Vegetarian

Rapini, Pea, and Tomato Pasta

May 31, 2011 by Terri · Leave a Comment

I made homemade pasta noodles the other night with a great vegetarian sauce of vegetables straight from our CSA share. It was one of those dishes where you just keep throwing veggies in that you have on hand and then are pleasantly surprised when it comes out great! I used Rapini greens, freshly shelled english peas, and leeks from the CSA. You could easily substitute with onion and frozen peas if that's what you have on hand. I'm sure it would be great with other cooking greens as well: kale, chard or spinach would probably all work. I was in the mood to make fresh pasta that night but store bought will work just as well. Mine is Bucatini shaped. Penne, Rigatoni or macaroni would all work. Rapini, Pea & Tomato Pasta 2 medium leeks, chopped 1 bunch Rapini greens, chopped 1 1/2 cups english peas, freshly shelled 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp italian seasoning pinch red pepper flakes 28 oz can diced tomatoes 1/2 cup white white (water or broth would … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pasta, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, English Peas, Leek, Organic, Rapini, Tomato, Urban Recipe

Sesame Snow Peas

April 26, 2011 by Terri · 1 Comment

The spring peas are coming in! They are tender and delicious at this time of year. This is a really quick and easy side dish. I served it with a roasted chicken from the deli because I was lazy the other night but it would be great with most anything. Just five ingredients in this quick dish: snow peas (snap peas would be delicious too), 1 baby leek (or 1/2 a small onion), 1 stalk green garlic (or 1 bulb garlic minced), sesame oil, honey. That's it! The honey is optional but mine needed a little bit of a hint of sweetness to counter the sesame flavor. I used the leftovers the next day in some fresh thai spring rolls and they were great. Try it if you have any leftovers! Ingredients: 1 pound snow or snap pea pods, trimmed 1 baby leek or 1/2 small onion, diced 1 stalk green garlic or 1 bulb garlic, minced 1 tsp sesame oil 1 tsp honey Spray skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Add leek, garlic, and pea pods to pan. Stir fry for 5 minutes or so until … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, Organic, Sesame, Snow Peas, Urban Recipe

Green Garlic Dressing

March 1, 2011 by Terri · 2 Comments

It's green garlic season! Have you ever tried green garlic? I had never even heard of green garlic until I started getting it in my CSA box. I love garlic and it's appalling I was missing out on something so amazing as green garlic. What is it? Green garlic is simply immature garlic and looks similar to a scallion or green onion with a purple tinge near the root end. It tastes like garlic but with a much milder flavor. It is usually only available in the spring and is all over the farmer's markets at this time of year. I did see it at Whole Foods the other day when I was there as well. I use green garlic in all sort of things at this time of year but my favorite is Green Garlic Dressing. It is simple to whip up in a food processor. I love it in a green salad or better yet a pasta salad. So good! Isn't it a lovely light green color? Green Garlic Dressing: 1-3 stems of green garlic (Depends on how strong you want the garlic flavor to be. I use 3 for pasta salad, 2 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Salads, Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: Couscous, CSA, Green Garlic, Spinach, Tomato, Urban Recipe

Orzo with Tomato, Zucchini and Parmesan

November 6, 2010 by Terri · 1 Comment

This is a quick and easy pasta dish that I whipped up the other night for my mom. It worked well for a light dinner on it's own or could easily be a side dish. We had kind of a late lunch that day and didn't want to eat much so I made this veggie pasta. This simple dish only has a few ingredients: orzo, zucchini, tomatoes, Parmesan, and lemon juice. I used my Mandolineto cut the zucchini into a fine julienne. If you don't have mandoline, I highly recommend you get one. It makes julienned vegetables take no time at all. I had no idea how much I'd love it until I got one. Seriously, money well spent! Ingredients: 2/3 pound of orzo 2 medium zucchini, fine julienne 8 early girl tomatoes (about 2 cups), chopped 3 oz Parmesan, finely grated juice of 1/2 lemon salt, pepper to taste red pepper seeds (optional) Bring pot of salted water to boil. Cook orzo according to package instructions. While water boils julienne the zucchinis into the finest setting on … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Pasta, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, Lemon, Orzo, Tomatoes, Vegetarian, Zucchini

Italian Vegetable Soup

October 22, 2010 by Terri · Leave a Comment

Fall seems to have arrived in San Francisco. A couple of weeks ago we had a record breaking heat wave and now it's cool, foggy and rainy. What to do? Make soup! A pot of soup bubbling away on the stove seems so warm and comforting to me. I just love it! Some would argue it's always soup season in San Francisco because of the foggy weather we so frequently have, but it just seems weird to me to make hot soup in the summertime. Soup is just Fall and Winter food to me. Don't even get me started on cold summer soups, I can't stand them. Eww! The other night I made a big pot of vegetable soup with Italian flavors. It turned out so great! It's one of those things that you can't believe is healthy because it tastes so darn good. I wanted to stick to a vegetarian soup this time as we are trying to each vegetarian at least one night a week. You could easily add some chicken or sausage to it but it doesn't really need it. I used fresh herbs because I had them on hand. You can … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Main Dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: Carrot, CSA, Fennel, Onion, Oregano, Soup, Tomato, Vegetarian

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

October 15, 2010 by Terri · 2 Comments

Not the greatest picture, I know, but the fries were fantastic! Last week in our CSA share we got a few sweet potatoes. What better opportunity to make some sweet potato fries? These are an easy side dish to serve with burgers or sandwiches. I chose to bake them for a healthier treat rather than high calorie deep frying. The trick to crisping up sweet potato fries is to cut them small, about 1/4 inch or smaller. If you try to have large fries, they will end up mushy. Ingredients: 2 Medium Sweet Potatoes 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil Salt & Pepper to taste 1/2 Teaspoon Sweet Paprika Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with foil. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel potatoes. Slice into 1/4 inch or smaller fry strips. Place fries into a ziploc bag with salt, pepper and paprika. Seal and shake bag to distribute spices. Add olive oil to bag. Seal and shake again to cover fries with a light coating of oil. If they seem too dry add a bit more oil. Place fries in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, Sweet Potato, Sweet Potato Fries

Potato, Zucchini, Onion Frittata

October 1, 2010 by Terri · 1 Comment

Frittatas are a common meal in my kitchen. They are easy to make, taste great and are healthy. They are also a great way to use up and vegetable odds and ends that you have around. The best thing of all is how versatile they are, you can use any combo of veggies, herbs, cheese and meats if you don't want to go vegetarian. I usually serve them for a weekend breakfast but have been known to whip one up for a quick weeknight dinner as well with a salad on the side. This time I chose to use potatoes, onions, zucchini, parsley and parmesan cheese. If you are using potatoes, dice them small and saute them first until they are cooked through to make sure they don't end up crunchy. You will also need an ovenproof pan. Cast Iron or Enamel covered cast iron are ideal. I recently bought this pan Mario Batali 10-Inch Saute Pan, Chianti and I love it! I works beautifully for a frittata and sauteing as well. Potato, Zucchini, Onion Frittata Ingredients: 1 medium yukon gold potato or 6 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Breakfast, Main Dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: Breakfast, Frittata, Onion, Potato, Zucchini

Ratatouille

September 8, 2010 by Terri · 2 Comments

This past Christmas I put Mastering the Art of French Cooking on my wish list. I really enjoyed the movie Julie & Julia and thought it would be fun to try my hand at some of the French techniques. I LOVE this cookbook. Everything I've made in it so far is unbelievably fussy and taken forever to cook. Everything I've cooked in it has also been unbelievably delicious and worth the effort. This year we've been having a Julia night once a month or so. It's been fun to try my hand at making fancy food. We've had friends over a few times to enjoy a recipe or two from the cookbook and watch the movie. Don't be surprised to see more Julia recipes popping up over time. For a while now I've been eyeing the Ratatouille recipe and planning to make it when I received eggplant from my CSA share. Well, this week's share seemed made to order for ratatouille! I used the tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini from this week and the parsley from last week. I only needed a few other ingredients and I had … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Main Dish, Pasta, Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: CSA, Eggplant, Onion, Parsley, Pasta, Ratatouille, Tomato, Vegetarian, Zucchini

Handmade Beet Pasta

September 5, 2010 by Terri · 3 Comments

A friend reminded me I never followed up on that homemade beet pasta I talked about a few weeks ago. I did make it, and it was delicious! I started making fresh pasta a few years ago when my husband bought me the attachment to go with my Kitchenaid Mixer. Homemade pasta is easy and fun to make. We like to make it so much that when the new extruder attachment came out this year, we had to have it! Remember when you were a kid and you used those fantastic presses to make fun Play-Doh shapes? It's just like that but now you're an adult making dinner! Anyway these definitely fall into the category of "gadgets I love"! It's also a great way to involve the kids in the kitchen, my son is always happy to help out with pasta making. Isn't the color of that beet pasta coming out amazing! You only need a small amount of beet puree to make this beautiful color. The beet flavor doesn't really come through much into the flavor of the pasta, it's more about the color . You can make a multitude … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Main Dish, Pasta, Vegetarian Tagged With: Beets, Padron Peppers, Pasta, Tomatoes, Vegetarian

Whiskey Glazed Carrots

August 16, 2010 by Terri · Leave a Comment

Oh MY are these good! Diet friendly they aren't, but they are quite tasty. After getting a giant bag of carrots from our CSA two weeks in a row, one of which we were traveling, we had a serious glut of carrots in the refrigerator. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of carrots. I will eat them but they are definitely one of my least favorite vegetables. Luckily my son likes them pretty well and they are actually one of the few veggies he will eat without complaint. Even so, this was a serious pile of carrots to deal with and space in our apartment-sized refrigerator is limited. Something had to be done! I found this recipe on The Pioneer Woman a while back and tucked it away into my "make someday" folder. It was perfect as I had a glut of carrots and we got chives this week too which she calls for as a garnish. It was fate, I'm quite sure. If you've ever made anything from Pioneer Woman I'm sure you know she is not afraid of butter. The original recipe had a whole stick of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Side dish, Vegetarian Tagged With: Carrots, Chives, CSA, Whiskey