A rainy, sloppy start…
October 6, 2016
to October had me thinking about something quick, filling and a bit nostalgic…Sloppy Joes. While I can’t remember when I had had one last or if I had even made them before at all, it warranted some further study. Easy enough with a can of sauce, a pound of ground beef and some buns, what would happen if I tried to eliminate the meat? Pretty much magic on the first try and it couldn’t be any easier. Starting with a 15 oz. can of low sodium Sloppy Joe sauce and teaming it up with a 17.6 oz. package of steamed lentils I added 4 oz. of baby Portobello mushrooms that I had pulsed coarsely in the food processor and sauteed in a tablespoon of general use olive oil. As things started to simmer I pulsed 1/2 cup of walnuts until coarsely chopped and added them to the pan for additional texture. Doctored with a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup to round out the sweetness, a couple of tablespoons of bottled barbeque sauce for a bit more tang and a final adjustment of salt to taste they were done. Served up on a traditional soft bun with a side of slaw these have moved up to the top of my Meatless Monday rotation.
photos:gp
No chickens were harmed…
October 1, 2014
in the making of this dish. More and more I find myself looking for a way not to handle raw chicken but it’s kind of hard to make Chicken Paprikash without it. For this meal the solution was easy…substitute Baby Portobellos and you’ve got, well, Mushroom Paprikash. Easy, easy, easy to make with only a few ingredients and, you could easily have this on the table in 30 minutes. Make some on the next chilly evening and it’ll be like a big hug from a Hungarian grandma. You will never miss the bird.
Three ingredients…count ’em
April 25, 2013
three , plus the simplest vinaigrette. Celery Salad . Unbelievably simple…just celery, dates and almonds…tossed with a basic lemon/olive oil vinaigrette. Green, fresh, crunchy, tart and sweet…it covers a lot of bases and it is so simple it almost begs for an alteration if the need should arise. No almonds? How about hazelnuts. Dried cherries or raisins instead of the dates?…why not? Even the addition of some crumbled blue cheese would be a welcome addition here. And, it’s as easy to make a single serving as to adjust the amounts up if you’re serving a group.
Pumpkin X 2
January 16, 2013
One pumpkin…two great eats. The first, a savory pumpkin peanut soup, the other a soft pumpkin cookie. Both suitable for the cooler (OK, colder) months, you decide which you make first. The soup I improvised when I had leftover pumpkin after a day of baking. Not quite Indian and not quite Thai, it’s basically a pumpkin vegetable soup with an assortment of spices ( but, nothing too exotic) and peanut that’s a satisfying non-meat meal to come home to after a hard day at work or a harder day of holiday returning. It thickens and tastes even better on the 2nd and 3rd day…you might also serve it up over a bowl of quinoa for that added grain protein. Whip some up on a Sunday afternoon and enjoy it into the week for lunch or a quick supper.
Before you decide…
October 30, 2012
what you’ll be serving this with you’ll have pecked away at the whole bowl full. Really, it’s that simple and it’s that good….hot or at room temperature. Toss the cauliflower florets with a drizzle of general use olive oil and a little s & p . Place on a foil lined baking tray and roast at 450 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until the florets are tender and golden. I usually give them a quick toss about halfway through. That’s it, dig in. If you have an extra five minutes you might try a quick light sauce of butter, garlic and capers…it’s a Martha touch so how bad could it be? And capers? You may never eat cauliflower any other way again. 
