Tempeh Banh Mi

Hey! Remember when I blogged regularly? Yes, that was long ago. One of my new projects is to remember to blog more not just photo stuff on the business blog, but fun other stuff as well. So, we'll see if I can keep things up!

Anyhow, Vermont winter was beautiful, and then there were crazy adventures in Asia, and then summer exploded with busy. However, I did whip up these sandwiches the other night, and was mighty pleased with how they turned out. So I figured I might as well share them!



Montpelier has a lovely co-op that we shop at all the time, and they even have a sandwich bar if you're feeling fancy. One of the sandwiches I've ordered from them is the Tempeh Banh Mi. And it's AWESOME. I was a little scared at first, as I sometimes am of weird things, but it turned out to be well worth the fright. I was craving one the other night, but figured it'd be worth trying make on my own.

A little of this, and a little of that, and success! Thus, I give you my sandwich creation, easy and healthy all in one!

Ingredients:

1 Tempeh cake
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 TBS grated fresh ginger
1 loaf fresh baguette or ciabbata
soy sauce
rice vinegar
hoisin sauce
chili sauce
sesame oil
cilantro
grated carrot
sliced cucumber
avocado (I know this isn't normally on banh mi, but avocado is delicious so whatever)
chopped salad greens
spicy mayo (mix the mayo of your choosing with sriracha) 

Make the marinade: (Note, I didn't actually measure any of this, so just go with your best judgement) 
Take a long tupperware or shallow pan and add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of soy sauce, enough to fill the bottom. Add a TBS or 2 of rice vinegar, hoisin sauce, a tablespoon of sesame oil, a bit of chili sauce like sriracha, and the garlic and ginger. Whisk together. I also added a bit of some sweet and sour chili sauce we had in the fridge.

Thinly slice the tempeh and place the strips in the marinade. Swish around so everything is covered with sauce and place in the fridge for 30-60 minutes.

Once the tempeh has marinaded a bit, you can just dump everything into a frying pan and saute for about 4-5 minutes.

Lightly toast your bread if desired, layer with spicy mayo, cooked tempeh, grated carrot, cucumber, and a bit of cilantro and greens or avocado and enjoy!




 

Soba Noodle Soup

While out wandering one of the old bookstores in town, I came across this new Martha Stewart cookbook. I had good experiences with my other Martha book, so I figured this one would be worth a shot as well. If I'm honest, I mostly like that her cookbooks have a photo of every recipe, but it's also nice that they tend to be easy and delicious!

I saw a recipe in the cookbook for soba and tofu in ginger broth, it looked delicious. I'm a huge fan of miso soup, and while this isn't that, it does taste very similar. It's comforting and wholesome though not at all heavy, and just plain delicious for a cold night.

I adapted the recipe for what we had and it turned out wonderfully, we'll be making this again for sure. Along with the tasty cream cheese puffs! :-)



Soba Noodle Soup
Adapted from Martha Stewart Kitchen's: Meatless 

1 onion, quartered
1, 3 inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 TBS rice vinegar
1/2 block firm tofu, drained and pressed,
salt
6-8 ounces soba noodles
1 head baby bok choy, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, sliced thinly and roughly chopped
1 handful kale, finely chopped
1 jalepeno, ribbed and diced
8 cups water

In large pot, combine onion, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer covered. Allow to simmer about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the tofu into thin strips, then season with salt/pepper and saute or grill until lightly browned. Once cool enough to handle, dice into smaller pieces.

Once the broth has cooked, remove the solids with a slotted spoon. Then add the soba noodles to the broth, and cook until tender. Just before they finish, add the vegetables and tofu to the broth and cook another couple minutes until the veggies are cooked, but still slightly crisp. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash & Black Bean Tacos

Along with loads of other people, I also got the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for Christmas. I'm a big fan of her blog, so I was excited to try out the new recipes in the cookbook! She has a pretty good veggie friendly section, and as that's what we're eating most of the time in this house, I was pumped to try some out.



Upon seeing this recipe, I wasn't quite sure what to think. We're a big fan of lentil tacos, so I'm not unfamiliar with meatless mexican, but this was a new one for sure. However, I'll try anything once, and having faith in Deb, I gave them a try. Super tasty! I highly recommend these, as weird as they might seem, because A. It's always fun to cook with spaghetti squash, B. Super duper healthy C. Mexican delicious = an excuse to make margaritas, right? Win win.

So, I altered the recipe some to my liking, and loved the results, so here you go!

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
1 medium spaghetti squash
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
dash of cayenne pepper
juice of 1 lime
feta cheese
tortillas (I prefer flour tortillas, but feel free to use whatever you like)

Toppings:
diced bell pepper
avocado
chopped cilantro
dash of your favorite hot sauce

Split the squash and scoop out the seeds. Coat the flesh with olive oil and roast flesh side down on parchment lined baking sheet at 375 about 40 minutes until softened.

While the squash is baking, saute onions and garlic in a bit of butter or oil until softened. Add the black beans and saute another couple minutes.

When the squash is finished baking, using a fork, scrape out the flesh and empty into a bowl. Add the spices and the lime juice and mix well to combine.

To craft your tacos, fill with squash, top with the black beans and onion, and then top with diced bell pepper, avocado, cilantro and crumbled feta. A dash of hot sauce or even a dollop of sour cream are excellent choices.



Enjoy! 

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage Brown Butter Sauce

For some crazy reason on Friday afternoon, after a morning of editing lots of photos, I decided that I wanted to make something fun for dinner that evening. I had gotten a new cookbook a month or two ago with a random giftcard I had, and I'd been meaning to make something from it. This cookbook is quite the hefty tome, so while I'd paged through it and read good reviews before I made the purchase, I hadn't really gotten into any of the recipes.

Over lunch I decided pasta sounded good, and this recipe looked perfect. I've been wanting to make my own pasta since forever, but have never gotten around to it, so I figured what the heck?

You guys. OMG. This was THE. BEST. DINNER. I have made ever. in my life. Both Alex and I agreed this was fantastic. I was thoroughly proud of myself after making all the pasta from scratch as well! Other then Christmas Ostrich, and I suppose orchestrating an entire Thanksgiving feast in a square foot Brooklyn kitchen, it's certainly one of fanciest dinners I've crafted. This is not an easy weeknight meal, but if you're looking to impress, or just spend some loving time in the kitchen, this dish is for you. It took me a good couple hours to pull this off, but the reward was well worth it. :-)



Butternut Squash Ravioli with Pecans  and Sage Brown Butter Sauce
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone, Deborah Madison 
(Serves 2-3, about 14 large raviolis. However, I had lots of leftover filling. If you made more pasta and this could go way farther) 

Filling:
1 butternut squash
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 tbs butter, softened 
salt/pepper

Pasta:
2 cups flour
2 eggs
pinch salt
2 tsp olive oil 

Sauce:
6-8 TBS butter (I went for the full stick. Butter makes everything better. :-) )
2 TBS freshly chopped parsley
3 TBS freshly chopped sage leaves
1 TBS chopped fresh thyme 
1 shallot, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced 
1/3 cup roughly chopped pecans (you can toast them if you like, I didn't)

Start by roasting the squash. Slice it half, scoop out the seeds, brush with olive oil, then roast cut side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 375 until tender, about 45 minutes.

While the squash is roasting, prep the pasta. I don't own a pasta maker, or a large enough food processor, so I made this stuff the old fashioned way, completely by hand with lots of muscle. :-) If you have the technology, go for it. But, if you're like me... On a clean counter or cutting board, place flour in a mound and then make a bowl in the center. Add the eggs and olive oil and a pinch of salt. Then using a fork and then gradually hands, gently fold things together and work in the flour. Keep kneading until all the flour is combined. Work the dough into a ball and then place in a plastic bag to rest in the fridge 10-15 minutes at least. After the dough has rested, roll it out as thin as you can get it. I did mine in sections so it would stay cool. Once it's rolled out, I used a small juice glass to cut out the ravioli circles.

 To make the filling:
Once the squash is roasted and cooled, scoop out two cups worth of squash. Beat together ( I used an immersion blender to get it nice and smooth) with 2 TBS butter and season with salt and pepper, then add in the cheese and bread crumbs.

To fill the ravioli, add a spoonful to a pasta circle, top with another, then seal with your fingers and a bit of water.

Cooking:

Sauce: Add the butter, herbs, and shallot and garlic to a deep sauce pan. Cook over medium heat, continuously stirring while the butter cooks. Continue to heat until it lightly browns. Once the butter browns, add the pecans and continue to cook another minute or two.

While the sauce cooks up, cook the raviolis in a pot of gently boiling salted water about 4-5 minutes. Drain carefully.

Add the raviolis to the sauce, cook another 30 seconds or two. Serve topped with freshly chopped parsley, a few extra pecans, and fresh grated cheese.

Enjoy with some tasty wine! Happy dining! :-)

Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I thought I'd get a new recipe up here and have some other ones coming soon as well!

These enchiladas are from my friends Alex and Sonja, who if you don't follow their blog, really kids, you need to get on that!

This recipe makes a TON. We got a few lunches and two dinners for both Alex and myself out of these, which is hard to do in this house. And, it's super easy, cheap and extra healthy. WIN!




Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchiladas
Adapted from A Couple Cooks

2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and finely diced
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 yellow onion, finely diced
8 ounces diced canned green chilies
1/4 cup quinoa
1/2 TBS cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
Jar of salsa verde or tomatillo salsa of your liking
Shredded cheese (some sort of mexican blend or cheddar works great)
whole wheat flour tortillas
sour cream for serving

Heat your oven to 350.
Cook your sweet potato... Place in a sauce pan covered with water. Bring to a boil and cook until tender. 10ish minutes or so.
Cook the quinoa, 1/4 cup quinoa to 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer until the water is cooked away.
In a bowl combine the black beans, spices, onion, green chiles. Mix to combine. Once the quinoa and sweet potatoes are done, add those to the mix and stir everything together.
In a 13x9 baking dish, add about 3/4 cup of salsa on the bottom. Now add your filling, a spoonful of salsa and a bit of cheese to a tortilla, and roll it up. Place it seam side down in the baking dish. Continue filling tortillas until the dish is full. (I got two full pans out of this, 12-14 enchilladas). Add a bit more salsa over the top and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake in the oven about 20 minutes. Serve with a dollop of sour cream!




Enjoy!

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tostadas

I recently discovered Naturally Ella's blog via my friends over at A Couple Cooks. So many tasty things!

I bought a butternut squash at the farmers market last weekend and had been looking for some new ways to use it, so when I saw this recipe, it looked just about perfect! The only thing I would change is to add more squash and increase the recipe a bit, it didn't make quite as much as I had hoped. Only enough for three tostadas, however, they were pretty hardy, so it worked out.

They turned out delicious! We'll be making this again for sure!



Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tostadas
Adapted from Naturally Ella

roughly 2 cups butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 yellow onion diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup diced bell pepper 
juice of one lime
olive oil
salt
.5 - 1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 TBS honey
tortillas (we used whole wheat)
goat cheese

Toss squash, onion and jalapeno with a TBS or two of olive oil, a bit of salt, and crushed red pepper to taste. Spread on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 425 for about 30 minutes until starting to brown.

Once the squash mixture has baked, mix in a bowl with black beans, lime juice, another TBS of olive oil, and 1 TBS of honey.

Place tortillas on a cookie sheet, top with squash bean mixture, diced bell pepper, and goat cheese. Bake another 5-8 minutes, until cheese is melty and tortillas get crispy.

Enjoy!

Fall Leaves!

Happy Fall!

I needed to take a quick break from editing yesterday and decided to grab my camera and take a walk around the neighborhood. I'm trying to be better about taking photos for me, so hopefully more fun photo posts to come.

This past week or even in the past day or so the fall colors in Vermont have absolutely exploded. It's amazing. Today I took the train down to the city for a wedding and just stared out the window for a good hour just marveling at how gorgeous everything looked.

I'm hoping to head on a bigger hike this weekend weather permitting, so hopefully lots more photos on the way.












Yes, this river view is in downtown Montpelier, this is just looking away from town. Vermont is a pretty fabulous place to live. :-)











Hope you're enjoying the season!