Zha Jiang Mian

Another ATK IG recipe: Beijing-style meat sauce...

Recipe

8 oz ground pork (we replaced with vegan crumbles)
1/8 tsp baking soda (I guess ignore for vegan crumbles)
5 tbsp red miso paste
5 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tbsp molasses
8 scallions - white & light green in 1/2 inch pieces, dark green sliced thin
2 garlic cloves
1/2 in ginger, peeled and sliced
4 oz shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 lb lo mein noodles
1/2 english cucumber, cut into matchsticks
6 oz bean sprouts

• Toss the pork with 2 tsp water and the baking soda, and let stand for 5 minutes.
• Whisk together 1/2 c water and the miso paste, soy sauce, hoisin, and molasses.
• Pulse the white and light green scallion parts, garlic, and ginger until coarsely chopped, then add mushrooms and make an awesome-smelling finely-chopped mixture.
• Heat pork mixture with some vegetable oil in a large saucepan for a minute, then add the mushroom mixture.  Cook 5-7 minutes.
• Add the miso mixture and cook 8-10 minutes while noodles cook.
• Combine sauce and cooked noodles, top with cucumbers, sprouts, and scallions, and eat!

Meatless Mushroom & Chickpea Pasta Sauce

Alright, here's another faux-meat sauce, this one courtesy of the America's Test Kitchen IG:

Recipe

10 oz cremini mushrooms*
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced*
1 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes*
1/4 c tomato paste
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
2 c vegetable broth
15 oz chickpeas, rinsed
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
*feel free to add more as desired!

• Pulse mushrooms in a food processor until in little (1/8-1/4 in) pieces.  Heat 5 tbsp of oil in a dutch oven over medium high and cook mushrooms (and a little salt) until browned.
• In the meantime, pulse the onion similarly (don't need to clean out the processor between all these ingredients).  Add to the dutch oven until soft.
• Mix the extra tbsp of oil plus the garlic, oregano, and red pepper in a bowl.
• Add the tomato paste to the pot and cook a minute or 2.  Reduce heat to medium and clear space in the middle for the garlic mixture; add it and cook and mix in until fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes and bring to a simmer about 5 minutes.
• Pulse the chickpeas similarly, and rinse in a strainer until the water runs through clear.  Add to the pot and simmer about 15 minutes.
• Stir in basil and salt & pepper, and serve over pasta!

Notes

This is a bit more complicated, but comes out really, really good!  Great to make a big batch and get a few meals out of it.  Might even be jefe-friendly?

Tofu Bolognese

Alright, now getting into the vegan phase - thanks Anne ;)  First up...

Recipe

2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1 block extra firm tofu
3 c tomato sauce
1 lb spaghetti or other pasta

Preheat oven to 350, and oil or line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Mix the seasonings and stuff into a brown paste, and crumble in the tofu.  Mix it in real good, spread on the baking sheet, and cook for 35-45 minutes.  Toward the end, cook up the tomato sauce, then add the tofu, and serve over pasta (cook that in there toward the end too).

Quinoa & Spinach Patties

In my phase of looking for good vegetarian (not yet vegan...) recipes - ones that are filling, delicious (obv.), and as a bonus good for leftovers - found this one!

Recipe

1 c quinoa, cooked
4 eggs, whisked
1/3 c parmesan cheese, grated
3 scallions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 c spinach, chopped & steamed (frozen OK)
1 c breadcrumbs

Basically, once you've done the above to each ingredient, mix them all in a bowl.  Let sit to absorb some moisture, and make patties.  Heat some oil in a skillet and cook in batches, 8-10 minutes per side until golden and a little crisp.

Baked Cod with Parm & Garlic Butter

Getting through some older recipes - for this one, actually have a picture of the end result so read on...

Recipe

3/4 c grated parmesan cheese
1/2 lemon (juice & zest)
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp paprika
3 tbsp butter
1 1/2 lb fresh cod

Preheat the oven to 400.  Mix the parm, garlic powder, paprika, and lemon zest on a plate.  Melt the butter and get your stations set up for the fish > butter > cheese > greased sheet pan; top with the extra butter!  Cook for about 15 minutes.  Squeeze on the lemon juice and serve!

Notes

As promised:

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

Sweet Potato Coconut Soup

This soup is a super creamy Thai-ish bowl of wonder. I combined two recipes and riffed on a few things, so below is my best idea of what exactly goes into it.

Necessary Tool: Immersion Blender! Bless this thing. Makes soup so easy.

INGREDIENTS:

-2 tbsp coconut oil (def used more as things cooked down)
-1/2 sweet onion
-garlic (I did 6 cloves)
-ginger (2ish tbsp)
-red curry paste (about 2 tsp? to taste, it is strong!)
-2 big sweet potatoes peeled and cut into medium chunks
-2 cups chicken broth
-2ish carrots (optional...I got the wrong kind of potato! Were white inside and weren't very sweet, so I added some carrots for orange color and sugar. Worked really well! Would recommend.)
-1 can coconut milk
-1 lime
-scallions


DIRECTIONS:

Heat up coconut oil in a big pot. Cook onions til nice and brown, preferably caramelized, but that takes forever. Add garlic, ginger, and curry paste. Cook down for a few minutes until super fragrant. Add the sweet potatoes and carrots, mix well. Cook, adding more oil if needed, until potatoes start to get soft, about 20 minutes. Add broth, bring to a boil then simmer until potatoes are super soft. Remove from heat and immersion blender the ever living sh*t out of it til nice and blended. Add coconut milk, stir in some lime juice, mix it up, and heat it all back up.

Serve with a drizzle of coconut milk if you want, but DEFINITELY with slices of lime and scallions.

Chicken Piccata

Chicken Picatta

(serves 4--3 cutlets per person)

(From Cooks Illustrated 25th Anniversary All-Time Best Recipes)

INGREDIENTS:

-2 lemons
-6 (6 to 8 oz) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, tenderloin removed, trimmed (freeze for 15 minutes to make easier to slice, if so desired)
-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
-6 tbsp vegetable oil
-1 small shallot, minced OR 1 garlic clove, minced
-1 cup chicken broth
-2 tbsp capers, rinsed
-3 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 3 pieces and chilled
-2 tbsp minced fresh parsley


DIRECTIONS:

1. Halve 1 lemon lengthwise. Trim ends from 1 half and slice crosswise 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick; set aside. Squeeze lemon juice from whole lemon and remaining half lemon into a small bowl. Set aside 1/4 cup lemon juice.

2. Adjust oven rack to middle and heat oven to 200 degrees. Halve each breast horizontally, then cover cutlets with plastic wrap and pound each to even 1/4 inch thickness with meat pounder. Spread flour in a shallow dish. Pat cutlets dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Working with 1 cutlet at a time, dredge cutlets in flour, shaking off excess, and transfer to large platter.

3. Heat 2 tbsp oil in 12 inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place 4 cutlets in skillet and cook until golden brown on first side, about 3 minutes. Using tongs, flip cutlets, then reduce heat to medium and cook until no longer pink and lightly browned on second side, about 2 minutes; transfer cutlets to large ovensafe platter. Repeat with remaining 1/4 cup oil and remaining 8 cutlets in 2 batches. Tent with aluminum foil and transfer to oven to keep warm while making sauce.

4. Add shallot to now-empty skillet and cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 seconds. Stir in broth and lemon slices, scraping up any browned bits. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 4 minutes. Stir in capers and reserved lemon juice, bring to simmer, and cook until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 1 minute. Off heat, whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Stir in parsley. Pour sauce over chicken and serve immediately.