Fundamentals of Vegetarian Cooking at Kitchen Window

I just got back from my second cooking class at Kitchen Window. This course, Fundamentals of Vegetarian Cooking, was a 3.5 hour (!!) course that covered 5 (!!) entree dishes.

Y'all. I don't think I have ever eaten that much in 3.5 hours. I foolishly ate a little snack before I left for class and that, my friends...that was a mistake. The portion sizes they doled out to the 20 or 25 people in the class were more than just a sample. They were entire meals. And I'm not trying to sound fussy. I can throw down with the best of 'em. But when you eat flavorful, rich and delicious food? You just don't need that much.

OMG. I'll stop talking about how incredibly full I am right now and show a few pictures I snapped on my handy cellphone. (P.S. I know it's all chic now to take pics of food dishes on your phone but I still felt dumb. I also still haven't figured out how to turn off the fake camera "click" sound my phone makes when it takes a picture. Blasted technology! So I only took two pictures...)

Sweet Potato Millet Fritters with Roasted Red Pepper Chile Sauce

OMG. Amazing. Roasted mushroom enchiladas with black beans and local apple salsa

 I will definitely be attempting the mushroom enchiladas soon. I was too full to finish that plate and if I never have it again it will haunt me for the rest of my life...

Yes, it is too early to start planting

But I can still look at old pictures and pretend the flowers are blooming and fresh vegetable plants are in the ground. Sigh.

Bleeding Hearts

Beautiful amaryllis (which IS growing right now. Inside,of course)

Mountain Bluet

Zucchini florets!

Lupines!

Spring can't come soon enough...

Carob Cake and my wonderful husband

In honor of the 6-month anniversary of the day Tom and I married, I bring you carob cake!

Recently, while trying to be healthy Tom and I had a long discussion about all the foods we would eat if calories and full-ness were of no concern. On the list were things like buffalo wings (Tom), mac & cheese (me) and various other horrible foods. But Tom reiterated that he would probably never love any food as much as he loves carob cake.

So, as a gift to my wonderful husband, I made carob cake and carob cupcakes!

Batter:
2 cups sugar
2.5 cups flour
1/2 cup carob powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tb vinegar (yes, vinegar)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups cold water
2/3 cup oil

Frosting:
4 Tb melted butter
1/4 cup milk (I used soy milk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups confectioner's sugar

Mix all the batter ingredients together. The batter will be runny and will BUBBLE! Vinegar, baking soda -- it's a science experiment which is probably why Tom likes this cake so much...



Once all ingredients are mixed, bake in the oven at 350 degrees. Depending on which type of pan you use (or cupcakes) cooking time can vary. The cupcakes took about 25 minutes while the round pan took about 40 minutes. Since this batter is so runny, it's very easy to tell if it's done simply by looking at the center of each cupcake or the center of a big pan. Still wet? Not done. You can also use a toothpick to make sure the center is cooked all the way through. Once done, take out of the oven and cool.

To make the buttercream frosting, first cream together the melted butter, milk and vanilla. Add in powdered sugar 1 cup at a time checking the consistency as you go. When the frosting first comes together it will be pretty thin but should thicken up if cooled in the fridge for a few minutes or just let to rest.

Eggplant Manicotti

Taking a 180-degree turn away from creamy pasta dishes...

I'm usually against "diet" meals because they are made with weird processed foods and contain a lot of chemicals to make up for missing fats. That being said, this South Beach diet-inspired dish turned out way better than I thought it would. It's manicotti but instead of noodles the "manicotti" part is made with eggplant. Awesome! I've had eggplant lasagna before but because of the excess moisture from the eggplant, I wasn't a fan.

In this version, you roast the eggplant by itself and I think that eliminates the goopiness you'd get from cooking it in a dish with all the sauce and cheese.



Ingredients:
1 eggplant (whatever size or quantity dependent on how many people you are serving.), cut into strips lengthwise. (I also peeled the outer layers of skin off the end pieces to avoid the toughness you get with cooked eggplant skin. Yuck)
2 Tb extra virgin olive oil or spray olive oil
1 cup low-fat ricotta
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 cup part skim mozzarella, shredded
1 egg
salt
pepper
2 handfuls spinach (optional)
mushrooms (optional)
fresh tomatoes or tomato sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350'.

Mix ricotta, parmesan and egg in a small baking dish. You can add spices here. The original recipe called for thyme, oregano, etc. I'd recommend garlic and basil... Once mixed, cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until set and slightly browned on top.

While this is cooking you can saute the additional vegetables you'll add. Cook until soft and then take off the heat until the egg/cheese mixture is ready.

Once cheese dish is ready, stir in the sauteed vegetables (or, if not adding veggies, just stir the mixture itself to break it up).

Turn the oven up to 400' and brush the eggplant slices with the olive oil. Sprinkle salt and whatever additional seasoning you'd like. Roast the eggplant for about 10 minutes or until softened.

Once the eggplant has cooled enough to handle, start spreading the ricotta/egg/veggies mixture onto the slices. Depending on how much you want you can either roll up the slice or just fold it over once. Or just leave it as is. Any arrangement will work.



I folded the slices in half.












Arrange the eggplant pieces in a baking dish and top with more mozzarella cheese, parmesan and more toppings, if desired. The original recipe suggested tomato sauce. I happened to have some fresh tomatoes so I chopped those up and put them on top.



Ready to go in the oven!







Turn the oven up to broil and place under the broiler for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese on top has melted and begins to brown.

Gorgonzola Pasta

Many moons ago my friends and I attempted a recipe for a butternut squash manicotti. The recipe took forever, or at least it felt that way. We had to roast the squash, cook the manicotti noodles, scoop out the flesh of the squash, stuff the manicotti, create a gorgonzola sauce, pour sauce over the manicotti and then bake again. Three hours later we had an AWESOME meal...but the labor involved was a bit much. So, since then, I've taken to making my own gorgonzola sauce to inject some creaminess and rich flavors into pasta dishes.

If memory serves, the sauce from that original recipe didn't actually include cream. But you melt the gorgonzola on the stove, so it turns into a creamy alfredo-like sauce. Quite good.

On a recent night, tired and uninspired I whipped up some whole wheat pasta with whatever veggies we had on hand and melted some gorgonzola on top of sauteed vegetables. Pretty good and a much quicker way to achieve that delicious creamy sauce...



This version included baby bella mushrooms and spinach sauteed in olive oil with garlic. I melted the gorgonzola after the mushrooms browned and then tossed in chopped tomatoes right at the end just to heat them up but not cook them.

Obsession of the Month: Salad

Variety is not the spice of my life. I am prone to eating the exact same meal for extended periods of time. Tom loves this.

Following the gluttony of our Mexico trip, my arteries and brain needed something wholesome, light and uh, cleansing. Thus, my salad obsession.

At least once a week, sometimes twice, I hit up the Byerly's salad bar. Oddly enough, the East St. Paul location has a wicked good selection (better than Roseville). And I spend around $4.50 for a filling salad. Not awesome, not terrible.

In the "I'm feeling rich today" category, I have never loved a salad more than I love Erte's Applause Salad. Here's how they describe it on their menu: crisp apple slices, shredded carrots, natural Stickney Hill goat cheese curry crusted croutons, nuts, golden raisins, on top a bed of spring mixed greens dressed with a chutney vinaigrette

Oy. At $14 a pop, though, not exactly the kind of meal you can swing on a regular basis.

Thus, I've been working on my homemade salads and may have finally come up with one I could see myself obsessing over (making for dinner every single night for a month until I move on to the next obsession). Here's what I've got:

Fixins:
spinach
mixed baby greens
sunflower seeds
dried cranberries
goat cheese
Morningstar Farms chik'n strips

Dressing:
olive oil
red wine vinegar
garlic powder
salt
pepper
basil
oregano
dijon mustard
(I don't really measure amounts. Maybe equal parts oil/vinegar? Meh?)

These ingredients are all dependent on what I actually have in the kitchen at the time of creation. If I don't have the fake chicken strips, I'd likely substitute more vegetables and/or edamame or chickpeas to give it some protein.

Recipe idea

Saw this recipe in the NYT. I'm not so interested in a quesadilla but I'm curious about using goat cheese with a Mexican dish...wheels spinning.

Black Bean and Goat Cheese Quesadilla