Tempeh Beanballs Primavera with Cajun Marinara

I was a vegetarian for about 12 years, and this was the first time I have cooked with tempeh. It always looked... skeevy. Now that I am addicted to this cookbook - "Appetite for Reduction" - I decided I must try tempeh. I had it in the fridge for several weeks, before I took the plunge. This recipe for pasta primavera with tempeh beanballs and cajun marinara, is really terrific. I used brown rice, instead of pasta, which was a definite mistake on my part. This needs to be served over whole wheat pasta. Seriously. Anyway, there were a lot of components to this dish, but honestly, it was worth it. These faux meatballs are perfect. They are easy to make, and they are surprisingly delicious, and amazingly healthy. I added peas, zucchini, and peppers to my cajun marinara, and it was a really full bodied, flavorful marinara. In fact, part of me thought it was a tad over spiced, due to the plentiful amount of oregano and thyme in the sauce, but I still loved it. We had a lot of leftovers, to which I added pasta, instead of rice. I can't wait to make this again. It was such a filling, comforting, and tasty vegetarian dish. Kevin and the kids liked it, too. Mmmmm... Another thumbs up for Isa Moskowitz. Who knew vegan cooking could be so... perfect??



Make this. It's a tomatoey, comforting pot of yum. 4 Bowls!

Cajun Marinara
Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

1 tsp of olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp of dried thyme (I think I'll reduce by half next time)
1 tsp dried oregano
Feshly ground black pepper
1 (24 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 tbl Cajun Spice Blend (I used Penzey's)

Veggies (swap out your own, if you want!)
1 cup of peas
1 zucchini
1 sliced onion
Thinly sliced pepper

Preheat a 2-quart pot over medium/low heat. Saute the zucchini, onion, peppers in the oil for several minutes, or until browned garlic and red pepper flakes in the oil for about a minute. Add thyme, oregano, and pepper, and saute for a minute more, adding a splash of water if necessary. Add the tomatoes, cajun seasoning, and salt, and stir everything together. Cover the pot, leaving a gap for steam to escape, and cook for 10 minutes. Taste for salt and seasoning.


Make this. It's a great meat substitute, and my meat loving family adored it. 4 Bowls!

Black Eyed Pea and Tempeh Beanballs
Adapted from Appetite for Reduction

Ingredients:

12 ounces of tempeh (1.5 packages)
1 (15 oz) can black eyed peas
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp of dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
Black Pepper (several pinches)
1 tbl soy sauce
1 tbl tomato paste
1 tbl balsamic vinager
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 tsp salt

First, prep a steamer, to steam the tempeh. Steaming tempeh takes out the bitter taste, which some dislike. I've never tried it un-steamed, and didn't want to chance it! Once the steamer is ready, break the tempeh into bite-size pieces, and steam for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350, and line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, use a fork to mash the beans. They should be well mashed, with no whole beans left, but not totally smooth, like a puree. Grate in the garlic (I used bottled, mince garlic). Add the hebs and spices, soy sauce, tomato paste, and balsamic vinegar, and mix well.

When the tempeh is done, add it to the mix, and mash well. It's good if it's still steaming, because it will help all the flavors meld, before baking. When the mix is cool enough to handle (a few minutes), add the bread crumbs and salt. Taste for salt (the batter may be a bit bitter, but it mellows when cooked).

Using about 2 tablespoons of the mix per ball, roll the mixture into walnut size balls, placeing them on the baking pan. Spray liberally with cooking spray, and cover loosely with tinfoil. Bake for 15 minutes, flip the balls, and bake for 10 more minutes, uncovered.

Serve over pasta, with marinara!

Chicken with Linguine, Leeks, and Tomatoes

Kevin made a request this week: "Please don't make any curries. I can't take it anymore."

In my defense, this family is so picky! No cheese, no red meat, no cinnamon, no nuts, no fish, blah blah blah. So, it really leaves me with a pretty narrow array of recipes and ethnic foods.

So... It took a while, but I finally found several recipes that I was excited to try. This one looked really basic, and it only used 1 pot, so I thought it would be perfect for a night when I wanted to make something quickly. This dinner tasted really delicious. It was so easy to throw together, and the flavor combination was perfect. It was slightly spicy, but had a nice sweet flavor from the leeks and peas. It called for linguine, but I made the mistake of using leftover soba noodles, which didn't work particularly well. They got a little clumpy, sticky, and overcooked. Oh well. The good news is, it was still really tasty, and the clean up was so simple. To make it even easier, you can buy the frozen leeks at Trader Joe's. I highly recommend this one.




Make this. It's great. 5 Bowls.

Chicken with Linguine, Leeks, and Tomatoes


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 1 cup pasta and vegetables)


4 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Vegetable cooking spray
2 teaspoons margarine
3 cups sliced leeks (about 3 medium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
4 ounces linguine, uncooked

Place each chicken piece between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/4-inch thickness, using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Combine 1/4 teaspoon of salt, garlic powder, and next 4 ingredients; sprinkle over both sides of chicken, and set aside.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add margarine, and place over medium-high heat until margarine melts. Add the chicken, and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet; set aside.

Add leeks and garlic to skillet; cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender. Add chicken broth and next 3 ingredients; bring to a boil. Break linguine into 2-inch pieces; add linguine and chicken to skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.

CALORIES 329 (13% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.3g,poly 1.3g); IRON 4.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 108mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.6g; SODIUM 364mg; PROTEIN 32.7g; FIBER 1.8g

Cooking Light, MARCH 1995

Rotini with Lentil Bolognese

Seriously? I'm actually going to create a post about eating pasta for dinner? Um, yeah. I am.

I actually used to make whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, every single night, as a side dish, to whatever we were having for dinner. We loved it, but it was a tad excessive - know what I mean?

Anyway, now we all really miss our daily pasta, and since with was a holiday week, and we were both exhausted and itching for some nice comfort food, pasta fit the bill. I really like meat sauce, but since I no longer eat red meat, I have been looking for a substitute, that adds a nice, hearty texture to a pasta sauce. I found this Lentil Bolognese recipe on Epicurious, but the reviews were a tad less than stellar. I ended up doctoring the recipe, to the point where is is basically nothing like the Epicurious version, though I used their recipe as base for inspiration. I will post my recipe below, and if you want to see the original, just click the link! Anyway, this tasted really good. I loved the flavor - Spicy, salty (but not too salty), sweet (but not too sweet!), and hearty. The only issue I had with this recipe, was that the lentils never really cooked well. There is actually a scientific explanation for this, but basically, when you try to cook dried beans in tomato broth, the acidity makes it almost impossible for the beans to get soft. So, basically, I cooked this for a full hour, and the lentils were soft enough, but not really as soft as I would have liked them. My remedy for this? Next time, I will use canned lentils (drained and rinsed), or I will partially cook them separately, then add them for the final 20 minutes of cooking. I personally think this will be crucial, to making this a second time. It didn't matter, because it was a lovely dish, with a lot of leftovers. I will make this again. It was easy, tasty, and a super comforting end, to a long and eventful weekend!

I used whole wheat rotini, which made this even heartier. Mmmmmm.

A big hunk of leftover, homemade focaccia, rounded out this meal very nicely. Jonah loved this bread!


Nothing like a chunky, vegetable ragu.
You should probably make this. Let me know how you modify it, and let me know how your lentils come out! 4 Bowls - gotta take a point off, for toothsome lentils!

Pasta with Lentil Bolognese

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1-2 stalk celery, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped (I used yellow)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 (15-ounce) cans chopped tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped OR pureed (juice reserved)
1 1/4 cups dried French green lentils or regular brown/green lentils
Coarse sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp of dried basil
1/4 tsp seasoning salt (I used Penzey's 4S Seasoned Salt)
Bay Leaf
3-4 cups of Chicken or Veggie Broth
Dash of crushed red pepper

1 pound shaped pasta, such as cavatappi, rigatoni, or ziti
Pecorino cheese, grated or shaved (optional, but tastes better that way)
Fresh basil, chopped (optional)

Preparation

1. In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and cook slowly until the vegetables soften and turn golden, about 20 minutes.

2. Increase heat to medium-high and add the tomato paste. Cook until the mixture dries out a bit, about 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved juice from the tomatoes and cook, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid has reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, and 1 cup water OR broth (I used broth, as per reviews!). Add seasonings and bay leaf (and whatever else you want!)Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Season with the salt and pepper and simmer until the lentils are tender, 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the lentils. (If the sauce begins to dry out, add additional water as needed - I ended up having to add at least 2 cups of broth, throughout the cooking.) Reduce heat to low and keep warm.

** If you choose to use rinsed and drained, canned lentils, you should probably use 2 cans, and add them in the last 10-20 minutes of cooking. I'm not sure how this would change the reduction of the sauce though... Any thoughts on this?

4. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain. Serve with the lentil sauce, sprinkle with the pecorino, and garnish with the basil, if desired.

Vegetable Lasagna

Oh, how I love an excuse to cook with cheese! My sister was coming in from out of town this week, and she is a bean-hating-vegetarian. I was stumped as to what to cook, since Kevin is a tofu-hating omnivore. I decided a veggie lasagna was in order, and that I would also create a lentil soup for Kevin and Maya (who is quite skeptical about melted cheese). The nice thing about a baked pasta dish, is that you can assemble the entire thing in the morning (or previous day), and then bake it an hour before you want to serve it. Perfect. I raced to the grocery store and back home, which Miss Maya was at school, and assembled this bad boy extremely quickly. It was a whirlwind of activity, but it was well worth it, so I didn't have to destroy my kitchen at 5pm, with a guest anxiously awaiting dinner.

Anyway, the final product...



This is a good one. I will keep this recipe in the files, because it's an easy, go-to recipe for company, or a new mom, or a potluck. It is full of veggies, and you could definitely add more if in the mood. The one factor to consider, is the fact that the recipe is totally dependent on the sauce. This calls for a jar of "fat free pasta sauce," so you really need to decide how far you want to go with this ingredient. I used "Classico Tomato Basil," which is the sauce we buy at Costco. It's not fat free, but a very close second. The thing is, the better the sauce, the better the lasagna (in my opinion), so I think next time, I will try a different sauce. The one I used was good, but it wasn't exceptional. I would like to try making my own, but I haven't found a recipe that excites me. Anyway, back to the final product. I really liked this - it is really delicious, without being heavy or too rich. The sauteed veggies are really nice, and add a great texture to a meatless pasta bake. I felt that using part-skim cheeses didn't affect the flavor of it at all, which was really nice. My only big complaint, is that it really fell apart. The recipe instructions, state that the lasagna needs to "stand" for 10 minutes, which I assume was the time it needed to "set." Well, it still totally fell apart when I cut into it. I recognize that this doesn't affect the taste one bit, but you know how I love pretty food. Anyway, after leaving out for 30 minutes, I cut into it again, and it stayed together just fine. So, the moral is, let it sit for a tad longer, if you want a pretty slice. Oh, I just love layers... Mmmmmmm.



Try this... If you dig cheese.

Vegetable Lasagna


This vegetable lasagna is perfect for making ahead and can easily transport to a potluck or the freezer.


Yield: 6 servings


1 teaspoon olive oil
3/4 cup sliced mushrooms (omitted - Nora hates 'em)
3/4 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup sliced carrot
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 (26-ounce) bottle fat-free tomato basil pasta sauce
2 tablespoons commerical pesto
1 (15-ounce) carton part-skim ricotta cheese
Cooking spray
6 hot cooked lasagna noodles (about 6 ounces uncooked), cut in half (I used whole wheat)
3/4 cup (3 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375�.

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and the next 4 ingredients (mushrooms through onion); cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add pasta sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.

Combine pesto and ricotta in a small bowl. Spread 1/2 cup tomato mixture in the bottom of a 8-inch square baking dish or pan coated with cooking spray. Arrange 4 noodle halves over tomato mixture. Top noodles with half of ricotta mixture and 1 cup tomato mixture. Repeat layers, ending with noodles. Spread remaining tomato mixture over noodles; sprinkle with mozzarella.

Cover and bake at 375� for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

Notes: To make ahead, assemble as directed; stop before baking. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature; bake as directed. For easy cleanup, assemble in a disposable 8-inch aluminum-foil pan. If you're making for a gift, deliver uncooked with baking instructions.


CALORIES 328 (30% from fat); FAT 10.9g (sat 5.4g,mono 3.8g,poly 0.9g); IRON 2.9mg; CHOLESTEROL 31mg; CALCIUM 418mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39g; SODIUM 491mg; PROTEIN 18.2g; FIBER 3.7g

Cooking Light, JANUARY 2001

Guest Chef: Debbie Creates Red and Green Lasagna

I would like to welcome Debbie to 5 Bowls of Soup! She decided to bite the bullet and make a fancy schmancy dinner last night. It looked so beautiful in the photos, I asked her to write about it. Here is Debbie's account of her kitchen project last night. I wish I had been there to take tons of photos. This one is a beauty...



Hello Foodies! Marji kindly has invited me to guest-blog about my most recent (and, let’s be honest, only) kitchen creation: Rachael Ray’s Red and Green Lasagna. Ever since I got my Cuisinart food processor I have been going on and on about wanting to make this recipe, and I decided to go for it for a nice Rosh Hashanah dinner. Instead of your standard lasagna layers, this one uses a spinach pesto (the green) and a roasted red pepper/sundried tomato marinara (the red). I have to say the end product was so pretty and very delicious, though the process was lengthy and the cost of ingredients was high. I was unable to find sundried tomatoes not in oil so I used ones packed in oil instead, but I was able to stretch the tiny jar by using the oil to sauté the onions, which added a nice depth of flavor. The recipe called for a whopping 2 pounds of fresh spinach, which I realized too late would not all fit in to my food processor bowl at the same time. I ended up having to puree the spinach in batches while my red sauce was simmering on the stove, which resulted in an overly-reduced sauce since the process took way longer than expected. I substituted part-skim ricotta cheese for the filling and a 2% mozzarella/provolone mixture for the topping to make it a bit healthier, though I was unable to find no-boil whole-wheat noodles, which was a bummer. Despite being fairly skimpy on the red sauce, the lasagna was rich without being too cheesy—I think the spinach pesto did a nice job of cutting the cheesiness with a fresh flavor. At first I didn’t think this meal was worth the price of ingredients, but this recipe makes A LOT of food so I think it will last us awhile. Overall, I definitely recommend this meal but I would try making the spinach pesto ahead of time since I don’t know many people who have food processors or blenders big enough to hold 2lbs of spinach at once, and maybe using extra crushed tomatoes to ensure a saucy dish.

Using his own rating system, Dan has rated this meal 4 bowls of Cocoa Puffs, having lost 1 bowl for not having enough red sauce (which he fixed by adding some Trader Joe’s marinara on the side).

Makin' a BBQ.

I had a tough time coming up with a menu for our little get-together on Saturday. We had a house full of picky eaters, and I was really puzzled as to how to I was going to cook for everyone. We also have no grill, which makes it really tough to do a BBQ. So... I decided to do a BBQ anyway. Here was our menu:

Mini-Man Burgers
Italian Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Veggie Burgers

Corn (Mom and Dad brought the cobs!)
Tortellini Salad (I made the recipe with regular pasta also, so Kevin could eat it)
Asian Cucumber Salad

Chocolate Cake (Thanks, Mom!)
Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies


I thought this meal came out pretty tasty. The Mini-Man Burgers are an Alton Brown recipe, and they got rave reviews. It's really a very interesting method of making a burger. It really sucks in all the seasonings, and makes these little sliders, reminiscent of a White Castle burger. The turkey burgers were good, but they really should have been grilled on a real grill. It was so hard to tell if they were done, when I cooked on the stove top, and frankly, I served several undercooked burgers, which sort of upset me.



I totally spaced, and didn't take any photos of the tortellini version of this salad, but this is the rotini version, that I made for Kevin, and anyone else who was anti-cheese. The salad has a really nice balsamic dressing, with sun-dried tomatoes and red onion. It is really tasty, and the tortellini version had halved cherry tomatoes, which made it super colorful and pretty. I will definitely make this again. It's easy and delicious.




This Asian Cucumber Salad is a really nice, fresh, light salad. It's a great addition to a BBQ, in my opinion, because it's flavorful, and not starchy. Kevin likened it to a seaweed salad, but with cukes. I would highly recommend this one - it's also super easy.