Recipes, Side Dishes, vegan
Garlic scapes are the young and tender flower stalks and buds of the garlic plant. They pop up in mid-to-late June, spiraling and coiling above the leaves. I wait to cut them until they have had a few days to grow to a nice size, but not too long or they will become tough. If the coils start to straighten out, you’ve waited too long.
Garlic scapes are are AMAZING with a little olive oil and then tossed on the grill, and can be mixed in with any veggies you happen to have on hand for the grill. They are especially wonderful with asparagus, but go ahead and experiment.
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Recipes, Side Dishes, vegan
Brussel Sprouts with Maple Syrup, Red Onion, and Cranberries
I made this recipe after finding a few recipes for Brussel Sprouts with shallots and dried cranberries while browsing through a few cookbooks and some back issues of Bon Appetit.
As I had FRESH cranberries and red onions NOT dried cranberries, white wine, and shallots in the pantry, variations commenced.
Ingredients
1 pound Brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 bag (8 oz) fresh cranberries
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp Minor’s bacon base (optional)
3 or 4 shakes of soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 to 1 1/2 cups turkey, chicken, or vegetable broth
About 1 tablespoon dried orange zest or use fresh.
Instructions
Heat olive oil and bacon base in large skillet.
Place half of the Brussel sprouts in pan, sliced side down.
Drizzle about half the broth over the sprouts.
Cook for about 4-5 minutes, until browned. Turn over to cook other side, and add 1/2 the onions.
Saute until onions are caramelized, about 3-4 minutes.
Remove all to bowl, repeat with remaining sprouts and onions. (May instead use two skillets).
Combine both batches of sprouts and onions in skillet, add cranberries, mix.
drizzle soy sauce and maple syrup over all, stir, cook another another 3-4 minutes.
Can make ahead.
Recipes, vegan
Ingredients
1 butternut squash
8-10 8 to 10 fresh figs (or thawed frozen fresh figs or dried figs that have been soaked in water)
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 tbsp maple syrup
Instructions
cut squash in half lengthwise, remove seeds
remove stems from figs, tear into halves or quarters
fill squash with figs, top figs and entire squash with chopped onions
drizzle with maple syrup
place in baking dish, cover with foil, and roast at 375 for 30 to 45 min or until a fork goes in easily
Condiments, Recipes, vegan
I made these originally because I wanted to make a remoulade sauce for my baked sweet potato, but they can be used on anything, they are awesome.
Ingredients:
At least four large red bell peppers, but really as many as you want to make. These can be frozen.
1 small yellow or red onion, if making the Red Pepper Remoulade. More onions if you just like roasted onions. (Optional)
Instructions
cut the peppers into quarters, remove the stems,seeds, and membranes and lay them skin side up on a foil lined cookie sheet.
Also cut one small peeled onion in half, place it cut side down on the cookie sheet along with the peppers.
Put the oven broiler on High, and broil for about 10-15 minutes, or until the skins are mostly black, but the flesh underneath is still soft and moist. (I checked a bunch of times).
Once the peppers are done, put them and the onion in a paper bag, close the bag, and let them steam for about 10 minutes. GIANT HINT: put the paper bag on the cookie sheet, not the counter, because the bottom WILL soggily rip apart when you lift the bag.
Let cool.
The onion is ready as is. I included it simply because if I’m roasting these bad boys for a remoulade, I want the onion.
When the peppers have cooled to where you can handle them, just peel off the skins, they will come off easily.
Discard the skins OR save them for making a vegetable stock later. (I keep a zip lock baggie in the freezer of vegetable trimmings, end bits, and whatever for making soup stocks).
Note:
Can be frozen. I toss them in a ziplock bag in the freezer.
Serving suggestions:
Roasted Red Pepper soup. Use as a topping for pasta. Put them and the onion on a steak sandwich. Make a Remoulade. Eat them on the spot. The possibilities are endless.
Condiments, Recipes, vegan
I’m still tweaking this one, but I wanted to get it up there. I did my usual start with searching through my cookbooks and the internets for red pepper remoulades, found five or six that looked tasty and not containing a bazillion calories, then started tinkering.
My next rounds of tinkering will include stuff like Oyster sauce, or red wine vinegar (I think that will be better than Malt vinegar, but I was out, and I think the balsamic vinegar would be too strong). Maybe cider vinegar?
I’m also going to mess with the seasoning. I don’t want to go too heavy handed, but I think sneaking a tiny bit more Cajun in would be a good thing.
Ingredients
4 roasted red bell peppers (Recipe here.
1/3 cup roasted onion
2 tbsp malt vinegar
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/4 cup vegetable or chicken broth. (OK to use Minor’s soup base).
1 scant tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Cayenne pepper to taste
ground black pepper to taste
3 or 4 shakes of Tabasco sauce
Instructions
Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender or food chopper. Puree until it has the consistency of a sauce.
Put it on top of everything.
Suggestions for Usage
On top of….
Crab Cakes
Sweet Potato
Hamburger
Or…
Make it into a soup.
For that matter….
Use it instead of Ketchup… it’s that good.
Recipes, vegan
This came out fabulous, got rave reviews at a cookout.
Ingredients
2 cups Bulgar wheat
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup onion OR 1 bunching onion OR 1 scallion with greens OR 3 to 4 green onions with greens
1 garlic scape OR 1 to 2 cloves garlic
1 tomato
1 cup lime juice
1/4 to 1/3 cups olive oil
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Herbs (all should be fresh or fresh-frozen)
1 cup parsley
1 handful chives
2 to 3 leaves arugula (optional)
1 small handful mint leaves
1 small handful lemon balm leaves (optional)
Instructions
Add water to Bulgar wheat, let sit for 1 hour
Finely chop onion, garlic, tomato, and all herbs
Add onion, garlic, tomato, herbs, lime juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to Bulgar wheat, stir well.
