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Sweet Corn and Chard Soup

August 13, 2011 by Kate Ramos Leave a Comment

Making the most of summer means using every edible part of each fleeting fresh vegetable. We are in the sweetest heart of the growing season—finally! And I’m ecstatic about all the fruits and veggies coming out of the garden and for sale at the Farmer’s market.

My plan was to grow things in my garden that I couldn’t get at the Farmer’s market to give myself the widest range of options. That has worked to some extent. My chard has been going gang-busters all summer, what I thought to be Romesco broccoli however, turned out to be an overgrown weed. I mean really, how was I supposed to know what it looked like? It was in the row marked broccoli. Unfortunately this gigantic broccoli-imitating weed took over what probably was my actual plants at one point and left me with two very puny real broccoli plants. They are still growing, but unless it stays very warm through October, I’m probably out of luck.

All this chard on the other hand has been wonderful in tomato sauce and risottos and I’ve been using the stems in place of celery all summer long. They are sweeter than celery, but have the same great crunch, and are great in soups, tuna salad, and pasta. I just use the stems in this soup, but chard leaves would work excellent here as well. They shrivel down to nothing, so I would add an entire bunch to this recipe if I were using them.

I used leftover grilled corn which lent a nice smoky flavor to this soup. If you don’t want to bother grilling the corn, just add raw sweet corn and let it cook until tender. If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can make the stock for this soup with the ears of corn. Just remove all the corn kernels and place the cobs in a stock pot with onion, garlic, bay leaf, peppercorns and some chicken bones if you have them. Let it come to a boil and simmer for an hour or two, until the liquid tastes sufficiently corny.

I like to purée this soup a little to give it a touch of creaminess (without adding cream). You can leave it chunky, or puree completely smooth. Add a few garnishes for color and flavor like thinly sliced red chiles, avocado or sour cream.

Sweet Corn and Chard Soup

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A lovely, light soup for sweet corn season.

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch chard stems, chopped (about 2 cups chopped)
1 large bell pepper, diced
1 jalapeño, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 cup white wine
3 cups sweet corn (about 6 ears, kernels removed)
2 large russet potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth

For Garnish:

avocado
sour cream
sliced red chiles

Instructions

Heat oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Once oil is shimmering, add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add chard stems, bell pepper, and jalapeño, and season again with salt and pepper. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until pepper is tender, about 4 minutes more.
Add cumin and stir to combine. Add wine and scrape any browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add corn, potatoes, and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until potatoes and cooked through, about 30 minutes. Partially blend to desired consistency. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Serve each bowl with a dollop of sour cream, some diced avocado and a few slices of red chile.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 442Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 10mgSodium: 474mgCarbohydrates: 56gFiber: 8gSugar: 12gProtein: 14g

The Best Vegan Sloppy Joe’s Recipe

May 31, 2011 by Kate Ramos 3 Comments

My child doesn’t really care about food. There, I said it.

She’s 2 so I don’t think I’m alone in my daily mission to fill her body with vitamins and minerals and not salt and sugar like she’d prefer.

I’ve read every word anyone has to say on the subject and tried them all. I’ve bribed and not bribed. Forced bites and not said anything at all. Given in and let her eat all the candy in the house thinking maybe if I let her have what she wants she won’t want it any more. That experiment only resulted in a glassy-eyed monster who then turned into a crying, screaming mess… who still wanted more candy.

I have found she is more likely to eat things straight from the pot that she wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole on her plate. So with stomach clinched I let her hop up on her stool and stir the lentils while I added in the last few ingredients. “Taste it and tell me if it’s good.” I told her. She tentatively dipped in her spoon and took a little bite. “Does it need more mustard?” I asked. “Yes, Mama.” And on and on it went until she had eaten a sandwich-sized amount of lentils with vegetables. LENTILS WITH VEGETABLES!!!

Of course she only ate the bun at dinner.

Vegan Sloppy Joe’s Recipe

Yield: 6-8

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, core and seeds removed and chopped
1 pound dried brown lentils, rinsed and picked over for any rocks
4 cups vegetable broth or water
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons yellow mustard
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Heat oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add onion and green pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown, about 5 minutes. Add lentils, water, and oregano and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender, about 45 minutes-1 hour.
Stir in remaining ingredients and taste. Season with additional salt and some black pepper if desired. Serve on toasted buns with pickle relish and mustard.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g

Pasta with Mint, Capers and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

March 25, 2011 by Kate Ramos Leave a Comment

I take refuge in my kitchen on a daily basis. Life is confusing, overwhelming, scary. Cooking on the other hand is orderly and instantly gratifying.

With so much tragedy striking our world lately I have felt more compelled than ever to discover and cherish the joy in my life and I derive an incredible amount of joy from cooking. Especially terrificly simple pasta dishes such as this one. How could something so easy, be so delicious? I don’t know, but I love that it is and that makes me happy.

Pasta with Mint, Capers and Sun-Dried Tomatoes Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

A quick, weeknight pasta recipe with the flavors of Sicily; sun-dried tomatoes, mint, capers, and currants.

Ingredients

1 pound dried short pasta (fusilli, penne, rigatoni)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup mint leaves, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup capers, rinsed and chopped
1/4 cup currants
3 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Add pasta and cook according to package instructions.
Meanwhile toss remaining ingredients together in a large bowl. Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Transfer pasta to the bowl and toss, adding 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid and a little more olive oil if too dry. Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add remaining 1/4 cup of cooking water if still too dry. Serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 148Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 169mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 2gSugar: 7gProtein: 3g

Sautéed Vegetables with Polenta Recipe

October 28, 2010 by Kate Ramos Leave a Comment

This meal is one of my basic go-to vegetarian dinners when I’m uninspired and hungry. The vegetables in the ingredient list are simply what I had in my refrigerator. The only essential items are the onion and garlic and some type of herb, other than that you add or subtract any or all of those listed for your favorites.

Whichever vegetables you use always remember to give the denser ones more time to cook. For example, I add the beets and carrots before the zucchini, this allows the tougher root vegetables to sauté a bit longer and soften up so that once the zucchini is added they will all be ready at the same time.

Sautéed Vegetables with Polenta Recipe

Yield: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A cozy vegetarian meal for a cold winter night.

Ingredients

2 cups polenta or coarse cornmeal
12 ounces Fontina or dry Monterey Jack cheese, grated
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 medium beet, peeled, cut in quarters and thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 cup vegetable broth or water

Instructions

Bring 4 cups of water to a simmer over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of kosher salt, then slowly stir in the polenta. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring frequently until polenta is creamy, thick, and tender. Add cheese and stir to combine. Cover and remove from heat.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally until starting to brown. Add beets and carrots and cook until starting to soften. Add zucchini and season again with salt and pepper. Once zucchini starts to brown add wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add thyme and broth and cover. Cook until all vegetables are tender. Taste and season again if necessary.
Spoon polenta into shallow bowls, top with veggies and serve.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 717Total Fat: 46gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 21gCholesterol: 119mgSodium: 1298mgCarbohydrates: 44gFiber: 5gSugar: 6gProtein: 30g

Porchetta-Style Pork Shoulder Recipe

May 28, 2010 by Kate Ramos 2 Comments

About seven years ago The Professor and I traveled to Italy on a post-graduation trip abroad. We arrived tired and weary in Rome and out of idiocy and financial desperation we happened to be staying at what turned out to be a campground in the suburbs of Rome in a town I have diligently tried to erase from my memory.

We fell into what only can be described as our cots that night and arose the next morning starving and disoriented and decided to head out on foot to search for something to eat. This was not the beautiful Italy we had dreamed about, but rather a town built around The Autostrada—groupings of cinderblock structures basically huddled under the towering roadways

The one golden moment on that dreadful first day was a lunch truck with a beautiful crackly-skinned stuffed pig rotating on a spit. Miraculously, in my horrendous Italian, I was able to order two panini stuffed to overflowing with the juicy, fennel-studded meat. I think the sandwiches cost something like 2 Euros and I remember handing the guy 20 Euro. He looked at me like I was insane and then while grumbling under his breath had to dig through his own pockets to find enough change, but I didn’t care, by that time I was enveloped in this incredible sandwich.

We went on to have many unbelievably good meals over the three months we spent traveling all over Italy, but I will never forget my first—that crippling good porchetta sandwich.<

Porchetta-Style Pork Shoulder Recipe

Yield: 6-8

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 2 hours 3 seconds

Resting Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes 3 seconds

Classic Italian porchetta-style pork shoulder rubbed with garlic, herbs, and lemon zest and either cooked indirectly over a low grill or roasted in the oven. Adapted from Weber's Way To Grill

Ingredients

1 boneless pork shoulder, about 5 pounds
1/2 cup olive oil
leaves from 3 sprigs rosemary
16 large basil leaves
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
1/2 teaspoon red chile flakes
olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Butterfly open the pork shoulder, making any additional cuts until the roast is of an even thickness. Trim off the thin pieces of meat on the ends of the pork shoulder and any excess fat to create a rectangular-shaped piece of meat. Ideally you will have about 8 to 10 ounces of meat and fat that you have trimmed off the roast. Cut this trimmed meat into 1-inch pieces.
In a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, combine the 1/2 cup olive oil, rosemary, basil, lemon zest, garlic, salt, fennel, and chile flakes. Process to a smooth puree. Add the trimmed meat and pulse until the mixture resembles ground sausage.
Place the roast skin-side down on a work surface and evenly distribute the filling over the pork, leaving a 1-inch border around the sides so the filling doesn't fall out when you roll the meat. Press filling into any grooves.
Roll up the meat working from one short end to the other, creating a compact cylinder. Using several pieces of butcher's twine, tie the roast both crosswise and lengthwise to secure closed. Rub roast on all sides with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and black pepper. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes while you prepare the grill.
Prepare the grill for indirect cooking over medium heat, brush the cooking grates clean and grill the roast with the lid closed, until the internal temperature reaches 170°F, about 2 to 2 1/2 hours.
Transfer roast to a cutting board and loosely tent with foil. Let rest 20 to 30 minutes before slicing. Remove twine and carve into thin slices.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 188Total Fat: 19gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 15gCholesterol: 15mgSodium: 207mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 4g

The Best Vegetable Biryani Recipe

April 13, 2010 by Kate Ramos 2 Comments

This is a vegetarian main that is impressive and substantial enough to fill even the heartiest meat-eater’s stomach.

It is a beautiful casserole layered with saffron scented rice and filled with this…

Need I say more?

Vegetable Biryani Recipe

Yield: 6

Saffron-scented rice layered with fresh green beans, cauliflower, carrots, peas, chick peas, and roasted cashews all tossed in a flavorful spiced broth.

Adapted from Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant

Ingredients

For the Rice:

1 1/2 cups long-grain white rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
generous pinch saffron
pinch turmeric
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 1/4 cups hot water

For the Vegetables:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, medium dice
1 red or green bell pepper, medium dice
1 medium jalapeno, seeded and minced
2 teaspoons freshly grated, peeled ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 cinnamon stick
pinch cayenne
1/2 cup water
1 small sweet potato, peeled and medium dice
1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 medium tomato, medium dice
1/2 cup fresh or frozen green peas
1/3 cup raisins
1 cup canned or cooked chick peas
Roughly chopped roasted salted cashews and cilantro leaves for garnish

Instructions

For the Rice:

Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once shimmering, add rice and toss to coat in oil. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes.

For the Vegetables:

Heat oven to 350°F. Oil a 2 1/2-quart casserole and set aside.
Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper, and jalapeno and season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are starting to brown. Add ginger, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and cayenne, and cook, stirring constantly, to toast the spices.
Add water, sweet potato, and cauliflower and season again with salt. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomato, peas, raisins, and chick peas and continue to cook until vegetables are just tender, but still have a little crunch, adding more water if necessary to prevent sticking. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Spread half of the rice on the bottom of the greased casserole dish. Top with vegetable mixture and spread remaining rice over the top. Cover tightly and bake for 30 minutes, or until vegetables are tender, but not mushy and dish is heated through. Serve with bowls of roasted salted cashews and cilantro leaves for garnish.

Nutrition Information:

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0g

Greek-Style Chiles Relleños Recipe

April 8, 2010 by Kate Ramos Leave a Comment

I go through phases with recipes. For a while I will be dedicated to the internet, spending the little time I have scouring new sites and checking the tried-and-true ones I love for new inspiration until I hit a wall and start to feel like I’ve seen everything the internet has to offer. (Which I realize is ridiculous because there are something like 5,000 food blogs alone, not to mention web magazines and websites and on and on and on.)

Anyway, when I get to that point I turn to my library of cookbooks and pick a few that I feel I have yet to actually cook from. This particular recipe was inspired by one such cookbook, Cat Cora’s Kitchen. This is the Iron Chef’s first cookbook and it is a tribute to all aspects of her life, there is a section to commemorate her childhood in Jackson, Mississippi, a section dedicated to her Greek heritage, and a section honoring her life now in Northern California.

This recipe for stuffed bell peppers jumped out at me and even though I switched it up a little bit, I give her all the credit, they were delicious.

I used a rainbow of colored peppers and the sunset-hued varieties were tastier than the green. They are just that much sweeter and add a richer, more rounded flavor, plus they bake nicely and melt in your mouth, the green peppers stayed a little crunchy for my taste. The downside is they are much more expensive, so if you are on a budget, the green ones weren’t bad, just not as good as the red, orange or yellow.

This makes enough stuffing for 8 medium to large peppers, but I only stuffed 4 and froze the remaining stuffing for later on. If you are serving passionate eaters these peppers as a main course they are likely to eat more than one, so plan accordingly.

Peppers can be stuffed with room temperature filling, covered, and refrigerated one day in advance.

Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

Yield: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 35 minutes

Sweet bell peppers stuffed with lightly scented cinnamon rice, beef, tomatoes, and mint. Dairy and gluten free!Adapted from Cat Cora's Kitchen

Ingredients

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large yellow onion, small dice
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 stalk celery, small dice
1 pound ground beef
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 small cinnamon stick
1 cup dry long-grain white rice
8 medium bell peppers

Instructions

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a large frying pan until shimmering. Add onion, garlic, and celery and season with salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to brown. Add beef and cook until browned, breaking meat up with the back of a spoon. Season again with salt and pepper.
Add tomatoes with it's juice, mint, oregano, and cinnamon and simmer for about 5 minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Add rice and simmer just until the liquid has been absorbed. Remove cinnamon stick.
Heat oven to 350°F.
Slice off enough of the stem end of each pepper to expose the cavity; reserve the tops. Remove all the seeds then loosely fill each cavity with the meat filling, leaving enough room for the filling to expand. Replace the tops and place the peppers in a 9-x-13-inch baking dish and pour in enough water to reach 1/2-inch up the sides of the peppers.
Bake, basting every 15 minutes, until rice is tender and peppers have browned, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 271Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 9gCholesterol: 50mgSodium: 87mgCarbohydrates: 16gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 17g

Homemade Egg Noodle and Spring Vegetable Soup

March 20, 2010 by Kate Ramos 1 Comment

Handmade egg noodles are a lovely thing all on their own. Cooked until tender in boiling salty water, they need little more than a pat of butter and maybe some chopped fresh herbs if you want to be fancy.

They require a little elbow grease, but no complicated techniques and can turn a simple vegetable soup into something very special indeed.

Homemade Egg Noodle and Spring Vegetable Soup Recipe

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 40 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Resting Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Homemade egg noodles make this spring vegetable soup extra special. Adapted from Celia Barbour

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3 large eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 quarts low-sodium broth, vegetable, chicken, or beef
1 medium carrot, medium dice
1/2 head savoy cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen English peas
Freshly grated Parmesan and torn basil leaves for serving

Instructions

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center and add eggs. Slowly incorporate flour into eggs from the sides of the well until a sticky dough forms. With your hands knead the dough until the bowl has been wiped clean of all the flour.
Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and continue kneading the dough until it feels soft and elastic. If it feels sticky, add more flour as you go. Place dough in a plastic bag and let rest at least 30 minutes or up to 3 hours.
Divide dough into 4 equal pieces. Leave one piece out and return the rest to the plastic bag. Using the least amount of flour possible, roll out the dough, stretching and turning as you go, until it is 1/8-inch thick. Set aside and repeat with remaining dough pieces.
With a knife, cut pasta sheets into 1-inch wide-by-2-inch long strips. Place strips in a single layer on a baking sheet and set aside. The pasta can be made up to 3 hours in advance, leave uncovered at room temperature to dry.
In a large saucepan bring broth to a boil over medium-high heat. Add carrots and cook until barely tender. Add pasta, cabbage, and peas and stir to break-up any pasta that might be stuck together. Cook at a low boil until pasta is tender, but not mushy, about 4 to 5 minutes more. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and a few torn basil leaves.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 561Total Fat: 17gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 10gCholesterol: 193mgSodium: 1124mgCarbohydrates: 64gFiber: 5gSugar: 11gProtein: 36g

Blueberry-Yogurt Pops Recipe

January 21, 2010 by Kate Ramos Leave a Comment

For Christmas my uncle got us the Zoku Quick Pop Maker. An ingenious machine that allows you to instantly make popsicles, literally, you can stand there and watch them freeze in about 7 minutes. This is particularly awesome because the Professor is addicted to popsicles and on average eats a box at a time. The downside to this story is that—it being New Year’s—the Professor has also decided he was going to give up popsicles until he lost weight. Damn!

“But I want to use my new toy”, I pleaded to no avail. So I decided to make some for little Lulu Bell and me.

Blueberry-Yogurt Pops Recipe

Yield: 6

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Inactive Time: 4 hours

Total Time: 4 hours 5 minutes

A super simple three-ingredient popsicle that is bursting with creamy blueberry flavor. You don't need a fancy machine to make these—or any—popsicles. Regular molds work fine, as do paper cups with a stick stuck in them for easy holding. Just pour, pop in your freezer, and wait until they are frozen solid.

Ingredients

8 ounces low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/4 cup corn syrup

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour into popsicle molds and freeze.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 86Total Fat: 1gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 2mgSodium: 34mgCarbohydrates: 19gFiber: 1gSugar: 18gProtein: 2g

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