Mmmmmm..... The Roasted Veggies

Down to four people in the house, now that my youngest went back to college.  My youngest son who is vegan commutes to college, so he is usually at the dinner table, and my other son is only home 2 nights a week.  Cooking dinner becomes tricky this time of year for me trying to please everyones taste buds, when there are so few of us eating.  Fresh vegetables are always on the table, no matter what or who likes them.

I made grilled chicken yesterday for dinner, and roasted veggies on the grill.  The vegan had the roasted veggies mixed with Farfalle, which were side dishes for us.  It's not really hard cooking, I just have to have more of a thought process behind it, "what will he eat" when there is meat on the table.

These are my roasted veggies and how I made them - I use one small green zucchini and one small yellow squash, 1/2 red onion, 1/2 red pepper, and a handful of grape tomatoes, salt, pepper, herbs de provence, garlic and olive oil.  Toss this all together in a bowl and then put into a grill basket on the grill.  Grill until lightly browned, tossing as they are cooking.  The flavor of them is amazing!  Eat them plain, mixed with hot pasta, mixed into a pasta salad, as a veggie sandwich maybe add regular cheese or vegan cheese, these are a few ideas, but many different ways to use them.

NOTE:  These can also be made in the oven, roast at 400 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes. Toss once during cooking.  Cooking time may vary as all ovens are different.

What To Do With All That Zucchini

You all know, if you ever planted zucchini, that it grows like a weed.  One plant often yields too much zucchini for one family to eat.  Everyday I go out to my garden and there is another zucchini ready to be picked.  Many ways that I use my zucchini are - grilling them with other vegetables, use them in soups, putting them through my Veggetti slicer to make veggie spaghetti, ratatouille, I stuff them, I fry/bake them and I make chocolate zucchini bread, that is delicious.

In a previous blog (2/9/14) I posted a recipe for regular chocolate zucchini bread.  If you haven't checked it out yet, please do it's great!  In this blog today, I tweaked the recipe a little to make it vegan, so my son would eat it.  The recipe came out great, the only difference is that the bread did not rise as high.  The flavor and texture of the cake was not compromised, it just didn't rise as high because I did not use eggs.  I substituted golden omega fine textured ground flaxseed (meal) mixed with water for the eggs.

  Recipe below.

To print recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

Grated my zucchini, and I used walnuts this time instead of chocolate chips.  Chocolate chips whether dark, semi-sweet or milk chocolate, have milk fat in them and he won't eat them, he is a committed vegan, little bugger!

My bag of golden omega flaxseed (meal).  It's ground up and has a fine texture. You can't taste it or see it, so don't worry about not liking it.  It is also very good for you.  

 I used 2 tablespoons of flax meal and mixed it with 6 tablespoons of water.  This equals the same as 2 eggs.

Cocoa powder makes it chocolate flavored.

Mixing the dry ingredients.

Mixing the wet ingredients.

Add the zucchini and stir.

After combining the wet and dry ingredients together, I use Baker's Joy to spray my pans.  It is made from soybean oil and flour. Pour batter into loaf pan or pans.  I have an extra long loaf pan, it's great for bigger batters, could also be the reason for the flatness of the bread, hmmmm......

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour....

And look how good that looks!

And it tastes even better.

Vegan Chocolate Walnut Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups raw grated green zucchini

1 cup unbleached white flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

2 tablespoons fine texture ground flaxseed (meal)

6 tablespoons of water

1/2 cup canola oil

1/2 cup cane sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup chopped walnuts tossed in 1 teaspoon flour (so they don't sink to the bottom of the pan)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease pan with canola oil (or vegetable shortening) and flour, set aside.

Use a food processor (if you have one) or a box grater, and grate the zucchini on the side that looks like the rain drop, until you have 1 1/2 cups of zucchini.  Do not drain or squeeze the zucchini dry, you need the moisture for the bread.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and allspice, set aside.

Mix together the 2 tablespoons of flaxseed and the 6 tablespoons of water, let it sit for about 5 minutes before adding to the wet ingredients.  In the bowl of an electric mixer on medium speed, beat the oil, sugar, brown sugar, flaxseed mixture, and vanilla until combined.  Shut the mixer off and stir in the zucchini.  Turn the mixer on medium speed and add the flour mixture and beat until all is combined, scraping bottom and sides and it is mixing.  Fold in the walnuts with a wooden spoon.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake until a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean, about 50 -60 minutes depending on your oven. When bread is done, place pan on wire rack and cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.  This bread can be frozen, wrap tightly in plastic wrap then in foil.

Hearty, Healthy, Vegan Italian Tuscan Bean Soup

Soup is what's on the menu alot in my house lately.  With the cold weather in the air, it warms you and fills you up fast.  Soup is one of those dishes you can make out of anything that you already have in your pantry and/or refrigerator, it's that easy, and doesn't take long to cook.  I made Vegan Italian Tuscan Bean Soup yesterday, and the aroma all through the house was fantastic!  This is how I made it, recipe below. 

To print the recipe, click on it, highlight and print.

All of this went into my pot to make my soup.

 Chopped onion and celery, I even use the celery leaves they add great flavor and texture.

Add all the remaining ingredients and let it simmer on the stove.

 What you get when it's done, is a big bowl of flavorful soup for lunch or dinner, that not only tastes good but is good for you.  I topped mine with a few croutons and fresh shaved Parmesan cheese. To keep it totally vegan top with a vegan shredded cheese or cubes of tofu.  Dig in!

Vegan Italian Tuscan Bean Soup

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 large sweet onion, diced

6 cloves garlic, minced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

4 stalks celery with leaves, diced

1 green zucchini, cubed, leave skin on 

1 yellow zucchini, cubed, leave skin on

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, more if you like heat

2 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon, dry

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped or 1 1/2 teaspoons, dry

1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley or 2 teaspoons dry 

2 teaspoons kosher salt, or regular salt, omit or lower if watching salt

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

2 - 32 oz. containers vegetable stock, not broth

3 - 14.5 oz. cans diced petite tomatoes with juice

4 - 15.5 oz cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 bags escarole and radicchio mix, pick through for tough ribs

2 tablespoons raw sugar, optional

Directions

In a large soup pot heat the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onion and cook until tender.  Add the garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes just until fragrant but not burnt.  Add the carrots, celery, zucchini, pepper flakes, thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt and pepper.  Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes.  Add the vegetable stock, tomatoes, beans and sugar, bring to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and add the escarole, stir to combine.  Cover and simmer for 1 hour, stirring occassionally.  Just before serving, if you like your soup a little thicker and less chunky, you can use an immersion blender to smooth some of the texture of the soup. If you don't have an immersion blender use a regular blender/Ninja blender, but you will have to let the soup cool before you put it in the glass or plastic container, it will shatter!  Take 2-3 ladles of soup out of the pot and into another pan. Use the immersion blender to partially smooth it out, then pour back into the soup pot.  Top your soup with croutons and cheese before serving. Makes 10 - 12 servings.

Hooked On Veggies

Trying new foods is always fun for me, I like to see what the outcome of putting a recipe together will bring.  What will I use to flavor it, will I try it again, was it good, did my family like it?  A lot of questions and some hesitation go into making a new dish.  One, the cost could be a factor, and  two, I don't want to waste food or have to throw it out, so from the start -  IT HAS TO BE GOOD!  I buy alot of fresh foods these days, it's better for you, but that means a couple of trips to the grocery store each week, but that's OK with me because I know I am eating better and so is my family.  

On my second trip to the grocery store this week I picked up some avocados.  Avocados are actually a fruit not a vegetable, like the tomato.  We eat quite a few of these over the week.   Check the freshness by the stem, the one on the left is from last week, the stem is brown and dried out, it's still good but not as fresh as the one on the right.  They should be kind of soft to the touch but not mushy.  I use them in salads, sandwiches and homemade guacamole.  Spice them up with garlic, lime and salt and pepper.  A 1 ounce serving has 50 calories and is packed with close to 20 vitamins and minerals.

 These cute little onion looking things are shallots, and I use lots of these in cooking.  Shallots have the milder taste of sweet onion with a hint of garlic.  I use them because they are smaller that an onion, so I don't have to cut a big onion.  Shallots don't have that overpowering taste that onions sometimes have.  I use them in sauces, fry them crispy to top a steak, in soups and salad dressings.

 The sweet potato - these are so much better for you than white potatoes.  They cook up creamy and have a sweet flavor. Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbs, fiber, and beta carotene. I mash them, oven fry them or make casseroles out of them.  No matter how you prepare sweet potatoes they will not disappoint, make the switch today.

 Fennel - This is kind of a new addition into my cooking.  The flavor of fennel is a very mild licorice taste, it's not strong, just a hint, so don't shy away from it.  I use it in sauces, soups and raw in salads.  I reserve some of the fronds and use them also.  The bulb, fronds and seeds are used in a wide variety of food dishes.  I make a salad from spring greens, sliced oranges, cucumber and sliced almonds.  Then make a dressing of OJ, olive oil, some brown sugar, salt, pepper, a little cumin and snipped fronds, then pour over the salad - Good!

 Summer is here and what veggie runs rampant - ZUCCHINI and lots of it.  We love zucchini, I don't peel it when I grill it, roast it, use it in baking, soups or make ratatouille.  Leave the skin on it's good for you.

 And last but not least - The fresh sweet basil, nothing says summer like this herb, it's my favorite.  Sweet basil is so fragrant.  I have a huge plant in my front garden that I pick from a couple of times a week.  I wash it, wrap in a paper towel, put in a resealable bag and keep in the refrigerator.  I use sweet basil in many dishes, not just Italian dishes.  It is very delicate, so if you are using it to cook with add at the very end so it keeps it color, otherwise it will turn black and does not look very pretty.

The Bacon Cheese Chicken

You have all heard of the bacon cheese burger, well here is the bacon cheese chicken!  We eat a lot of chicken, if you haven't noticed from my blog.   We love chicken and I am always trying to find new and tasty ways to make it.  My younger son loves bacon cheeseburgers, so I thought why not bacon cheese chicken, and so it was born. This is how I made it:

Bacon Cheese Chicken

2 Tbsp. canola oil

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

4 Tbsp. Grey Poupon mustard

Salt and Pepper, to taste

4 slices of Swiss cheese

1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup bacon bits

3 plum tomatoes, chopped and seeded

Spread the oil in a frying pan to cover the bottom.  Wash, pat dry and remove any loose skin from the chicken and place in the frying pan.  Spread each piece, top side only, with 1 tablespoon of mustard and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cook chicken on medium high heat until it is no longer pink inside, about 8 minutes on each side.  Cover and reduce heat to medium low and let cook for about 10 minutes more.  Uncover, drain off the juices and put 1 piece of the Swiss cheese on each breast, sprinkle on the cheddar and then top with the bacon.  Cover and let the cheeses melt.  Plate the chicken up and top with fresh cut tomatoes.  I served mine with grilled fresh zucchini, carrots, and red onion in a garlic herb sauce and buttered orzo, all started while the chicken was cooking.  Whole meal takes about 30 minutes to make.  Serves 4.