Roasted Veggies With Fresh Herbs

One of the things I love best about having a garden is having a seemingly endless supply of top quality fresh herbs to cook with. I do try growing them inside in the winter, and I certainly break down and buy them from time to time when they aren’t garden fresh (because the inside growing never works for long). Nothing can replace freshly cut herbs that have been happily growing outside with plenty of fresh air and sunshine. They just taste amazing.

Sage (Salvia officinalis 'Icterina' - Gold Variegated)

So when I was thinking about what to cook for dinner tonight, I took a good look at my herb patch and decided to harvest sage, thyme, oregano and a lot of garlic chives (aka garlic grass, Chinese chives, ku chai). I already had a decent selection of veggies in my fridge, and plenty of grains and beans in my pantry.

At home I looked through my various cook books and was inspired by various recipes for ratatouille, stewed veggies and the like. I decided to do my own version with my fresh herbs and some of the veggies. I decided to skip the tomato base common to these recipes. Since I had some good fresh tomatoes on hand (thanks to those freaking hydroponic visionaries up there in East Thetford, VT that have somehow managed to bring us good tomatoes at the end of May in western Mass), I thought I’d just chop them up and serve them along side, rather than loose their good flavor and texture by cooking them. I settled on quinoa as my grain of choice. We needed the protein for this meal, and I knew I could start cooking it when the veggie dish was halfway done. I decided to mix in garbanzos and garlic chives with the cooked quinoa to make something of a pilaf.

You could vary this every which way depending on what you have on hand. I noted what I did so I could write about it here. Like the many recipes I looked at this afternoon, I hope that this will provide inspiration.

Roasted Veggies with Fresh Herbs

Preheat oven to 400 (F).

2 med zucchini, chopped coarse (aprox 2 cups)

2 small (italian) eggplant, chopped coarse (aprox 2 cups)

1/2 a med cauliflower, chopped into florets (aprox 2 cups)

1 large red onion, halved and sliced into crescents (aprox 1 1/2 cups)

1 head of garlic, broken into cloves, peeled, larger cloves split in half

Fresh herbs of your choosing

Today, I used the following:

3 tbs of minced fresh oregano

2 tbs of thyme leaves (I just stripe ‘em off the stems, I don’t bother to mince them)

2 tbs of sage leaves (about 5 large) cut into thin ribbons

1 tiny sprig of rosemary ( an inch long)

copious amounts of good olive oil (maybe 1/4 cup?)

lots of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper–enough to coat everything

1 large tomato, diced (optional)

grated parmesan reginato to taste

Oregano,Sage, Thyme stems

Put all of the cut vegetables, garlic and herbs in a baking dish deep enough to hold it all, preferably one with a lid. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, toss to coat. Feel free to add more oil, salt and pepper if you think it is needed.

Seasoned and oiled and ready for the oven

Cover and bake for about 30 minutes and stir. (Start cooking the quinoa if you’re making it, after stirring the veggies.) Cover and bake for another 30 minutes or so until veggies are very tender.

Taste, and add more salt and pepper if you like. Top with tomatoes and parmesan (and more olive oil if you want) and serve, maybe with the quinoa dish that follows or with some good bread.

Quinoa, Garbanzos and Garlic Chives

1 1/2 cups of quinoa

2 tsp of olive oil

2 1/2 cups of liquid to cook the quinoa (water, stock, wine, what-have-you)

1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained

minced garlic chives to taste, today I had about 1/3 cup (regular chives, scallions or shallots would work fine)

salt and pepper to taste

Garlic Chives

Rinse the quinoa in a strainer (it tends to be bitter if you don’t). Drain well.

Heat olive oil over med-high heat in a medium sauce pan. Add the drained quinoa and toss to coat with oil. Cook, stirring frequently until the grains start to toast and smell nutty, about 5 minutes. Add the cooking liquid and stir. Bring to a boil, lower heat to medium. Simmer, uncovered, until all liquid is absorbed, about 15-20 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Stir in the drained garbanzos and chives. Taste, add salt and pepper if you need it, and serve.

Delicious

Baked Lentil Croquettes

I wanted to come up with a recipe for a bean based “meat ball” that wasn’t just smaller bits of bean burger mix. I really wanted something that was especially designed for the smaller ball shape.

I was inspired by a few different recipes, but mainly by the bean cake and bean croquette recipes in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian and by the Lentil and Rice Balls in the Vegan Lunch Box cookbook.

I used lentils du puy, because they are my favorite lentil. I love their flavor and they tender yet firm texture when cooked. Plus they are pretty.

Lentils du Puy

It took me a while to decide what to call these. They are kind of like a replacement for meat balls, I guess, but somehow “lentil balls” just isn’t appealing. I decided I could call them croquettes even though they are baked, rather than the traditional croquette deep fry. I was really trying to come up with a recipe that I would make frequently, and frying is just too messy to do very often. I also like baking these because I can cook enough for a meal in one step. If fried, I would have to cook them in batches.

I made a simple marinara to go along with these while the lentils and rice cooked.

Baked Lentil Croquettes (PDF)

1/2 cup of lentils du puy

1/2 cup of short grain brown rice

1/2 small red onion,minced

3 tbs of fresh parsley, minced

1 medium garlic clove, minced to a paste

3/4 cup of fresh bread crumbs (more if needed)

1 egg

3 tsp of ground cumin

1/2 tsp of ground coriander

salt and pepper to test

olive oil

Put the lentils and the rice in a saucepan of water to cover. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a brisk simmer and cook for about 30 minutes until both are tender. ( I was skeptical that you could cook the lentils and rice together, but it works nicely and saves dirtying an extra pan.

Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mince the onion, garlic and parsley. Make your breadcrumbs if necessary. Put all of this in a large bowl

Make or start making your tomato sauce or whatever sauce you might be serving these with.

Once the the lentils and rice are cooked, drain thoroughly and allow to cool enough to be handled.

Rice and Lentils, looking good enough to eat on their own

Once cooled, add the lentils and rice to the bowl with breadcrumb mixture. Add the egg and seasonings. I found it worked best to mix it with my hands, but a rubber spatula works okay of you don’t want to get your hands dirty. Add more breadcrumbs, a little at a time, if you think it needs it. Once the whole thing is throughly mixed together, coat your hands with olive oil. Form the mix into walnut sized balls and place them on the prepared baking sheet.

Bake, turning occasionally with tongs, until golden and crisp on all sides, about 30 minutes.

Baked up nice and crusty

Serve with lots of sauce.

Served with sauce and roasted cauliflower

More pictures here.

Frittata For Two

A frittata is a hearty omelette that is generally cooked first on the stovetop and then finished in under the broiler. It is one large, flat egg cake, rather than the french style rolled or folded omelette. It’s fast, the whole thing comes together in 20 minutes or less.

It’s another one of those concept recipes: follow a few basic principles and you can vary the flavors with whatever you have on hand or want to use. It’s also easy to multiply if you need to make more servings. Frittatas are good for a make ahead dish because they are just as good at room temperature as they are hot. You can slice them up into any sized wedges or squares for serving.

The only “special” equipment you need is an oven/broiler safe skillet. Mine is cast iron. 10 inches is a good size for a frittata for two. If you don’t have a skillet that you can put under the broiler, I’ve included a variation on the technique that will get around that problem.

Note that the handle completely lacks any plastic or wood.

Really you can put anything in a frittata, veggies, cheeses, grains, whatever you’ve got. It’s a terrific way to use up those small amounts of leftovers that you didn’t want to throw out, but that aren’t really enough for another meal. If you’ve got ingredients that are already cooked, it will come together that much faster. Instead of actually cooking these ingredients in the first step, you can just heat them up and then proceed.

Whatever you put in them, you just don’t need all that much of it. If you put in to0 much stuff, it will be more like “eggs in vegetables and cheese, etc.” instead of “cheese and veggies etc in eggs”.

How much is enough?

The photo above illustrates the approximate proportions to be used with 5 eggs:

• 1 cup or so of filling
  In this recipe that’s 1/2 cup broccoli and cauliflower and 1/2 cup mushrooms (about 5 average sized). Since everything is raw, it will all shrink a bit as it cooks, so I’ve used a very generous measurement of a cup. If you were going to use a leafy green, such as spinach, it works best if it’s a) already cooked or frozen and thawed, b) been squeezed to remove excess water prior to measuring and cooking.

• 2-3 tablespoons of onions/garlic/fresh herbs
  In this example, it’s just minced onion.

• 1/3 cup of grated cheese (packed)
  In this example, it’s smoked gouda–you can skip the cheese and go for a little more of the other filling of you’d like.

These measurements are not super precise. You can have a little more or a little less and your frittata will still turn out fine.

Broccoli Cauliflower Mushroom Frittata for Two (Printer Friendly PDF)

This serves two in my house (my husband usually has a pretty good appetite). Depending on what else you serve with it, it may serve another person or two. Double it and you can serve 4-6 for sure.

1/2 cup combined of broccoli and cauliflower, chopped small (frozen and thawed is just fine, by the way)

1/2 cup crimini mushrooms (about 5 average sized)

3 tablespoons of minced onions

1/3 cup of grated cheese (cheddar, gouda, havarti, etc.)

5 large eggs

2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

oilve oil

salt and pepper

Adjust your oven rack to the middle position in your oven. Turn on your broiler.

Crack the eggs in a bowl. Beat lightly until yolks and whites are mixed. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the grated cheese (not the Parmesan).

Heat your skillet over medium high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally until everything has just started to brown, about 3 minutes. Lower heat to medium. If the pan seems very dry, add another teaspoon or so of olive oil.

Broccoli, cauliflower and mushrooms and onions cooked until everything just starts to brown.

Pour the egg mixture into the skillet right over the vegetables. Cook stirring constantly until the eggs start to set up a bit, about 30 seconds.

Sprinkle Parmesan over the top if you’re using it. Then put the skillet under your preheated broiler. (Do not walk away during this time. Keep checking it every 30 seconds or so until it’s done. Trust me, it’s better this way.) Broil until the top just starts to brown, 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. It’s fine to let it rest while you make some toast.

Variation if you don’t have a broiler safe skillet:

Prepare the egg mixture and cook the filling ingredients as directed. Place the filling ingredients in a lightly oiled broiler safe pan of your choice. Pour the egg mixture over the filling, sprinkle with Parmesan and broil as directed.

Finished Frittata

Veggie Burgers and Millet Mash

After the dairy laden richness of Thanksgiving, we were ready for a vegan meal. We were pretty hungry, so something hearty was in order. With what I had on hand, I decided on two recipes from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman : Spicy Autumn Veggie Burgers and Millet Mash.

Here’s the thing about veggie burgers, the frozen ones from the store are dreadful. I won’t name names, but you know them, forlorn little hockey pucks that grilling only serves to further toughen. I only eat them out of total desperation, or when absolutely necessary to be polite ( “we know you’re a vegetarian and we didn’t know what to feed you so we bought you these _____ burgers…”). One of the greatest sections in How to Cook Everything covers many different kinds of veggie burgers. I’ve been making tofu burgers and lentil walnut burger for years, but these recipes take it to another level. Many of them have vegetables as the primary component. Vegetables in a veggie burger, imagine that. The Spicy Autumn Veggie burgers are primarily bean, sweet potato and kale. Totally good for you, filling but not heavy, versatile in topping possibilities and darn good.

The burger mix

I’ve rediscovered millet this past year. It was a staple in my pantry a little over a decade ago when I was working in health food stores for two main reasons: it’s cheap, cooks up quickly and has a decent amount of protein. For some reason I sort of forgot about it, but now I can tell you it’s in my cupboard to stay (and not just for bird food). It is kind of bland, perhaps a better way to put it is that it has a mild flavor. Toasting it is the first step in cooking it that really brings out the flavor. It makes a good base to top with other more strongly flavored dishes and takes on whatever seasonings you favor. Millet mash is something of a classic veggie dish, I do remember eating it at health food restaurants and in vegetarian homes. I had never made it before. Since I had the other two main ingredients, cauliflower and some garlic for roasting, I decided to give it a whirl.

toasting the millet

I also caramelized some onions to have on the side. I did top some of the burgers with cheese, goat cheese actually, upon request.

It was a tasty and satisfying meal. More photos here.