The Hip Green Olive Hummus
I can’t believe I’ve never made Hummus. I know, crazy simple, right? Unfortunately I didn’t have any garlic in-house, so I substituted with garlic powder. The end result was still fantastic.
Puree in food processor 2-3 minutes until smooth. Add extra lemon juice for desired consistency.
photo taken by thehipvegetarian
Here was my dilemma: curry or Pad Thai. Well I had some potatoes in my arsenal begging to be used so the curry won the battle. However the overcast day may have tipped the scales because cloudy days make me crave carbs. Therefore I ended up with the most wonderful curry.
I originally found this recipe on Food Network when I was searching for a vegan dish for some friends. Just use olive oil instead of better and voila! Vegan.
Some tips:
3 large baking potatoes, peeled
1/2 cup clarified butter (ghee)
2 large onions, diced
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 tablespoon ground coriander
1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tomatoes, seeded and diced
3 cups chicken stock or water
1 tablespoon salt
2 cups fresh or frozen peas, thawed
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 bunch cilantro, leaves roughly chopped
Directions Cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch dice. To remove the excess starch, place the potatoes in a bowl and rinse with cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain well.
Heat 1/4 cup clarified butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onions until they are brown. At the same time, heat the remaining clarified butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry the potatoes until they are golden and add sautéed onions.
Add the garlic and ginger, and cook just long enough to release their aromas, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the cumin, turmeric, coriander, and pepper flakes. Return the pan to medium heat. Stir in the tomatoes, chicken stock or water, and salt.
Simmer, uncovered, until the potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until the peas are heated through. Adjust the seasonings and serve immediately.
photo taken by thehipvegetarian
My mother-in-law made this cheesecake for Christmas dinner. The thought of a savory cheesecake has never occurred to me, so I was rather excited to try this appetizer.
Honestly this tasted like pizza.
This recipe comes out of the Paula Deen’s Christmas cookbook. Black olives in cheesecake; why am I not surprised? After all Paula puts Velveeta cheese in her chocolate fudge.
1 1/3 cup Panko, (Japanese bread crumbs)
6 Tbl. Butter, melted
1/4 cup Butter
1/4 cup Green Onion, minced
1/4 cup Parsley, chopped, fresh
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 (10 oz) package Spinach, frozen & chopped, thawed & squeezed dry
3 (8 oz) packages Cream Cheese, softened
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
4 Eggs, large
1/2 tea. Oregano, dried
1/2 tea. Basil, dried
1/2 tea. Salt
1/2 tea. Ground Black Pepper
2 (2.5 oz) cans Black Olives, sliced & drained
1 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1 cup Feta Cheese, crumbled
Assorted Crackers for dipping
Garnish: Fresh Parsley, Fresh Oregano, Sliced Black Olives
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
In a small bowl, combine bread crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 minutes.
In a medium skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter over medium-high heat. Add onion, parsley, and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until tender. Add spinach, and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat, and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, cream, and eggs at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Divide mixture evenly into 2 medium bowls. Stir spinach mixture into one-half of cream cheese mixture. Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle evenly with sliced olives.
Stir Parmesan cheese and feta cheese into remaining half of cream cheese mixture. Spread cheese mixture evenly over olives. Bake for 1 hour and 5 to 15 minutes, or until center is set. Let cool completely in pan. Gently run a knife around edges of pan to release sides. Cover and chill.
Serve cheesecake at room temperature with assorted crackers. Garnish with parsley, oregano, and black olives, if desired.
Note: Cheesecake can be made up to 1 month ahead. Wrap tightly in heavy-duty plastic wrap, and freeze. Let come to room temperature before serving.
Chicken-Cranberry Wreath
Most of our extended family isn’t vegetarian, so we’ve made our own Christmas tradition to include along side their turkey.
Assembling the crescent rolls can be a little tricky. Just make sure you alternate the triangle dough from inside, then outside. Also line the small inside of the triangles to form a circle.
This recipe is adapted from The Pampered Chef and it’s been a tradition for us during every holiday for the past 10 years.
STEP ONE
2 pkg. (8oz.) refrigerated Crescent Rolls
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
2 T. Honey Dijon Mustard
1 bag Morningstar Chicken Strips OR 2 cans Worthington Fri-Chik, shredded
1/2 tea. Black Pepper, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup Celery, sliced
3 T. Parsley, fresh, snipped
1/2 cup Cranberries, dried
1 cup Swiss Cheese, shredded
STEP TWO
1/4 cup Walnuts, chopped
1 Egg, separated
Oven 375 degrees
Arrange crescent rolls so the inside edge forms a circle. Alternate roll points to point inside then out.
Mix Step One ingredients together.
Using medium scoop, scoop filling over seams of dough. Sprinkle nuts over filling. Fold strips of rolls over (alternating inside and ouside pieces of rolls). Tuck last end under first. Beat egg white lightly — brush over dough. Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
I’ve been craving Mushroom Stroganoff. You know the kind that has that perfect gravy texture, slightly salty, slightly sweet, yet tart — a perfect balance. Here are a couple of Stroganoff recipes that I’ve tried recently, though these are good, they still don’t quite hit the sweet spot that I’m looking for in my Stroganoff. So I’m still searching…
However if you want a nice heartly meal, I do suggest one of the following recipes.
First off, the Beef Stroganoff recipe is adapted from the San Antonio Express-News Taste section. For beef I tried Gardein Homestyle Beefless Tips. This was the first time I’ve used them, and they weren’t bad. My husband thought they had a Boga Burger taste to them. I really liked the appearance of these veggie beef tips once they sizzled in the pan.
I couldn’t find cornichons in my grocery store so I substituted dill pickles. My family is odd, we liked this
addition. The thought of adding pickles to stroganoff would have never occurred to me.
If you haven’t picked up this recurring them yet in my blogs, you should start to notice that I substitute a lot when I don’t have the ingredients in-house. For this occasion I didn’t have pasta noodles, however I did have rice noodles in my cupboard. This is a good substitute for anyone who is gluten intolerant.
Sprinkle meat with paprika, slat and pepper; blend well.
Heat butter in a skillet over high heat; add meat. Cook as directed by meat packaging, stirring occastionally; remove meat with slotted spoon.
Add onion to skillet; cook, stirring about 1 minute.
Pour in wine and reduce by half, cooking about 5 minutes.
Lower the heat; stir in sour cream.
Warm the sauce, but do not let it boil.
Return the meat to the skillet; stir to blend.
Stir in cornichons.
The next recipe I tried included yogurt. I recently had a friend tell me that yogurt is the success to a nice tart stroganoff. My husband also declared this recipe good and went back for seconds — twice. I found this recipe at Bake Space.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add noodles, and cook according to your desired level of doneness.
Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat.
Add onions and garlic, and cook, stirring until softened.
Add the sliced mushrooms, cooking until they are softened and lightly browned.
Next add the stock, soy and Worcestershire sauces.
Bring the sauce to a boil, and cook until the mixture has reduced by 1/3.
In a small bowl combine the sour cream and flour and parsley.
Add this mixture to the pan and stir.
Continue cooking over low heat, just until the sauce thickens.
Pour the pasta into the sauce and cook until the dish is evenly heated through.
Serve, seasoning with salt and pepper and garnish with additional parsley and a dollop of sour cream.
Photo taken by thehipvegetarian
Pumpkins during the Fall season are simply beautiful.
However before they lose their luster, I always bake them to freeze so I can make soups throughout the rest of the year. Take them to the slaughter-house, I say!
If you haven’t done so already, now is the time to start the process before they start to mold from the inside out.
This year I gutted my Blue Hubbard pumpkin and filled it with about a quarter-cup of water, baked it at 350 degrees until the skin was tender enough to be pierced by a fork. I found this to be much easier than cutting the pumpkin into sections before baking or peeling it raw.
Photo taken by thehipvegetarian
My posts are few and far between for two reasons: I’m still visiting my parents and I haven’t been cooking much — sustaining myself with Thanksgiving leftovers.
For many who are burned out with cooking, or just need an idea for tonight’s dinner, I shall remind you of the simple salad. One that can be dressed with your favorite fresh fruit, dried fruit, nuts, cheese, etc.
My favorite salad is one made of Spinach with Fresh Pears, Dried Cranberries, Gorgonzola Cheese and Toasted Brown Sugar Pumpkin Seeds, topped off with Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing.
Photo taken by thehipvegetarian
For a vegan version, simply leave out the cheese and add any additional fruit that you enjoy.
Easy, simple and delicious as a side dish or a main dish for any evening.
Photo taken by thehipvegetarian
My husband and I are odd, we like Brussels Sprouts. Either you love them or you hate them. For those who are on the fence, try this Best Brussels Sprout recipe that we found on the web about two years ago from Shmooedfood.
serves 4
1 lb. fresh Brussels sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, and cut in half
2 TB olive oil (or 1 TB olive oil and 1 TB margarine)
salt to taste
¾ cup vegetable stock or water
2 TB sugar
2 TB apple cider vinegar
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
photo taken by thehipvegetarian
Heat the oil or oil and margarine in a sauté pan or well-seasoned cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the Brussels sprouts and sprinkle with salt. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the sprouts are turning golden, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Add ½ cup of the stock or water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, covered with a lid left slightly ajar, until the Brussels sprouts are almost completely tender and the stock or water has been cooked away, about 10 minutes.
Remove the lid and add the last ¼ cup of stock or water, the sugar, and the apple cider vinegar. Cook at a lively simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is reduced to a syrup, about 5 minutes. Taste for salt and season with pepper. Serve hot or at room temperature.
Click on image to watch the video on how to assemble this elegant puff pastry.
If you’re like me, the hurdle to cooking is organizing my shopping list. The task of looking through recipes and then writing down what I need is, well, just daunting. Luckily I discovered a system that works for me.
I noticed that some websites like Vegetarian Times have recipe boxes for me to store recipe choices.
Within my recipe box I can click one or more recipes and the web site will create a shopping list for me. From there I just glance through the shopping list, mark off the items I already have in-house, and voila! My shopping is completed.
Simple as that.
What organizational tip to you have when it comes to cooking or working in the kitchen?
The Hip Vegetarian 