32 posts tagged “casseroles”

Oh, this is a wonderful day!  I finally get to do my first entry for the "Eat to the Beat" event hosted by Elly, since she thoughtfully extended the deadline to Jan. 31st.  I still remember wanting to create something really special for this event since more than three months ago.  Maybe cooking is too emotionally charged for me.  I want to serve everything with love.  I want to incorporate everything nutritious into one single meal.  I want to feel the calm that comes after cooking up a storm in the kitchen.  I want to learn more about myself through cooking which represents all the love in the world for me.  So, here I am, for the finale in 2008 of "Eat to the Beat" I have mustered up enough courage to just do my thing without thinking too much.

Now that I love potatoes, I can put them into a pie - one of my favorite food of all time.  The warm creamy texture of potatoes and their earthy flavor are finely combined with the flaky and wheaty crust.  And why not throw in some fiery grilled peppers?  So here is my wonderful Grilled Red Pepper and Potato Pie waiting to be devoured.

Grilled Red Pepper and Potato Pie

Grilled Red Pepper and Potato Pie
(Makes one 10-inch pie)
Inspired by and adapted from Baking History's recipe

What you need:

Filling:

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
4-5 Tbsp. olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
2 cups scallions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups grilled red peppers (homemade or packed in oil, or roasted peppers), roughly chopped
7-8 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp. dried rosemary, crushed
3 tsp. dried coriander
1/2 tsp. chipotle chile pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup unsweetened plain soy milk
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Crust:

1 1/2 plus 2 Tbsp. cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (scant) canola oil
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3/8 cup ice water

What you do:

Put potato cubes in a pot and cover with water.  The water should come up to 1 1/2 or 2 inches above the potatoes.  Cook over medium high heat and come to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 7-8 more minutes until potatoes are getting softer.  Drain well and set aside.  (The timing depends on the size of your potato cubes.  Since the potatoes will continue to cook in the oven later, you don't want them to get mushy now.)

Make the Crust: In a food processor put flour and canola oil, and pulse until mixture resembles wet sand and gets pebbly.  Dissolve salt in the ice water.  With the machine running add water in batches for the dough to come together.  Do not overprocess.  (You can do all this in a big mixing bowl with a fork.)  Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Filling: In a large skillet, sauté onions, garlic, scallions and grilled red peppers in oilve oil for 10 minutes until the onions get translusent.  Add rosemary, coriander and chipotle chili pepper and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Now pour in the half-boiled potato cubes and mix well.  Cook for 4 minutes.  Now, remove from heat and add enough salt and pepper according to your own preference.  Add in nutritional yeast and soy milk and thoroughly mix.  Set aside.

Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness and line a deep pie dish, letting the extra pastry hang over the sides of the pan.  Put the filling mixture into the pie plate lined with pastry.  Fold over the pastry so that the filling is partially covered.  Bake for 50 minutes.  Serve warm.

Serving suggestions:

You can serve this with a spinach and walnut salad with a cranberry sauce on the side.

I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that I do not feel ready for the shift between day and night.  There seems to be a constant shortage of time.  When the night comes, I only get anxious and wish I could fast forward to the next day without having to actually lay down and close my eyes and let my mind go on a ridiculous trip.  When the day emerges, I have invariably left behind my resolve, my revelations and my new goals.  Maybe it is just the first month of the new year that has made my knees shake.  I so want to hold on to each and every moment that I hold on to almost nothing at all.  Thus the first 15 days went by and I have done absolutely nothing extraordinary.

Enough complaining.  I have lost some of the enthusiasm for cooking lately, so I resort to risottos again.  It will get better in time, I suppose.

Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Risotto

Roasted Red Pepper and Artichoke Risotto
(Makes 4 servings)

1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 jar roasted red peppers in olive oil, or two large roasted red peppers, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups white jasmine rice or arborio rice
4 tsp. parsley
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/3 cup white wine
1 1/2 cups warm vegetable stock
1 jar water-packed artichokes (or roasted artichokes packed in oil), drained well * (see notes)
4 1/2 cups hot water
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute onions, garlic and roasted red peppers over medium heat for about 7 minutes until onions are slightly golden.
2. Add the rice and cook for 2-3 minutes until the rice is completely coated with oil.
3. Add parsley, paprika and red pepper flakes and cook for another minute.  Keep stirring to make sure the rice does not get burned or stuck on the bottom of the pot.
4. Pour in the wine and let cook until it is all absorbed.
5. Ladle in the warm vegetable stock and stir well.  Cook until the stock is absorbed.  (Keep stirring when the rice seems much drier to prevent it from being burnt on the bottom.)
6. Ladle in hot water by batches.  1 1/2 cups each time.  Cook until the water is completely absorbed.  Stir frequently.
7. When the water is all used up and the rice is completely cooked, remove from heat.  Add nutritional yeast and salt and pepper and mix well.  Serve warm.

* If you use marinated artichokes in a jar, it is OK too.  But do not use any marinated artichokes with a very strong vinegary taste.  Make sure you drain really well, and you can probably rinse a bit in a bowl of water and drain again.

Now onto some stuff I made in the last few days.  A tempeh cassrole, recipe by Jessy of "happyveganface".  I added half a fennel bulb simply because I had it laying around in my fridge for ever.  I thought it was pretty good, but my hubby did not like it as it is.  Too bland, he says.  But he loved it after he fried it up a bit and added some curry sauce to it.

Tempeh Casserole

And a loaf of spelt white bread, recipe by Nicole of Baking Bites again.  Great bread!  The texture and consistency were really excellent.

Spelt White Bread

I have been cooking more food lately, probably because of the warm weather we are still enjoying, for which we are really grateful.  Now I am actually contemplating what to cook again for tomorrow.

Polenta Casserole, recipe on page 138 of Eat, Drink & Be Vegan.  I used nutritional yeast instead of soy cheese and It is the cheesiest thing we have tasted in five years.

Polenta Casserole

Szechuan-Style Tofu with Eggplant, page 56 of Vegan Express.  This is a great recipe.  The dish is so flavorful.  You can easily whip it up in 20 minutes and serve it over a bed of warm brown rice.  I am discovering more good recipes in Vegan Express every week.

Szechuan-Style Tofu with Eggplant

Chickpea Cutlets, from Veganomicon.  I do not have this cookbook any more.  This recipe was saved from more than 6 months ago.  I guess by now I am the last person on this planet to have tried this recipe.  These cutlets are literally everywhere in the blogsphere.  I certainly do not need to praise them more.

Chickpea Cutlets

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last blogged.  Long story short, I chose reading Proust over blogging, temporarily.  Now I have three recipes to share, and more to come later.  These three recipes yielded excellent results, especially the mushroom barley soup and the pumpkin coconut cakey bars which was simply divine.  I'll definitely make these bars again for Christmas.

Scrambled Tofu with Butternut Squash and Broccoli

Scrambled Tofu with Butternut Squash and Broccoli
(Serves 4)

4 cups sliced portabella mushrooms
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
2 cups sliced green onions
6-7 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cups chopped butternut squash
1 block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cubed
6 cups broccoli florets, cut into bite size
1 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder
2 tsp. ground cumin
3 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp. ground garam masala
2/3 cup nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute mushrooms, green onions and garlic over medium heat for 10 minutes until mushrooms begin to release some juice.
2. Add in butternut squash and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the tofu cubes and cook for another minute.
3. Add all the spices except for nutritional yeast and salt and pepper.  Mix well and cook for a minute or two.
4. Add broccoli and combine and cook covered for 5 minutes or longer until broccoli is cooked.  If you like your broccoli softer, cook longer accordingly.
5. Remove from heat.  Add nooch and salt and pepper to taste.  Adjust spices according to your preferences.

Mushroom Barley Soup

1 medium yellow onion, quartered and thinly sliced
10-12 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 celery stalks, sliced
2 medium carrots, finely chopped
3 cups chopped portabella mushrooms
2 cups sliced button mushrooms
4 Tbsp. olive oil
3 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. rosemary
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 tsp. paprika
10 cups hot water and more if necessary
2 bay leaves
5 cups cauliflower florets, cut into bite size
1 1/2 cups pearl barley
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Saute onions, garlic, celery, carrots and mushrooms over medium heat for 12-15 minutes until mushrooms have released some juice.
2. Add in spices and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Pour in hot water and add bay leaves.  Once the broth boils, add cauliflower and pearl barley.
4. Remove from heat.  Add salt and pepper according to your taste.
4. Reduce heat to simmer once it boils again.  Simmer for 35-40 minutes until barley is completely cooked.

Pumpkin Coconut Cakey Bars

Pumpkin Coconut Cakey Bars
(Makes 12-14 sizable squares)