parsley

Method: 

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add the garlic and half of the scallions.  Cook, stirring, 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and oregano.  Cook, stirring, 3 minutes.  Stir in 2.5 c. water, the orzo, 1/2 t. salt, and pepper to taste.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and stir in the beans.  Cover and simmer until  most of the liquid is absorbed and the orzo is tender, about 10 minutes.

Add the bell pepper and continue cooking, covered, until tender, about 3 minutes.  Stir in the lemon juice and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper.  Top with the remaining scallions.

Serves 4.

Grits with Smoky Black-eyed Peas and Collards

Yet another fantastic dish from Food Network magazine.  If you want to make this vegan, just omit the cheese from the grits (and probably increase the salt in the grits, but that is your call).  I know you're going to love this!

Ingredients:

1 T. canola oil

2 bell peppers, chopped (any color works, but orange is colorific)

1 small onion, chopped

1 bunch fresh collard greens, stemmed and chopped

¼ t. cayenne

Salt

1 t. smoked paprika

2 15-oz. cans chopped tomatoes (not drained)

2 15-oz. can black-eyed peas (not drained)

1 c. grits (not the quick-cooking kind)

4 c. water 

Method:

Heat the canola oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.  Add the bell peppers, onion, collard greens, cayenne, and ½ t. salt.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are slightly soft (about 8 minutes).  Add the paprika, tomatoes (with liquid), and black-eyed peas (with liquid) and bring to a simmer.  Simmer 15 minutes, then season with salt, if desired.

Meanwhile, combine the grits, water, and ¼ t. salt (or salt to taste) in a large saucepan.  Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Cover, turn heat down to low, and simmer 5 minutes or until desired consistency.  Remove from heat.

Divide the grits between 4 pasta-style bowls, and top with tomato mixture.

Serves 4.

Roasted Cauliflower and Pepper Salad

I've been getting a lot of food inspiration from Food Network magazine, and that includes this recipe.  It goes perfectly with the tofu Cuban sandwiches previously posted.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

3 bell peppers, seeded and veined
3 T. olive oil, separated
½ t. cumin
½ t. salt, separated
pinch cinnamon
pinch cayenne
1 head cauliflower, chopped into florets
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 T. lemon juice
freshly ground black pepper
 

Method:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Cut each bell pepper into 8 large pieces.
In a small bowl, whisk together 2 T. olive oil, cumin, ¼ t. salt, cinnamon, and cayenne.  On a rimmed baking sheet, toss this mixture with the bell peppers, cauliflower, and celery.
Roast 15 - 20 minutes in the preheated oven, toss with remaining 1 T. olive oil, lemon juice, remaining ¼ t. salt, and black pepper.  Serve warm.

Serves 4.

Tofu Cubans

I got this excellent Cuban recipe from Food Network magazine...and no, I didn't substitute the tofu for something else.  Their recipe called for it!  Although I was a little skeptical about the combination of the ingredients, these sandwiches were so good last night that we're having them again for lunch today.  YUM.

Ingredients:

1 14-oz. pkg extra-firm tofu, well drained (Not the silken kind.  I like to freeze my tofu for 24 hours, then thaw it.  It improves the texture.)
1.5 T. canola oil
1 small onion, sliced 1/4-inch thick

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

juice of one orange

4 small hoagie rolls, split

1/4 c. yellow or stone-ground mustard (optional)

2/3 c. roasted red peppers, drained

1/2 kosher dill pickle, sliced (about 1/4 cup)

Method:

Squeeze the excess moisture out of the block of tofu.  Lay the tofu on a cutting board and cut into 8 equal slices.

Heat the canola oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until the onion is translucent.  Remove the onion and garlic from the pan and set aside.

Add the tofu slices to the iron skillet and pour the orange juice evenly over the tofu. Salt to taste.  Turn the heat to medium-high, and cook until the tofu is golden, about 3 or 4 minutes on each side.  Remove the tofu from the pan.  Turn heat back down to medium.

Spread the cut sides of the rolls with mustard, if using. Sandwich each prepared roll with 1/4 of the peppers, pickle, tofu, and onion mixture.  Working in batches, add the sandwiches to the hot cast-iron skillet, then top with another heavy skillet to flatten.  Cook until golden brown, 2 - 3 minutes per side.  Serve warm.
(I admit, sometimes I skip cooking the whole sandwich and just layer the onion/garlic mixture, tofu, pepper, and pickle on the roll and get chomping!)

Serves 4.

Candy Cane Cookies

I don't know where my mom got this recipe, because we've been making and eating it since I was a child.  At that time, we shaped the cookies into candy canes.  That's how the recipe went.  As I've gotten, ahem, older, we changed them to pinwheels.  The candy cane hooks were ornery and often broke off, damaging the appearance - but not the taste! - of these cookies.  The pinwheels give the cookies an impressive, complicated look, but they're not at all difficult to form.

These cookies have a cakey cookie texture, and they are not as sweet as many modern cookies.  Maybe that's why I like them:  the mild sweetness, the texture, and definitely the almond flavoring, which is my favorite.  I hope you enjoy them, too.

Ingredients:
2 sticks vegan margarine, room temperature (I recommend Earth Balance or some other vegan margarine that has no hydrogenated oils in it.)
1 c. sifted confectioner's sugar (a.k.a. "powdered sugar")
1 egg (Vegans, feel free to try this with an egg replacer like Ener-G and let me me know how it turns out!)
2 - 2.5 t. almond extract (I go with the extra half teaspoon.)
2.5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t. plus 1/8 t. salt
1 T. plus 1.5 t. baking powder
red food coloring, to color
granulated sugar, for dusting (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix the butter, confectioner's sugar, egg, and almond extract in a medium bowl.  In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Combine the flour mixture with the butter mixture.

Divide the dough in half.  In a separate bowl, blend red food coloring into half of the dough.  I'd start with about 20 drops, then go from there until you have the color you want.

Now, on a lightly floured surface (Don't worry if the red dough gets white flour dust on it.  It won't show up after cooking.), roll a 6-inch strip of red dough and a 6-inch strip of non-colored dough so that it looks like, well, a worm!  (You can make longer strips, but keep in mind the cookies will be larger and take longer to bake.  I usually make mine bigger.)  Twist the red worm with the white worm so that you now have a single red-and-white twisted worm.

At this point, you decide if you want "candy canes" or "pinwheels.":
(1)  If you want a candy cane, just make the cane hook at the end and move to an ungreased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.
(2)  If you want pinwheels, shown above, curl the twisted worm in a spiral, and you have your pinwheel.  Move to an ungreased cookie sheet.  Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired.
Either way, repeat with remaining dough.

Bake about 12 - 15 minutes or until risen and set.  Remember that finished cookies look a little undercooked in the oven.  The moment you notice the non-colored dough just starting to brown, it's time to remove them from the oven.  Cool on a rack, then enjoy!

The amount this recipe makes will vary, depending on how large you make your cookies.  I made large pinwheels last year, and I got probably 20 cookies.