Morning Quinoa Porridge

Morning Quinoa Porridge

1/2 cup dry Quinoa
1 Banana~peeled
1 small container black berries
1 medium apple
honey
1 sm. pinch sea salt





Instructions:

Cook Quinoa in 1 C. water until the grain turns into tiny spirals, and is soft. saute chopped apple until tender, add the black berries, and cook until color starts to bleed into the apple a bit. add the cooked fruits to the cooked quinoa, and mix in honey to taste. chop a banana and add to the top. sprinkle chopped nuts over top if you wish. serve hot.

This recipe is perfect for a morning boost of awesome energy. enjoy!

Delicious Quinoa Big Bowl

Ok, sorry for the huge delay in posts, but this recipe is also from 101 cookbooks, and it is delicious!

2 cups white quinoa, rinsed well
4 scant cups water
1 teaspoon salt
a few splashes of extra virgin olive oil
3 - 4 medium/large potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice (or sweet potatoes)
1 large yellow onions, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 cup toasted nuts (walnuts, pine nuts, etc)
1-2 cups lightly cooked asparagus, cut into 1/2-inch segments

another splash or two of good olive oil or citrus dressing

Bring the quinoa, water and salt to a boil in a large thick-bottomed pot. Reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the quinoa opens up revealing a little spiral and is soft and pleasant to chew. If there is any remaining liquid at this point, drain it off and set the quinoa aside.

Warm a splash of olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, then add the potatoes and a couple pinches of salt. Toss to coat the potatoes and cover for a few minutes to allow the insides of the potatoes to sweat and cook. Uncover, toss again, then cook a few minutes longer (uncovered) until the potatoes start to get some color. Continue tossing every few minutes to get more color and crispness. When they are cooked through and pleasantly crunchy, season to taste with salt and scoop out onto a plate. Set aside.

In the same skillet (no need to clean) warm another splash of oil. Add the onions and garlic and cook for 4-5 minutes or until they soften up a bit.

Toss the quinoa with a splash of olive oil . Serve each bowl of quinoa topped with potatoes, onions, nuts and asparagus. Alternately, you can toss everything together in one big bowl and serve it up family-style.

Serves 4 - 6.

Rustic Cabbage Soup

This is not my own recipe, one of my co workers gave me the URL to 101 Cookbooks (http://www.101cookbooks.com/index.html) it is a site that well, here is what the site creator Heidi Swanson has to say about her site:

The premise this site was built on is best summed up in two sentences: When you own over 100 cookbooks, it is time to stop buying, and start cooking. This site chronicles a cookbook collection, one recipe at a time.

101 Cookbooks started in early 2003 when I looked up at my huge cookbook collection one afternoon and realized that instead of exploring the different books in my collection - I was cooking the same recipes over and over. I seemed to buy a new cookbook every time I stepped out the front door - always with good intentions. I would regularly go through my collection of books and magazines and carefully tag each recipe that piqued my interest. I ended up with shelves full of books brimming with Post-it notes and drawers full of recipes clipped from my favorite magazines - neatly organized by course, flavor, region, or ingredient.

I fell in love with this site almost instantly, there were recipes for things that i hadn't even heard of!! but, back to cabbage soup...Today the weather in Indianapolis is wet, balmy, and with a slight chill. It might be the middle of the summer, but it feels like fall at the moment, what a perfect day to make and enjoy some tasty soup.

Here is the URL for the soup: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/rustic-cabbage-soup-recipe.html

and here is the recipe:

Rustic Cabbage Soup

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
a big pinch of salt
1/2 pound potatoes, skin on, cut 1/4-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cups stock (see head notes)
1 1/2 cups white beans, precooked or canned (drained & rinsed well)
1/2 medium cabbage, cored and sliced into 1/4-inch ribbons
more good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for drizzling
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

Directions:

Warm the olive oil in a large thick-bottomed pot over medium-high heat. Stir in the salt and potatoes. Cover and cook until they are a bit tender and starting to brown a bit, about 5 minutes, it's o.k. to uncover to stir a couple times. Stir in the garlic and onion and cook for another minute or two. Add the stock and the beans and bring the pot to a simmer. Stir in the cabbage and cook for a couple more minutes, until the cabbage softens up a bit. Now adjust the seasoning - getting the seasoning right is important or your soup will taste flat and uninteresting. Taste and add more salt if needed, the amount of salt you will need to add will depend on how salty your stock is (varying widely between brands, homemade, etc)...

Serve drizzled with a bit of olive oil and a generous dusting of cheese.

Eat Warm!!!

This soup was literally like an explosion of flavor in my mouth, and i loved it.

Wheata-Bix

So, most mornings (when i wake up on time) i like to have a spot of breakfast. As opposed to going to a cheap and un-nutritionally-rewarding fast drive thru, i have a bowl of cereal. Wheata-Bix are probably the best things in the world, as far as healthy cereal breakfast are concerned. So the average Wheata-Bix by it's self is relatively plain, i like mine with one packet of splenda, a handful of raisins, sliced banana, handful of a nut of some kind, and some fat free soy milk. here is the finished product.

So much for updates daily!

Hello all out there in the blogger sphere, I am sorry to have not updated in so long! I have been cooking, mind you, that is for certain. I am only posting one recipe today, this one has fish in it, so if you aren't a fish fan...well, there are many other great recipes that will just as easily tickle your vegetarian fancy! I have, so far, made up all of these recipes as i go along...tell me if they suck! i would really appreciate it!

Surf and Veg.

1 small container of Baby Sea Scallops
1 package of de-shelled crab meat, or imitation if that is all that is available
1 c. brown rice
1 shallot
1 pinch fresh basil
1 pinch fresh rosemary
1 pinch fresh dill (if you like dill)
1 pinch of any herb that you enjoy. everyone is a bit different.
1 pack green onions
1 package mushrooms (any flavor will do the trick)
1 head purple cabbage
2-3 red potatoes w/ skin, chopped
pinch of basil
salt
pepper
plop of cooking oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
some whole wheat flour


Instructions:

Vegetables...

Chop all of the vegetables, saute them on medium high heat in the oil starting with the green onion, potato, and mushroom, when the onion starts to brown slightly, add the remainder of the veg, saute for approx. 5 min (until the cabbage starts to wilt a bit) add the vegetable broth, and cover. let steam until a fork can easily pass through the potato.

Rice!
Bring 2 1/2 c. water or broth to a boil, and add 1 c. brown rice. when the rice has a soft center, but is still a bit aldente, remove from water, wrap in cheese cloth, and steam for 45 min, or until rice is finished cooking.

Fish #@$%!

In a large, non stick pan, heat enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan, add chopped shallots, herbs, and cook until the shallots are translucent. the pan needs to be really hot to cook the scallops, dump the container into the pan, and cook quickly, until the outside is slightly browned, but the inside is still fleshy, and dosn't have the consistency of a rubber band. remove from heat. in the same pan, saute the real (or fake) crab meat until slightly browned. **you might have to add a bit more oil** remove from heat.

Sauce ^_^

Pour about a cup of soy milk into the hot pan used to cook the fish, and stir until the milk takes on a different color. add a pinch of whole wheat flour to the mix to thicken the sauce, when it is as thick as you want it , remove from heat.

Plating!

for this, you will need a ramekin, small cup, something round and not huge! place a good scoop of rice on the top, and the vegetables at the bottom. make sure everything is compact in the cup, press down to be certain! turn the dish over onto a plate, and lightly tap on the top of it to dislodge the food. Scoop some of the fish mixture on top of the rice/veg, and drizzle some sauce over top of the rest of it. you could decorate the plate, but it isn't a real priority. eat and enjoy!






This was delicious! i was a first timer as far as scallops were concerned, but they turned out beautifully!

Vegetarian Pizza!

here's the recipe:

Veggie Zaa'
1 zucchini
1 purple onion
1 package mushrooms
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 pack asparagus (white or green)
2 Tbs. butter
salt
pepper
1 pre made pizza crust (home made, if you're daring)
1 jar marinara sauce
1 12 oz. pack of mozarella cheese

Instructions:

pre-heat oven to 350, melt the butter with some salt, rosemary, basil, really any good pizza herb you can think of. when butter is melted, lightly brush the pizza crust, and put in oven for five min. Peel the zucchini so that some skin is still on the surface, cut asparagus to about 1.5 in from the tip, chop the peppers and mince the onion and mushrooms. lightly saute the vegetables, and set in a bowl to cool. mix some of the marinara sauce with basil, salt, and pepper. Brush mixture over the surface of the pre heated crust. sauce to your liking. pour some of the vegetables over the sauce, and pour cheese over to cover. add some more vegetables ove the cheese, and lightly sprinkle a bit more cheese on top of those. place in the oven until the cheese starts to brown, pull out of oven, cool and serve.

yum. that is all i have to say about this recipe. This pizza is great for a rainy day, or a late afternoon meal, it is much healthier than ordering out a pie from dominoes or the like.

Catch-Up

Sorry for the four day gap in between posts, I assure you i have been keeping up with the program, and today I will post four recipes. I am really starting to like this program more than i thought i would. I used to find it easier to just go through some drive-thru when, it was only ever an unnecessary waste of money. Cooking every night has helped me experiment with different flavors, and textures, and while i am still a slightly picky eater, it has been less of an issue. On with the recipes:

Vegetable Kebabs:

1 yellow, and red pepper.
1 carton of white mushrooms
1 carton of baby bella mushrooms
1 large white onion
1 carton baby tomatoes
**skewers**

Instructions:

While cutting the vegetables, soak the skewers in water. after the vegetables are cut, and the skewers are soaked, put the veg onto the skewers, and grill until all of the vegetables are cooked through.

Serve these with white or brown rice.

We made this recipe at my aunts house, over the grill. the only catch is that the tomatoes were slightly harder to grill, after a few minutes over the heat, they were beginning to fall off. so, if you want tomatoes, i might recommend making a skewer for only tomatoes, and putting it over the heat as the other skewers are getting done.

Mushroom Risotto

1 c. Arborio rice
3 c. Vegetable broth or water
1 package Baby Bella mushrooms
2 Shallots
2 Tbs. oil
1 small container of goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Chop and dice the mushrooms and shallots, the shallots are majorly potent, chopping one is like 10x worse than cutting an onion, so you might want to put the shallots in the freezer for 30 min. to an hour because freezing them helps with the bacteria that makes you cry. Saute the shallots and mushrooms in oil until slightly browned and remove from heat.
The rice is very hands on, add one Tbs. oil to a pot over medium/med. high heat, and when the oil starts to boil, add the uncooked rice, stir constantly. let the rice cook in the oil for about a minute, then add one cup of the liquid (broth or water). stir the rice every few seconds until the liquid is absorbed, and then add another cup of the liquid. stir the rice until the water is again, absorbed, and add the final cup of liquid and the cooked mushrooms and shallots. let the water absorb, and when it is nearly finished, add the package of goat cheese and stir until the remaining liquid is absorbed. remove from heat and season to taste. serve hot.

This was delicious!!! I made the rice a bit al dente, but i took some to work the next day, and after re-heating, the rice was perfect. there is not a lot of fat in this recipe, the only thing i would stress is moderation with this, only because it is just so good. :)

The last recipe i made was a Ravioli, and it was A-freaking-mazing!

Chef Boyardee, eat your heart out!
1 12 oz. package of low fat ricotta cheese
1 bunch green onions
mushrooms
1 yellow squash
1/2 onion
1/2 pack of won ton wrappers
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Chop all of the Veg. so that they are small chunks, and saute them. when sauted, set them in the fridge to cool (approx. 30 min.) When the vegetables are cool, mix them with the ricotta, and get ready to make some ravioli!

Place about 1 tlbs. of the mixture in the middle of a wanton wrapper, and wet the edges. place another wrapper on top of the first, and re wet the edges to seal ravioli. do this as many times as you want. when ravioli are all made, place them in a pot of boiling water to cook (they are done when they float to the top). serve with red sauce.

Red Sauce

1 tomato
1 yellow pepper
1 can tomato paste
1 can tomato sauce
salt/pepper to taste

Instructions:
Chop tomato, onion, and pepper up, and saute until onion is translucent. in a separate pot, put tomato sauce, and paste in and mix until smoothe. when sauce starts to boil, add the vegetables. season with salt, pepper, rosemary, basil...really, any herb that smells like it could go in with the sauce, experiament with it!

The ravioli was great, i made the mistake of not making red sauce, and using left over filling, don'y make the same mistake as i made.

Meal on a dime...

One of the perks of being a college student is never having money, eating healthily on a tight budget is a lot simpler than i once thought. Vegetables can be purchased for much cheaper than some crappy take away, test yourself...go to your local grocery store and grab a basket of veg. and a basket of frozen food and compare the prices, chances are that the basket of vegetables will be less expensive.

Here's the recipe for the day:

Firecracker Cabbage:

1/2 Head of Cabbage cut and chopped.
3-4 Small red potatoes, chopped
1/2-1c. frozen edemame
1 Jalapeno Pepper*
1 Tbs. Canola Oil
1c. Vegetable stock
1 chopped shallot
1 tbls. salt
pepper*

Instructions:

Saute shallot and potatoes until browned (5-6 min.). add jalapeno and saute until peppers are also slightly browned. Add cabbage, vegetable stock and edemame, and cover pot for 10 min. until stock is almost gone from the bottom of the pan, and the cabbage is slightly translucent. add salt, pepper, and stir.

serve warm.


This was hella good, it tasted very much like a comfort food, only slightly healthier. :)

Happy 4th of July!!!

Cook Day no. 2

Tonight, i only made one dish, because last night i worked the overnight shift, and slept all of today...well, the dish i made was a warm cucumber dish, here is the recipe:

1 cucumber peeled and sliced
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs. vegan butter
1 handful chopped green onion
1/2 cup edemame

Instructions:

I used a Wok to cook this dish, start with the butter in the wok, season it with salt and pepper. when the butter has melted, add the sliced cucumber, and onion. when the cucumber starts to become translucent, add the green onion, and edemame, and cook until the cucumber is slightly browned.

This dish was SO! good. I am not the biggest fan of cucumbers to begin with, but this dish really was great tonight.

The off Day

I've caught my first snag of the project, with the size servings that i make each "cook" night, i am never left with left overs, so note to self....cook more.

Today, because i had no left overs for lunch or dinner, i just settled for making beenie weenies, and having that for both lunch and dinner, if you're interested, here is the recipe:

Vegetarian Beenie Weenies

1 24 oz. can of vegetarian baked beans (every other can has bacon in it)
1 package vegetarian hot dogs (the morning star is a good brand)
1/2 chopped onion
1 tbs. Ketchup
1 tbs. Mustard
1 tsp. Honey
1 tbs. Oil (e.v.o.o. , or canola)

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 350

Saute the chopped onion in the oil until brown (4-5 min), cut the "Hot Dogs" into chunks, and add to onions. Saute with salt and pepper until browned.

While the onion and hot dogs are cooking, mix Ketchup, Mustard, and Honey in a separate bowl. After the hot dogs look brown, add the mixture, and cook for about 30 seconds before adding the baked beans. cook until the beans boil, and place in a oven safe container, and bake for approx. 20 minutes.

serve hot.

I am a big beenie weenie fan, so this dish really hits the spot for me. Will post later with tomorrows meal plan and recipes.

Pot Stickers

I am the type of person who will willing go to Whole Foods and buy some pot stickers, they are fully cooked, and delicious. Last night, i cooked my own rendition on the classic oriental dish, and they were phenomenal!

The recipe said that the preparation process was intensive, and they didn't lie. I spent about an hour getting the veg. chopped and sauteed...blended and mixed, then came the act of actually stuffing the won ton's...lets just say that it was an adventure. One must stress the organization aspect while in the kitchen, because the food prep can be slightly messy.

Wrapping the won ton's was CRAZY! This was my first time wrapping anything won ton like, it was a bit more difficult than i thought it would be, but i was really pleased with the outcome. It is 11:52, and i have just had my re-heated won ton's, they were as good as when i made them last night.

This post is kind of backwards, but i still wanted to talk about breakfast. The vegetarian McAwesome was really, really good. I diverted away from the recipe a bit, and used vegetarian bacon (not as good as real bacon by any means), as opposed to the fake sausage. The sandwich was very filling, and i would make it again in the future.

**SIDE NOTE**

I will, in the future, add pictures of the completed dishes, sorry about no images today.

Day one, 07-01-09

Tomorrow i start this project. Here are the recipes i am planning on making.

Breakfast:

Vegetarian McMuffin

1 Egg yolk
2 Egg Whites
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 package veggie Canadian bacon
vegan cheese of your choice (one that melts well, like Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet, or Tofutti singles)
English muffins/Whole Wheat Bread
vegan margarine

cook it like an egg sandwich.


Lunch:

1 packages of prepared potsticker or gyoza skins. They are about 3 in diameter, round.
Filling:
1 large carrots, grated
1/4 small head of cabbage, sliced thinly
1/4 cup unsweetened rice wine
1 can (small, 10 oz?) bamboo shoots
1 handful of dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked (10-20+ mushrooms, to taste)
1 cup textured soy protein, hydrated with some mushroom-soaking water, then drained
2 tablespoon white or yellow miso, mixed until smooth with about 1/4 cup water
soy sauce to taste
white pepper to taste
chopped scallions (optional)
1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed until smooth with about 1/4 cup water
Sauce:
1 part soy sauce
1 part rice vinegar
Some chopped scallions


This is a time and labor intensive recipe, but when its done, you'll be very happy as you suck down dozens of these things which usually go for 6/$3 in restaurants!

In a large pot, saute the first three filling ingredients. When carrots and cabbage have softened, place about 1/2 of the carrot/cabbage mixture in a food processor and process with bamboo shoots and shitake mushrooms.

Mix blended stuff with unblended cabbage and carrots and add the rest of the ingredients.
The filling should be moist and cohesive, but not drippy, so adjust water amounts.

Dinner:

1 cup of basmati rice
1 onion finely chopped
half cup of sunflower seeds, toasted in an unoiled skillet
half cup of peas (frozen okay)
2 tablespoon dairy free margarine
pinch turmeric
half teaspoon of bruised cumin seeds (press with back of spoon)
half teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups water


In a saucepan put margarine, onion and cumin seeds and fry until golden. Add rice and stir over medium heat for 30 seconds. Add water, turmeric and salt. Add peas. Bring to a full boil then cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 min., until rice is cooked. Stir in toasted sunflower seeds and serve.

For more flavor you can add a vegetable stock cube with the water and add freshly ground black pepper with the sunflower seeds.


I am only going to cook every other day, with the in between day being a "left-overs" day, cereal in the morning, and the previous nights dinner for lunch, and the previous day's lunch for dinner.

Vegetarian Project

OK, I've got it! The plan for me now is to become a strict vegetarian...no crazy processed foods...healthy. Along with this whole project, i am going to attempt, and i stress the word attempt, to quit drinking sodas and juices (unless i am sick, because Verners is a blessing to an upset stomach). This will be anything but easy for me, but it is something that i am interested in doing to completion. wish me luck.

Each post, i will put up my meal plan for the following day, with recipies (just incase something sounds good,) and i will write about the entire process. I don't like the idea of failure, so i will work hard at not screwing this up. maybe this will be my way of organizing my life, and realizing that i don't need to depend on processed foods and soda to stay awake, or feel full and satisfied.

The First Entry.

The year long project is an idea spawned by the book "Julie/Julia" by: Julie Powell. I am in the midst of reading it, and i feel the need to challenge myself to do something that i wouldn't typically do, and to do it over the duration of a year.

http://blogs.salon.com/0001399/2002/08/30.html (here is the link to the Julie & Julia blog)

I am so up in the air as to what exactly i am going to do, so i need your help. throw some ideas at me (legal ideas). Give me the reasons why/why not, and i might just start doing whatever it is for a year, blogging regularly about the trials and tribulations involved in the process.

I am an open book.