Sesame Noodles with Summer Squash  

Posted by Angie Andriot in , , ,


Summer cooking should center around farmer's market finds, don't you think? My most recent visit to the farmer's market landed a funny looking summer squash and many questions regarding what to do with it:



I decided on a simple roasted squash, to set atop a fluffy bed of sesame noodles. It was quite tasty, if I do say so myself. Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

noodles for two (I used Udon)
peas
soy sauce
brown sugar
toasted sesame oil
one summer squash
peanut oil
salt
toasted sesame seeds

METHODS:

You'll notice the distinct lack of measurements. That's because I don't really measure for these things.
  1. First, you set some water to boil and turn on the broiler. Slice up your summer squash, and lay out on a roasting pan. Drizzle with peanut oil, sprinkle with salt. Put under broiler, roast to your liking. Mine was in there about 10 minutes, and I flipped them halfway through.
  2. Once the water is boiling, add the noodles. I always find that they are done before the package says they will be, so check early. For udon noodles, 3 minutes seems sufficient.
  3. While the noodles are boiling, heat some peas in a small pot.
  4. To that, add the soy sauce and mirin (equal parts). So, if you want a lot of sauce, maybe 1/4 c of each.
  5. Stir in the brown sugar. I find that one tablespoon sugar per half cup sauce is good. But add or omit to suit your taste.
  6. Add the drained noodles, splash some sesame oil on there (just a teaspoon's worth or so, you don't need much), and stir to heat.
  7. Spoon noodles into bowl, top with squash, and sprinkle on some sesame seeds. Eat.

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Sweet Yeast Muffins, Take 1  

Posted by Angie Andriot in , ,


I am attempting to make sweet yeast muffins. I think, if I can get it right, it will be a nice low-fat, vegan alternative to regular muffins. Why yeast? I don't have to worry about all the aftertastes that can come from quickbreads. And I don't have to worry about all the various vegan substitutions. Just simple yeast bread. In muffin form.


My first attempt was for blueberry muffins. The basic dough switcharoos worked great. The bread part is excellent and tasty. However, the assembly process needs some work. I divided the finished dough into 12 pieces and pressed each into a greased muffin tin. I then pressed blueberries into the dough, sprinkled with brown sugar, and let it do its second rise. Problem was, the blueberries and sugar did not stay pressed in. They ended up on top of the muffins. Sort of like a streusel topping, but really messy cleanup. And not nearly enough topping. Next time I think I'll roll the dough into 24 balls, place 12 in the muffin tins, fill with a layer of blueberries and brown sugar, then top with the other 12 dough balls. Then let rise and bake.

Each muffin contains 6.5 grams of fat.

Muffin dough recipe: Take the basic dough recipe and make the following changes:

1. Replace the water with warm milk (nondairy for vegans).
2. Increase oil to 1/3 c.
3. Increase sugar to 1/3 c.


Muffin on FoodistaMuffin

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Curried Potato Pea Pizza  

Posted by Angie Andriot in , ,


Here's a great idea for how to get rid of leftover mashed potatoes. Mix in some curry powder, spread on flatbread, top with peas, and bake. Yum. Not that you can't make this entire dish from scratch. But it would be a lot more work.

First you would need to make your flatbread. You can find my versatile dough recipe here. Follow the instructions for pizza. While the dough is rising, you would get started on the mashed potatoes. And it's all pretty straightforward from there: spread the mashed potatoes on the flatbreads, top with peas, and bake in a 375 degree oven 10 minutes or until browned.

Here's a recipe for mashed potatoes I'm particularly fond of, but I'm still tweaking. It uses white beans to lend a creaminess without the cream. If you already have leftover mashed potatoes, all you have to do is blend in some curry powder (your choice which one). If not, here's how to make some:

CURRIED MASHED BEANY POTATOES

Ingredients
4 large potatoes, cut into chunks
1 c cannellini beans (drained and rinsed if coming from can)
1 T minced garlic
2 T olive oil
vegetable stock or liquid from canned beans
1 T curry powder, or to taste

Methods
I'm not going to give step-by-step instructions here, because I'm still working out the perfect method myself. However, here's what my research tells me so far. I've yet to test this all out in practice, though. First, the potato cooking method depends on the type of potato. If you're using a waxy potato like Yukon Gold, you should boil. If you're using a starchy potato like Russet or Idaho, you should steam. The waxy potatoes have more flavor, but get gluey fast in the mashing process. The starchy ones get mealy fast, but can be smoothed out more thoroughly. 

Second, your choice in additives will depend on your preferences. Normally, it's heavy cream and butter - not vegan. But most vegan mashed potato recipes I found just swapped those out for soy creamer and non-dairy butter. I don't like the flavors of those as much, and I prefer to stay away from heavily processed foods with long lists of ingredients. What to do, then? One suggestion is to use Yukon Gold potatoes, since they are less starchy and yellower by nature. Carmelized onions sound like an interesting addition, too. Creamy roasted garlic bulbs work, too. Others suggest baking the potato instead of boiling, then scooping out the fluffy innards.

Here's what I tried this round, and I thought it worked well. I used Russet potatoes because that's what I had. I baked them alongside a garlic bulb (see garlic preparation here), and then scooped out the creamy insides of all the potatoes and half the garlic (saving the rest for potato skins the next day). Then I mixed the fluffy parts up with a cup of white beans - an idea I got from the book Vegetarian: Tasty Recipes for Every Day. Then I added the remaining ingredients, listed above. They were delicious, but I'm still going to play around more before I post a definitive mashed potato recipe. More research is needed.



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