35 posts tagged “potatoes”
Time really flies. It's the middle of July now. I haven't been blogging much lately. I have a very good excuse this time. I was transitioning to Ubuntu Hardy (a very popular Linux distro) in the past two weeks. I was really busy configuring my system, getting our wireless network to work, and synchronizing the iPod Touch with my new Ubuntu system. I'm really excited about this move because I'm finally free of Windows and all the Windows woes. And I can cut our future expenses down - no more software purchase! And in the midst of setting up my own notebook, my husband's Windows Vista was actually wiped out by a serious and malicious virus. All of his files and his Windows system files were deleted after a reboot. We got no warning whatsoever from our expensive antivirus software. Yeah, what was I expecting a stupid little Windows program to do? The outcome is that now we are both using Ubuntu only. I guess Windows finally pissed us off enough. I'm certainly not gonna miss it.
Being inundated with setting up two Ubuntu systems, I haven't posted any food porn but I have been eating. Well, that goes without saying. I have been cooking, sort of. So this post may seem a little long.
The first photo is the Deep-Dish Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche. I saved the recipe from Vegetarian Times for several months before I felt perplexed why I hadn't made it earlier. It was worth the wait, I'm telling you. It's good for a summer dinner that will delight your taste buds, which keeps you refreshed and cheerful.
Here's a closeup that you can't miss. Oh, I really loved this quiche! It's also the first time that I have made a pie crust with whole wheat pastry flour. I enjoyed the whole process for a good reason then.
The second photo is the Lentil, Bok Choy and Potato Soup. The original recipe is Lentil, Spinach and Potato Soup by Carla of "But Did They Eat It?". I liked it very much, but didn't eat the leftover soup the second day. It's really not the soup's fault. I'm just going through a very particular food-crisis phase. I basically don't know what the heck I want to eat for the next meal.
Vox neighborhood. Until then, take care and God bless!
Oh, where did I go? I don't know how I just don't seem to have enough time to blog more often nowadays. I gotta quit the fast lane, as soon as possible, for my sanity. The good news is that we will have our long vacation very soon, in August. I didn't cook much, but I did conjure up a new vegetable stew for myself. It's really effective for losing a few pounds since summer is more or less here.
Spring Detox Vegetable Stew
(makes 7-8 servings)
1 large yellow onion, cut into half moons
3 green bell peppers, julienned
8 garlic bulbs, pressed
2 Russet potatoes, cubed
4 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped and juice reserved
1/2 hot water
1 large zucchini, halved and then sliced thinly
2 bunches of asparagus, tips reserved and the rest cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 cup fresh edamame, rinsed
1/2 cup (tightly packed) fresh basil, torn into pieces
6-7 fresh sage leaves, torn into pieces
3 green bell peppers, julienned
8 garlic bulbs, pressed
2 Russet potatoes, cubed
4 Roma tomatoes, finely chopped and juice reserved
1/2 hot water
1 large zucchini, halved and then sliced thinly
2 bunches of asparagus, tips reserved and the rest cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 cup fresh edamame, rinsed
1/2 cup (tightly packed) fresh basil, torn into pieces
6-7 fresh sage leaves, torn into pieces
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Sauté onions, peppers and garlic for about 10 minutes until softened.
2. Add potatoes and cook covered for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and hot water. Mix well and cook covered for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, asparagus and edamame and mix well. Cook for another 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
5. Add herbs, mix and heat through. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Sauté onions, peppers and garlic for about 10 minutes until softened.
2. Add potatoes and cook covered for 4-5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and hot water. Mix well and cook covered for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, asparagus and edamame and mix well. Cook for another 10 minutes on low-medium heat.
5. Add herbs, mix and heat through. Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
I had this veggie stew in the beginning of a difficult diet. It helped quite a bit because it was very satisfying but pretty light. Of course, I haven't been all that disciplined. I wish I had just stayed with vegetables alone. But making Lolo's Easy Tarte aux Pommes is a great pleasure, before, during, and after the process. It was really easy to make, and it smelled good and tasted good. If you want a little treat for your weariness after a long day, make this and you will have a smile on the face when you dig your fork into it.
And I'm ashamed to report that I also made the vegan English muffins again. I ate them with a lot of vegan margarine and apricot preserves. This was obviously for a fattening diet.
Until then, you all take care! I hope I won't disappear for long again.
I don't really have time to write a post now but I do have some food porn to share. So let's get down to business immediately.
The first thing is Jamie Oliver's Asparagus, Mint and Lemon Risotto with Fresh Fava Beans. I found the recipe in Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen. I replaced dry white wine with Merlot (no choice), omitted cheese, and added fresh fava beans (a.k.a., broad beans). The risotto had a very nice and creamy Middle Eastern flavor.
The second thing is inevitably a dessert - Hot Fudge Cake (recipe courtesy of Jewish Vegan). Boy, it was such an ooey gooey hot cake! Hot fudge+chocolate pudding+warm chocolate cake. I wasn't so sure when the cake just came out of the oven. I'm never sure when I have to pour a lot of hot water directly over the cake dough.
Now look at it again! After a slice was plated, I poured some of the hot fudge and pudding over cake. It was clearly the best chocolate fudge I've ever had! Everything just melted in my mouth.
The last thing is Choklay's Tibetan Lentil Soup, recipe by "eat me, delicious". I don't need to say anything. The photo shows everything. Oh, just one thing: I didn't know Tibetan's eat lentils too. Did you?
I loved the potato-pea-quinoa soup so much that I had it with some noodles together with some bok choy. It was still really good. Soups with potatoes are just incredible.
I finally tried the famous penne vodka from the excellent Veganomicon (page 193). I used whole-wheat elbows instead of penne and used a little more red pepper flakes. Towards the end of making the sauce, I added some fresh cilantro since we really love cilantro. The penne vodka came out really good. I loved the sauce since it packed a lot of zing. Of course, we can't live without some broccoli in the pasta.
On a final note, I do plan to master my new camera (though I've had it for a few months already) in the next few weeks so that I can take better photos. I bought a whole bunch of vegan frozen food so the following days will be culinarily interesting.
It feels like ages before I blogged again. April went by really fast without me noticing much what was going on in Vox. I hope everyone had a wonderful April. I'm learning to live more in the present, so May will be a little different. I haven't been cooking much at all, but I finally caught up a little yesterday. I made a big pot of soup, potato-pea-quinoa soup. I eyeballed everything so the recipe gives you a lot of room for customization according to your own taste.
Potato-Pea-Quinoa Soup
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 orange (or green) bell pepper, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into consistent 1-inch pieces
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
3/4 cup yellow split peas, rinsed
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
8-9 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked for 30 minutes and reserve the soaking water, finely chopped
2 1/2 tsp. tarragon
2 1/2 tsp. thyme
1 tsp. sage
1 tsp. oregano
2/3 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 1/2 tsp. paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Over medium heat, sauté onions, pepper, carrots and garlic for 8-9 minutes until carrots get a little soft.
2. Add potatoes, tarragon, thyme, sage, oregano, parsley and rosemary. Stir once and cover. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and 3/4 cup of boiling water. Bring to a boil and lower to simmer. Cook covered for 5 minutes.
4. Add peas, quinoa, and chopped mushrooms and the soaking water. Add 2 bay leaves. Add plenty of water (according to your own preference for the thickness of the soup). Bring to a boil and lower to simmer. Cover. Let the soup simmer for 45 minutes. Stir a few times and check the thickness. Add water or uncover a little to achieve your own desired result.
5. When the soup is done, remove from heat. Add paprika and salt and pepper to taste. Remove bay leaves.
Serve with croutons or over rice. We had our soup with some steamed broccoli and raw walnuts.
I can see that the 100th post of "So what the heck do we eat?" series is approaching. I don't know what to do to make it special. Am I obligated to make it into some special event? I don't know, but I do know that I've wanted to make something elaborate for a while. We shall see.
For today, nothing too fancy. The first thing is the Messy Rice (Veganomicon, page 118). The rice wasn't that messy and boy, it was good! It's so easy to make that I'm sure I'll be making this rice on the side often.
And with this photo, I was able to make another banner utilizing another gorgeous photo from Purplesque. This is our orange banner to celebrate the coming of spring.
When I was feeling lazy about cooking, I made a Shanghai-style Braised Chick'n and Bamboo Shoots with Udon Noodles. It was a 15-minute recipe (from preparing to plating). Ingredients: fresh bamboo shoots, button mushrooms, tempeh, and udon noodles. Simply sauté bamboo shoots, button mushrooms and tempeh in vegetable oil with loads of chives (or scallions) for around 7-9 minutes, then deglaze with water and soy sauce and add some sugar. Bring to a boil and cover to simmer for 10 minutes. In the last 3 minutes, add udon noodles. That's it. It was very tasty but I know I shouldn't eat this often.
After this desperate act, I had to make a nutritious and delectable soup to make a good diet day. I made the lentil soup with tarragon and thyme from Veganomicon again. But it's Red Lentil, Quinoa and Potato Soup with Tarragon and Thyme this time. I ran out of carrots so subbed potatoes. And after the onions and potatos were in the pot cooking, I found out that I only had one cup of lentils left. Merde! So, quinoa saved my day again. Oh, did I mention fresh tarragon made the soup even better? The soup turned out to be extremely pleasant and satisfying and my husband really liked it. He said it was very Italian., which made me rather proud of myself.
I really hope I can find the perfect recipe for the 100th post.
What will happen if you keep thinking about one flavor without cooking it for two weeks or longer? You might end up making everything taste like that flavor unknowingly. This is what happened to me. Or rather, this is what I made happen. I kept thinking about soy sauce and Bryanna's savory dinner tofu loaf for more than two weeks. Then I saw the glorious-looking Dill Shiitake Frittata from Isa's test kitchen (yes, Isa is writing a new brunch cookbook!) and attempted to make one. The result is that I made a dill shiitake frittata that looked more like a savory dinner loaf and packed with a lot of flavors. I was almost too ashamed to show the photos here but what the heck, the "frittata" tofu loaf tasted great. A dark frittata or a dinner loaf, what's the difference?
The ingredients are basically similar to the Asparagus and Sun-Dried Tomato Frittata (VwaV) but I used half a tablespoon more soy sauce to resemble Bryanna's savory dinner loaf. Well, a blunder turned into a bliss. Not bad!
Spring is barely here and I'm already thinking about midsummer. This is why I once again cracked open Veganomicon and made the Midsummer Corn Chowder with Basil, Tomato, and Fennel (Veganomicon, page 144). Well, longing for summer is not the real reason. I just got too excited having two innocent fennel bulbs sitting in my fridge. I had two large fennel bulbs like two months ago and simply wasted them in the end. This time my personal pride didn't allow that to happen. If anyone knows some awesome recipes that involve using fennel bulbs besides roasting them, please let me know. I'm dying to make something with fennel bulbs that will freak myself out. Is it actually possible? I know most of us love fennel seeds, but fennel bulbs??
Anyway, the corn chowder was fabulous. The fresh basil, tomato and fennel combo really brought out some unexpected pleasant flavors. Not like a typical corn chowder. Oh, by the way, I added half a cup of quinoa which was a good little addition. It's amazing how creamy a vegan corn chowder can be without using any wheat or soy product.
The Irish Farmhouse Soup (a recipe adapted by Catherine of Albion Cooks) I made yesterday was so good that I couldn't believe I only used salt and pepper as seasoning. A very humble-looking soup, it reminded me of the sweet home and the beautiful summer on a farm. It was nourishing, tasty, strangely comforting and brought back all the good memories and made me look forward to an even better tomorrow.
I made several changes to the original recipe: (1) olive oil was used; (2) onions and garlic replaced leeks; (3) quinoa replaced barley to create a more creamy and fluffy texture; (4) 2 cups of vegetable broth, 2 cups of water, and 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened soy milk were used as the liquid base.
I'm very glad that I went back to cooking finally. The udon noodles and bread were very good but I needed something more substantial and special. I felt pretty bad for my busy husband too, though he would gladly eat pasta with broccoli and peas/beans every day. A broccoli tofu sandwish would make a good snack for him. After I made the first comeback soup - potato quinoa chowder, he commented, "now that's something that smells really homemade." I was very happy to hear that. I got the recipe from Laura Jesser's "Eden in the Kitchen". Do check out Laura's blog which is full of wonderful photos and great recipes.
The only thing I did differently is to use bok choy instead of cooked kale and I didn't puree half of the soup at all. I love the soft little chunks of potatoes in the chowder.
And I have super good news: I got my first SLR camera! A Canon EOS 40D! I've been messing with the new camera in the last 36 hours as I got so excited. I've been reading the manual and learning about all the buttons and signs like a maniac. I might go take a photography class too. I'm completely psyched. Below is the first food photo I took with the new camera. This happened to be my new favorite bread - sponge bread made with Camp Rémy wheat - at Paul, my favorite bakery and tea-room. With sponge bread and vegan margarine, I'm in heaven!
Because of the thing-a-day project (I can't believe I finally called it a project), I haven't been doing much of my regular "so what the heck do we eat?" series. Now I've got a good-enough post to make up for my less-than-enthusiastic cooking effort.
I didn't even try to join Susan of Fatfree Vegan Kitchen's Vegetable Love Competition. But I spotted this winner dish Curry Chickpea Crepes by LaMana and I swore right there and then that I must make this very, very soon, like right away. Well, I only waited like 12 hours, including sleeping time, before I made the crepes.
On the left, you can see the chickpea curry I made as the filling. Boy, this was a really good curry dish. I will definitely make this alone in the future. The original recipe makes enough curry for an army but we can easily finish eating it with some rice or pasta.
Now this is the first time that I've actually made any crepes. I read in Veganomicon that Isa highly recommended getting a good French crepe pan. I don't have that luxury yet; however, my nonstick pan worked out really well. I never knew that crepes were this easy to make. What was I hesitating for before? For the crepes, the only thing I did differently from the original recipe was to use chives instead of scallions. No special reason, just out of necessity. For the filling, I added asparagus just because I like the taste and texture. I also used some basil, paprika, dried chili pepper flakes, lime zest and lime juice to replace the required 1 teaspoon of green curry paste.
Now I took two other photos of my crepes since I've been really questioning my photography skill in the past few days. One with flash and the other with the horrible natural lighting I have to deal with. They both look OK, in a different way, obviously. I like them both. Is it just me? Great taste makes up for everything!
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