Category Archives: Vegetarian

Sweet Potato Black Bean Cakes with Chili Lime Yogurt Sauce

February 27, 2012 By in Appetizers, Hors d'oeuvres, Recipes, Vegetarian Tags: , , , , , 4 Comments

This dish started as an accident.  My Chef Instructor at school told us to pick a protein and work with whatever we had in the walk in.  It was Friday and our order from purchasing got lost or misplaced, so a mystery box challenge began.  It started off much like the initial mad dash for product on Top Chef, so I instantly knew this was going to be fun.   Pork tenderloin, gone. Beef shoulder, gone. Trout, gone… pshh I don’t need it anyway, I went straight for the black beans.

I completely surprised myself and this dish came out so freakin’ good. As a main dish or an appetizer, your taste buds will thank you, and I highly recommend you try this out.

Ingredients
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and grated
  • 1 can of black beans, rinsed
  • 1 Serrano chili, seeded and minced
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup bread crumbs
  • 8 cloves of garlic, minced **See awesome garlic trick below!
  • 6 green onions, small dice
  • 1 tsp salt (might need more depending on your taste)
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1.5 tbsp cumin
  • 1 tsp onion power (optional)
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • olive oil
Chili Lime Yogurt Sauce
  • 1 cup Plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbsp lime juice
  • zest of half of a lime
  • 2 tsp serrano chili, seeded and minced
  • 1tsp salt

In a saute pan, combine 2 tbsp of olive oil, green onions, and serrano chili; briefly sweat and toss in garlic for last 30 seconds of cooking, remove from heat once slightly cooked. In a large bowl, grate sweet potato, mix in the beans, egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, cumin, onion powder, red pepper flakes, mash beans with hands or fork. Combine the cooked onions and garlic, and mix together.   Form cakes, should make about 9 and reserve.

For the Chili Lime Yogurt Sauce combine Greek yogurt, lime juice, lime zest, salt, and serrano chili. Mix well and taste. Adjust seasoning and refrigerate.

In your reserved saute pan, add about 1/2 cup of frying oil. Just enough to fry the cake, probably about 1/4″ from the bottom of the pan. Do not submerge.  When oil starts to smoke it is hot enough, start by frying one cake to test. Turn heat down if needed, you don’t want the oil to continue to smoke. Fry for about 1 minute on each side until cakes are golden.  Repeat and salt immediately after frying, place on paper towel.

Serve immediately on a plate with a dollop of the Chili Lime Yogurt sauce and a wedge of lime for a garnish.  Voila- Delish! I hope you enjoy.

Thanks for reading, xo-G

** Hate mincing garlic? I sure do, especially in large quantities like this! Get out your micro-plane grater and go to town quicker! Careful not to snag your fingers.

Tzatziki Sauce

February 24, 2012 By in Healthy Eating, Recipes, Sauces, Vegetarian Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

I absolutely love this accompaniment. It is good on e v e r y t h i n g, very low in fat, and it’s tangy and refreshing, bingo. What’s not to love? Spring is around the corner, and I’m already noticing a change in restaurant menus.  More fish, vegetables, chicken and fruits are spread across the pages rather than osso buco, short ribs, lamb, and cream based deserts. It’s a welcomed change of season and I love the lighter flavors.   Tzatziki is a refreshing cucumber yogurt sauce that can be used as a spread, dip, or condiment;  sometimes I swear I could eat it   like soup!

Try it out with salmon, chicken, pork, beef, salad, toasted pita points, pretzels…. anything!

  • 8oz Greek Strained yogurt
  • 2 cucumbers – peeled (I leave some green parts on for color) seeded, and grated
  • 2 tablespoons good olive oil
  • 1  lemon, juiced
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill (optional)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 onion, thinly sliced and halved (optional)

Seed and peel the cucumber, then grate, ring out in cheese cloth if you have it. If not, it’s not necessary, the Greek yogurt is thick enough to stand up to water from the cucumber. However, if your local grocery has English cucumbers or seedless cuc’s available buy ‘em.  They have less water content and would not require any water straining, might save you a step! In a large bowl mix the yogurt, cucumber, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, dill, and onion. Mix well and taste.  Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper, then refrigerate.   I think tzatziki is better after a night in the fridge, it allows all the flavors to really combine.  Should keep for up to a week if refrigerated.

Thanks for reading! Enjoy, xo-G

Brussels Sprout Salad with Candied Hazelnuts and Lemon Vinaigrette

December 7, 2011 By in Healthy Eating, Recipes, Vegetarian Tags: , , , , , 5 Comments

This is a very simple salad but the flavor combination is out-of -this-world, delicious.  If you haven’t had something like this before you will be very surprised at how well these few ingredients go together.

Salad

Benefits of Brussels sprouts: they extremely good for you; filling, moderately high in fiber, low in fat and cholesterol and they are also a good source of Riboflavin, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Thiamin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese.

  • 8 oz  raw Brussels sprouts, shredded

Candied Hazelnuts

  • 3/4 cup hazelnuts, peeled, shelled
  • 1 cup of sugar
  • 1/4 cup of water

Vinaigrette

  • 3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Juice of one lemon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 3 tbsp sugar

Brussels Sprouts

1. Wash the brussels sprouts and cut the stems off, remove any loose or dirty leaves.

2. Using the slicing blade of your food processor, carefully shred the brussels sprouts.  If you do not have a food processor, this can also be done by by hand. Getting the ribbon effect is key, so however you prefer to do it!  Be sure to remove any white cores you find.

4. Set aside in a bowl in the refrigerator.

Candied Hazelnuts

1. On low-med heat, roast hazelnuts in a medium saute pan.  Toss them around periodically, their paper like shells will begin to come off. After about 15 minutes of roasting, let cool.  The remaining shells should flake off. Set aside. America’s Test Kitchen @TestKitchen suggests, transferring hazelnuts to a dish towel. Wrap them completely, twist the towel to seal. Then rub together to scrape off skin.

2. Cook sugar and 1/4 cup water in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar has dissolved. Continue to cook, without stirring, until syrup comes to a boil, washing down sides with a wet brush to prevent crystals from forming. Let boil until syrup turns light amber, about 5 minutes; remove from heat.

3. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on your counter. When the sugar is amber in color, toss the hazelnuts in the sauce pan, swirl around for 3 seconds and pour the extremely HOT mixture onto the parchment paper.

4. Let cool for 5 minutes.

5. Break apart into large piece and toss into a sturdy ziplock bag.  Knock around the bag on the counter top, this will separate the candied nuts.

Vinaigrette

1. Whisk ingredients in a medium size bowl, adjust salt/pepper/sugar to taste.  Should be on the tart side.

To assemble:

Mix in a large bowl, toss brussels sprouts with vinaigrette, top with candied hazelnuts and serve! You will be surprised at the flavor combination, tart, sweet, crunchy…yum!

Brussels sprouts salad with Thai beef and spicy peanut noodles

I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading…x-G

Pumpkin Seed Brussels Sprouts

October 26, 2011 By in Healthy Eating, Recipes, Vegetarian Tags: , , , , , , 1 Comment

I know what you’re thinking. Gross! brussels sprouts, really?   At one time or another most of us can remember the horrible greenish-yellow hue of the lunch room, a cattle call line reaching all the way across the school gym, the wafting smell of beefy, humid, hot lunch, and the inevitable scary lunch lady slopping food onto our trays, right?? Welllllll maybe this was just my middle school experience. Nevertheless 6th grade ‘hot lunch’ was where I first encountered brussels sprouts; boiled to a tasteless mush and smelling like an old person’s sheets. Yuck, are you kidding me?  I thought to myself, I guess this is what $2 for a “balanced” lunch in 1994 gets ya.  

Fast forward 17 years, (wow that just made me feel old) and think about how far food has come.   A-longgggg-frickin-way, so much so I am not even sure it’s legal to boil brussels sprouts, except for maybe in prison. Okay, that’s not true, but I hope Whitey Bulger is slurpin’ up some SOS and nasty, boiled, B sprouts. Well good thing you’re reading this and not in the clink, cause I have just the recipe for you!  It’s a life changer, and if you have had a fierce aversion to brussels sprouts before, PLEASE take my word for it and give this vegetable a shot.

Here’s what you need:

  • 1 lb brussels sprouts, trimmed, halved or quartered and remove the loose leaves.
  • 5 large shallots, sliced 1/4″ thick (sliced too thin and they just burn into strings)
  • 1 large pumpkin, seeds removed, separated from pulp and washed.   Set pumpkin aside for later use.
  • as needed, olive oil 
  • as needed, kosher Salt
  • as needed, cracked pepper

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 325*F
  2. Carve the pumpkin top off and scoop out the seeds into a colander.  Wash the seeds and strain the pulp from them.  Soak seeds in a bowl of room temp water while you work and dig out the rest of the seeds.  Gentle pat the seeds try place them onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
  3. Once the seeds are dried and laid out, drizzle with olive oil to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper generously.
  4. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.  You may have to shuffle the seeds around periodically during cooking.
  5. ** keep a close eye, these puppies can go from slightly browned to burnt within a few minutes!**
  6. Once the seeds are browned and finished, let them cool for 10 minutes and then set aside in a bowl.
  7. *turn up the oven to 350*F
  8. Wash, trim and half the brussels sprouts
  9. In a large bowl toss with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, sliced shallots, 1 tsp of crushed black pepper, and 1 tsp of kosher salt.
  10. Spread out over a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes in the oven until browned.  Half way through roasting toss them around on the sheet.
  11. When they are finished roasting, serve immediately on a platter and sprinkle the top with the oven roasted pumpkin seeds.

This is a crunchy, healthy, way to enjoy the true flavors of fall with a new take on brussels sprouts. It is easy to make and very delicious.  You will never look at this hated vegetable the same way again! Give it a shot when you are carving your pumpkins this week and let me know what you think!

Thanks for reading! xo-G

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 810 other followers