Roasting Veggies Make my Night

There is something almost magical and lovely about roasting vegetables and I love love love making and eating them. Tonight one was of those such nights. Most people have made or at least eaten roasted potatoes, but I will pretty much roast anything I can. It turns plain vegetables into some kind of lovely carmalized tasty bit of yum. Tonight I roasted up some seasoned potato cubes with some onion and bits of garlic, as well as some carrots and broccoli with onion and garlic bits. The garlic melts on down around and the onion peices carmalize throughout. I have never been a fan of steamed broccoli, but roasting fresh broccoli in the oven is something wonderful. While my family chowed down on pork chops I sauteed up some onion and mushrooms to put atop of a Morning Star mushroom lovers veggie burger with cheese on a toasted kaiser bun.

"Vegetarians taste better." -- Author Unknown

I think. Therfore I am Vegetarian.

I served myself up a couple of those large portabella mushrooms sauteed with onion, garlic, and a bit of balsamic vinegar beside some sauteed peirogies (think potato stuffed pastry), cooked carrots, and a toasted bun for an easy lunch. Love, love, love mushrooms. They are so versitile, yummy, and use them in so many different ways. Dinner was another simple endeavor as I made homemade fried rice using mushroom slices (white button), shredded carrot, red and green onion, garlic, frozen spinach and a nutty brown rice. The vegetable egg roll was all I needed to compliment it. Fabulous. Dill pickles for evening snack (another food that I love.)

With the New Year I am trying to be more aware of certain food issues. I know how to cook and truly enjoy food without needing meat or meat products, but now I want to streamline a bit more. In other woods, I would like to slim down for the New Year, tone up, and get back closer to where I was physically back in high school and right out of it, maybe even better than I was. People often have this stereotype of the super skinny vegetarian with a frame that reminds a lot of people of a plant. I eat and eat vegetarian, but I maintain a loveable curvy figure (I just want to improve a good thing).

In the Words Of George Bernard Shaw: "My situation is a solemn one. Life is offered to me on condition of eating beefsteaks. But death is better than cannibalism. My will contains directions for my funeral, which will be followed not by mourning coaches, but by oxen, sheep, flocks of poultry, and a small traveling aquarium of live fish, all wearing white scarfs in honor of the man who perished rather than eat his fellow creatures."

Life is We Know It

Last night was my family's monthly game night. We get together (those of use who can) on a Friday night to play games, eat, and generally enjoy each other's company. I try to make things that I will eat as well as others in my meat-loving family. My brother made buffalo wings and my aunt fried up some cheese sticks and onion rings, but let's face it, this girl needs more than some fried vegetables. I made a quick, easy, and yummy cold veggie pizza with some
pre-packaged croissants, dill vegetable dip, and fresh vegetables. It was a nice switch from the heavy foods that surround the holiday season and the leftovers were appreciated by a shut-in friend of the family. It also made a nice leftover lunch today. (I often get more than one meal out of things I make, especially since my brother's are so picky.)

This evening for dinner I sauteed a nice big portabella mushroom with some diced onion and garlic in butter, than let it cook down with a touch of water and some balsamic vinegar (yum). I served it beside homemade mashed potatoes topped with some shredded cheese.


Easy Cold Veggie Pizza
Pre-packaged croissant dough (makes 6-8 croissants) (or other preferred dough)
Veggie dip (pre-made or other favorite), I prefer a dill dip here
Various vegetables diced, shredded, sliced, etc. (Such as shredded carrots, diced red onion, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, diced green onion, etc.)
Shredded cheese (4-8 oz depending on preferences)
* Roll out croissant dough to make one whole crust. Bake at temp indicated in package. Then let cool.
* Spoon layer of vegetable dip onto baked and cooled crust. Sprinkle and layer vegetables and cheese. Cut. Enjoy.

In the Words of Alice Walker: "Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored."

I have Not fallen Off the of the Planet

I know it seems i got lost and maybe I kind of did. The show took a lot out of me (it's over now and went very well) and now I seem to be fighting some sort of allergic reatcion to something in my everyday environment. (With my luck it will be something in our water.) I've been working on a menus right now for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day for family and friends. We always have friends and family over Christmas Eve with a kind of open house with a variety of appetizers and finger foods. Christmas day they have steak and seafood... I usually experiment with mushroom options to go with the festive spread.

I've been craving black beans and rice (a favorite of mine), but kept forgeting to pick up black beans when out shopping. Finally, tonight I had everything I needed (the recipe as evolved over time and continues to do so). I love to serve it with corn chips, crsip back olives, and a sprinkling of cheese. (It is usually spicey enough to not need any extra hot sauce.) It's all part of the love to eat, love to eat, and love a little spice in life.

Black Beans and Rice (Vegan, depending on whatever served with)

onion (prefer a good red), about 1/2, finely sliced (or however prefer)

garlic (1-2 cloves), diced

oil (to saute)

cooked brown rice (instant 1 c. uncooked to 1 c. boiling water)

frozen corn (or fresh), about 1-2 c.

1 can black beans (sometimes I use spiced ones, depending on what I have on hand)

1 can tomato sauce (and variety)

salt and pepper to taste

favorite spices (typcially: hot pepper flakes, parley, chili spice, smokey tobasco hot sauce as well as optional cumin, cilantro, or whatever else on hand)

* In seperate pan or microwave prepare rice. (You could use a plain white rice or whatever you have on hand, but I almost always use brown rice in my recipes.) In skillet add oil and saute onion slices & garlic (sometimes I had sliced mushrooms too if I have them on hand). I add a touch of water here as the oil cooks to help cut oil use withut cutting cooking liquid. I add the frozen corn right in after the onion and garlic have cooked down and started to carmelize as well as pepper flakes and touches of any other seasoning here as I like to layer the spaices in as I add ingredients. (I either use store-bought frozen corn or the kind we freeze during the summer when fresh corn is everywhere.) Let the corn start to cook through and mix with the cooking liquids (add a touch of water here if needed), then add black beans, cooking everything through. Season to taste. Add rice, mix throughly, then tomato sauce. Season as needed and let everything cook together and thicken. Serve warm with corn chips or tortillas and any prefered toppings. (Ideas for topping or sides include: black olives, shredded cheese, salsa, sour cream, jalepeno slices, or whatever you love.)

* I make a big pan and freeze whatever I don't eat. It is great leftover for lunches, snack, or to share. (When I have taken it work for lunch it makes people sit up, asking what is I have and what smells so good.) I love mine spicey with a nice kick, but spices can be adjusted per preferance. Yummy!!!

*

In the Words of Jimmy Stewart: "Animals give me more pleasure through the viewfinder of a camera than they ever did in the crosshairs of a gunsight. And after I've finished "shooting," my unharmed victims are still around for others to enjoy. I have developed a deep respect for animals. I consider them fellow living creatures with certain rights that should not be violated any more than those of humans."

Love Those Limas

Here it is another day in my life and my world. Let’s talk about one of my favorite foods… lima beans. It is one of the vegetables that a lot of kids seem to hate or hide from… I was not one of them. Even as a kid I was fascinated by the lima bean… velvety inside with a protective skin on the outside. I used to drive my parents nuts at the dinner table by using my teeth to peel off the outside layer before eating the whole thing. As an adult I often serve lima beans with meals (like tonight I paired them beside my angel hair pasta) or put them into things (like soups). Instead of being something that I struggle to eat they are a comfort food from childhood that I have grown up with. Unfortunately, my picky brothers do not appreciate the lima bean in the same way that I do and don’t eat them when fixed (the story of many of vegetable fixed in this family). So cook them up plain, add some seasoning (garlic and pepper was tonight’s seasoning of choice), or add them to your favorite soup or stew. No matter how you like them, celebrate the lima bean and all the food love they harbor in that little package.

Check out these lima links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima_bean

http://www.foodreference.com/html/flimabeans.html

From the mind and mouth of George Bernard Shaw: "A mind of the calibre of mine cannot derive its nutriment from cows."

Recipe Evolution

I was standing at the stove having just mixed previously frozen spinach into my pan when I got to thinking about the dishes I often prepare. My mom loves my tortellini with the basil mushroom sauce (I use olive oil sometimes mixed with butter to create the base). It’s a nice change from the usual heavy tomato or cream sauces that often adorn pasta. I usually lightly sauté mushrooms and garlic with a touch of oil and water and basil to brighten everything. (It is very common for me to use partial water to sauté to help cut down the fats and oils.) The recipe has seemed to evolve again and constant slight alterations depending on whatever I have on hand. I often keep a bag of frozen spinach on hand and use what I need. As the garlic and red onion slivers sautéed in the oil mix on the stove I warmed about 2 Tbs. of frozen spinach (for one serving) in the microwave about a minute with a touch of water. I then added mushrooms to skillet and chopped the spinach into smaller pieces before also adding it with a pinch each of basil and parsley. As the mixture warmed through I add a spoonful of diced sun dried tomatoes that I had in the refrigerator. The cooked tortellini was added straight to the skillet mixing all the flavors and letting the little pieces of spinach and herb make their way into the crevices. I served it in a nice bowl with a sprinkle of shaved parmesan and welcome to food love. Clearly this was a step up from frozen pizza and other similar foods of last week.

It is clearly no surprise to anyone that I love to eat as well as cook. I have no intention to go without great taste or foods that comfort body and soul as well as nourish. I love experimenting with new flavors and mixing old favorites into something new. I love trying new things and may even be up soon for trying tofu that hasn’t been pre-marinated. (Once upon a time all tofu was very foreign and very scary to a girl raised in Ohio farm country on meat and potatoes.) Hope ya’all have found those ‘food love’ moments that just make you smile.

In the Words of Leo Tolstoy: '"Thou shalt not kill" does not apply to murder of one's own kind only, but to all living beings; and this Commandment was inscribed in the human breast long before it was proclaimed from Sinai.'

Trying Something New with Old Fav's

I had rehearsal tonight and went early to work on some costume things (that I have managed to get myself put in charge of). I knew I went be there awhile and when I made lunch I went ahead and packed myself a dinner. Now anyone who knows me, probably knows that I love food and enjoy eating. I love flavor and trying new things. I made a mushroom rice (with little pieces of sliced mushroom stems in it) then lighted sauteed some a garlic clove. I added a little balsamic vinaigrette I had in the refrigerator to the garlic and oil and let it all mix and warm. I cleaned and removed the stems from a couple small portabella mushrooms (about 2 inches in diameter) and placed in a small baking dish with the bottoms up. Then poured over the garlic/balsamic mixture. I roasted the mushrooms for about 20 minutes at 450 degrees. Then sliced a few carrot sticks and another small glove of garlic (its great for the immune system) and sauteed them. It was yummy even reheated at the theater. I packed some olives, a bottle of water, and some mini cookies to go with it. Definitely made the evening go easier. Oven roasting the mushrooms like that may also have become a new favorite (I use a lot of mushrooms at times). Sometimes its entertaining to me how non-veggies will look at what I am eating (or smell in cooking or reheating in the microwave) and look and comment and sometimes even drool a little. It's great to try something new and LOVE it. It makes me kind of want to experiment with preparing vegetables in all sorts of ways that I may not yet have tried. In the meantime I think I may curl up with a nice steaming bowl of homemade French onion soup (leftovers form the other night). Yummy yummy in my tummy.