Butternut Squash Macaroni

1.5 cups cubed butternut squash
0.5 cup chopped tomatoes
1.5 cups water
2 cloves garlic, minced
thyme, oregano, rosemary as desired
0.5 unsweetened, plain, non-dairy milk
0.5 cups sharp cheddar cheese
1 t chili powder
salt and pepper
2 cups quinoa macaroni

1. In the morning add all ingredients before "milk" to slow cooker.
2. Set on low for 7-8 hours.
3. When done puree the contents of slow cooker in blender with "milk"
4. Meanwhile cook quinoa macaroni according to directions and drain.
5. Add drained macaroni back into pot with butternut squash puree, cheese, and spices.
6. Cook on low heat until cheese melts into sauce.

Adapted from Vegan Slow Cooking by Kathy Hester

Pav Bhaji

2 cups diced sweet potato
1 cup diced cauliflower
1/4 cup diced bell pepper
1 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
2 cloves minced garlic
2 t grated ginger
1/2 t turmeric
1/2 t chili powder
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 t hot curry powder







1. In the morning, load all ingredients except salt into slow cooker.
2. Place on low for 7-8 hours.
3. When ready to serve add salt to taste.
4. Use spoon to mash vegetables a bit
5. Serve in a toasted bun, or over rice/quinoa.

Makes 5 sandwiches. Adapted from Vegan Slow Cooking by Kathy Hester.

Giant Salad Bowl

Maybe it is because I have been eating red beans and rice everyday for lunch, but lately I have been craving a GIANT salad for dinner.

Now I know you don't need me to give you a recipe for a salad. You know how to make a salad. You are smart and savy. Also your hair looks real good today.

However I have made this the past three days in a row, and last night Erik said it was the best salad I have ever made (high praise?). So consider this a salad blueprint.

Giant Perfect Salad

Red leaf lettuce

Cherry tomatoes

Parsley

Lemon zest

Parmesan cheese

Bread crumbs

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Tear up the lettuce and parsley into a giant bowl. Add halved cherry tomatoes. Use a microplane to zest half a lemon into the bowl. Add just the smallest amount of olive oil and a little bit more balsamic vinegar. Shake some parmesan and bread crumbs into the bowl and toss everything about. 

Sit on the couch in your workout clothes after a run and eat this for dinner while you watch the daily show on hulu.

A meal for one when it is late

Asparagus Mimosa is the first recipe I had the courage to try out of Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty.
He suggests topping with chopped tarragon and using high quality asparagus - freshly picked from a farm of course. I think I saw mimosa and bookmarked it thinking it was a delicious cocktail recipe that somehow incorporated vegetables. (Having had a beet martini I know there must be other vocktails out there...)

1 pound asparagus cleaned and trimmed.
1 egg
1 tsp olive oil
Capers
Salt & Pepper

Blanch asparagus in salted water for 3 minutes.
Soft boil and egg. I recommend 9 minutes exactly. Submerge egg in cold and allow to cool. Peel egg and chop roughly. Combine with asparagus, a drizzle of olive oil and capers if you have a jar in the refrigerator. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Inside My Lunchbox Part 2

Or how I finally learned to banish Hungor from my work day and just pack a million snacks.

As anyone who has spent much time with me will tell you I have a tiny stomach that pretty much needs to be constantly refilled. Much like a rabbit, I spend my day grazing and nibbling, having 8-10 small snacks. As such I like to pack a few snacks I can nibble after my ride to work and before my ride home. The sweet potato kugel was the main attraction in this lunch. I warmed it up in the microwave and ate it on a bed of kale. The granola bar (homemade!) I had as a quick snack after I got off my bike. The persimmon I ate out of hand before I headed home.

Speaking of the kugel, it was a very fall appropriate recipe and a great meal to make ahead and portion out for the week. I made this recipe, only I omitted the cheese and doubled the amount of sweet potatoes instead of using squash. I made it in an 8 x 8 square pan and have been chipping away at it all week. Bonus: your house will smell great when you cook the onions and garlic.

I'm so happy I live someplace I can bike to work on November 7th in shorts and a tank top.

"I literally made the most pesto ever," said in my best Chris Traeger voice

Last weekend my mission was to use up all my basil before the fall frost ruined it.

For me fresh basil=pesto. I love pesto...and by love I mean looooovveeee. One of the reasons

that I married my husband is because he had the secret pesto recipe from an unnamed pasta restaurant that he worked at in E'burg (I kid, I kid, but I do have the recipe now).

Things I learned during the pesto process:

Pesto stains everything it touches.

Basil reacts with oxygen somehow(O-chemers any comments?) and turns your skin black.

The old trick about rubbing your hands with a stainless steel spoon to get rid of garlic smell actually works.

Meat tenderizers make for excellent garlic smashers.

The first step to making a giant bowl of pesto is to gather all your ingredients. Aside from basil, I ran out of pretty much everything and had to start making substitutions.

You will need:

lots of basil

lots of garlic cloves

lots of olive oil (ran out of regular EVOO so I used a garlic infus

ed olive oil to make up the difference)

lots of Parmesan cheese

a cup or so of walnuts

2 1/2 cups of sunflower seeds (roasted but unsalted) (the recipe called for pine nuts...which are delish but too rich for my blood)

First, peel the basil leaves from the stems. I totally underestimated how long this would take, so I enlisted my sous chef. I had to promise him a batch of whatever kids of cookies he wanted, but it was worth it.

I put all the leaves into the sink filled with water in order to wash them and pick out the less desirable leaves. Then I drained the water out and patted dry the leaves. At that moment I

realized that a salad spinner may have been a good kitchen tool to have.

Then I just started mixing everything together. The restaurant recipe called for a "bag" of nuts and a "container" of cheese, etc. Since I didn't know what the quantity of said "bag" was, I just started tasting and guessing.

First I tried using the blender. Alas, a magic bullet my blender is not and nothing mixed together except for the EVOO and basil. So into my mini chopper everything went and although it worked, the chopper is so small that it took many batches to finish. After each batch I poured the mixture into a large bowl and then mixed everything together with a spoon again at the end to make sure that the inconsistencies in my proportions were minimized.

Lastly, I put a "dinner party" amount in a plastic bag and then portioned individual pesto disks and froze everything. Now I can just pull out a disk and have pesto all through the winter (30 portions total). WIN! Even though it made the a giant mess, the most dishes ever and my breath smelled like garlic for a week (I was eating spoonfuls of the leftovers) I had tons of fun making this.

Hibernation

I have moved from Summer Laura to Fall Laura. Summer Laura eats a lot of fruit and veggies from the farmer's market, spends 85% of daylight hours outdoors, and wearing her favorite summer outfit; yoga capri pants (you know you tried to steal them El) and a v-neck T-shirt. In contrast, Fall Laura is currently eating an IKEA chocolate bar (specifically called a Choklad Not, if you wanted to know), goes to work (school) in the morning when it is still dark, and wears some sort of Northface product at least 95% of the time.

Bring on the carbs it is time to hibernate.

Before I crawl into my electric blanket and count the days down to summer vacation, I thought I would share one of my favorite end of the garden recipes, which also can be made with canned goods if the frost has already hit your house. I made this with fresh tomatoes/corn/garlic/onion from the aforementioned farmer's market and peppers from my garden.

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

1 T. veggie oil

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 jalapeno or something more to your spicyness preference, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, smashed

2 cups pureed tomatoes, with some chunks left in for good measure

1 cup veggie broth (love the Penzey's)

3 cobs of corn cut from the cob

1 T. cumin

S&P to taste

Tortilla chips, cheese, sour cream, avocado, etc. for toppings.

First, chop everything up. I pureed my tomatoes in a blender and chopped in my mini chopper the onion/garlic/bell pepper/jalapeno. Whatever size chop you want is okay, it is a soup not science. Saute the chopped veggies in the veggie oil in a heavy pot. After everything is starting to smell good, add the tomatoes puree and cook down for 5 minutes on medium high. Next, add the veggie broth, corn, cumin and S&P. At this time I added a can of black beans to add some more protein. Let it cook for a while until it is at the consistency that you want it...not watery but not a stew...then top and eat.

Now here is my admission of guilt, the recipe that I use calls for making your own tortillas and then adding them in the pot of soup to cook. I have tried this twice and it is really yummy, but sooooo not worth the effort. Trust me, just buy the $3 bag of chips and stick some in there, if you let them soak in the soup it will taste the same, I promise.

Obviously, this recipe is doable with canned goods as well and turns out really fresh tasting on a chilly winter day.

P.S. Just to let you know I did eat 1/2 of my Choklad Not.

P.P.S. I like the song "Hibernation" by His Orchestra...listening to it right now.

Inside My Lunchbox Part 1

Oh hello there. Good to see you again. You look good.
Me? Oh I have been enjoying a nice old fashioned sinus cold. Reaaal snotty. Oh yeah. That doesn't mean I don't need to eat lunch.
This post is dedicated to a new reader out there - you know who you are.

Veggie Spring Rolls
Vietnamese rice paper wrappers
Veggies cut into 3-4 cm pieces (bell pepper, cucumber, carrots)
Lettuce
Peanut Sauce (recipe below)
Optional:
Tofu
Avocado
noodles

I recommend making this lunch the night before.
The rice paper wrappers are surprisingly easy to work with. You can get these at any asian market, and most supermarkets. You buy them dried and a single package should last you for a long time.
To make the spring rolls boil a pot of water and pour some into a shallow dish or large plate with high sides. Dip an individual rice paper wrapper in the hot water for a few seconds. It will go from being stiff to completely soft and sticky.
Now place this wet wrapper on a plate or cutting board. Add any combination of chopped veggies, tofu, lettuce, noodles, etc - I find a nice piece of basil or mint is delicious.

Love the colors

The thing to remember is to try not to stuff it too full. This is not a burrito. If you are using tofu or noodles stack this next and top it all with a leaf of lettuce. Smear the side of the wrapper with peanut sauce and fold it all up. You can use any technique you like for wrapping them - the rice paper is super sticky and will pretty much keep any spring roll together. Put in a tupperware and place in refrigerator overnight.
Bring to work and impress all of your awesome coworkers with your delicious and healthy lunch.

Peanut Sauce
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Generous squeeze of sriracha or other hot pepper sauce
1/4 teaspoon miso

In a small saucepan heat all ingredients over medium heat. Stir with a whisk until smooth.

Potluck schmotluck

While we wait for further installments of The Northeast Vacay I want to share some pictures from a recent vegetarian potluck I attended. A few weeks ago my brilliant friend Katie suggested that we gather at her apartment for snacks and margarita's made with fresh squeezed lime juice (told you she was brilliant.) I did not have to be invited twice. I was a terrible blogger and forgot my camera. Luckily Katie was on top of her game and sent me these pictures she took.

I brought two dishes. A southeast asian inspired salad/slaw with peanut dressing and spinach balls.

It tasted better than this presentation suggests...

The slaw didn't have much of a recipe. I shredded half a cabbage, a few carrots, red and green peppers, and a few small hot peppers. Then I crumbled up a few sheets of nori over the top of everything and sprinkled it with white sesame seeds. The dressing was a slightly modified version of the one offered here.

Hand formed by Erik

The spinach balls were a great snack and I would heartily recommend them as an appetizer for the next amazing dinner party you hold. I followed a recipe by Modern Beet. I divided the recipe by 3 (!) and it still made a heck of a lot of balls. I'll be honest with you all and tell you that the recipe is sort of a pain - with the spinach cooking and squeezing and ball forming - but if you have a sous chef to help you it makes all the difference.

Here is a plate with our first course displayed in all of its glory.

Katie made the green peppers stuffed with chili and Greg made the chickpea crepe and spinach artichoke dip. Nom nom nom.

Food model aka Amanda

Second course was polenta lasagna made by our host, Katie. By this time our belts were busting.

Katie made the polenta from scratch, naturally

 Our last course was dessert. Amanda made poppy seed cupcakes with a fresh blueberry glaze. Delicious, but I don't have a picture sadly. Trust me, they were good. I think Amanda used this recipe from Joy the Baker, only she veganized it because she is so crafty. It was good and the cake was super moist. Just how I like my cake!

This potluck was good warm up for a fourth of July potluck you might attend. Unfortunately I will not be doing any fun potlucking myself. Instead I will be soaring through the air in a metal tube, heading west back to the homeland.

Are you making any special treats for the fourth? Anyone have good airport for recommendations for Atlanta or Salt Lake?

Fail!

I am on a streak of failed meals. I can't get my cooking chi together, maybe I need to paint my door red or something.This week, I experienced my first two days of summer vacation and they were joyous. What could be better than a fine homemade pizza to cap off a nice summer day? In effort to make the meal "healthier" I decided to make a whole wheat (ww) crust.

It should be noted that while I am a big fan of whole grains, many ww products are gummy and disgusting (ww pasta is the WORST!). Daniel, however, claims that he does not mind the off putting texture and consistently is pushing me to try more ww products.

I make a yummy regular pizza crust, so I figured that it couldn't be too different to make a ww crust. Turns out that while it is not difficult, it was fairly gross. So gross, in fact, that I will not bother to include a recipe.

What is this??? It looks like the top of a cobbler. I tried to spread it out but it was almost like cookie dough, it had no elasticity.

It turned out lumpy, gummy and not crispy at all. Daniel said he did not mind it, and polished up the leftovers for lunch today. At least the toppings were good (tomatoes, mushrooms, olives).

Does anyone have a better recipe? Suggestions? Mine was from the Better Homes & Garden cook book. Wish me good luck on my next cooking adventure...I need it.

Rabbit Burgers

If you're a vegetarian for long enough you become a sort of connoisseur of veggie burgers. I can't tell you how many bland, tasteless hockey pucks of soy I have eaten over the years. Now there is a time and a place for veggie burgers - I am not denying that - but is it too much to ask for them not to be made out of textured vegetable protein? Even that name sounds unappetizing.

Of course there are as many opinions on veggie burgers as I imagine there are on the right way to make a beef burger. The two main varieties are the "meat" burgers (e.g. morningstar patties that try to imitate real meat) and what I call rabbit burgers. Rabbit burgers have visible vegetables/beans/grains and aren't trying to fool anyone. In my book veggie burgers should taste like they have vegetables in them. Might as well embrace the vegetable and try to create something that showcases them in their best light. A few weeks ago Erik and I ate dinner at 5 Napkin Burger where we both took the veggie burger. (Sidebar: they call it 5 napkin burger but they only give you one napkin??) It was sort of amazing. Probably the best veggie burger I have had at a restaurant...ever? One thing I took note of was the bright pink color of the burger. My spidey sense took perked up - beets were there! Now I love beets - I love them so much I want to marry them. I knew then that I would take this idea and make a beet burger of my own. Oh yes I would.

Memorial day seemed like the perfect opportunity to try out my new beet burger scheme. What is more American than burgers made of beets? Well besides pretty much everything...

Ellen's Rabbit Burgers
3 carrots
3 beets
1 egg
1 cup black beans
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Various spices of your choice

In a large bowl smash up your beans with a fork. You're not trying to completely pulverize them. Leave some large pieces. Grate up a big pile of your beets and carrots and add them to your beans. Throw in the egg, bread crumbs, and spices. Can I recommend garlic and italian herbs? (Sidebar: Penzeys please sponsor me!) Give it all a good mix with your hands. Form into patties. We found they worked best when the patties were on the thiner side.
We cooked ours on a george forman type grill. You could also bake them in the oven I suppose. I don't recommend putting them on a real grill since I think they would fall apart.
Add toppings of your choice! We went with sliced pickles, spinach, and sharp cheddar on sesame buns.