Some Days

Posted on January 25, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

There are some days where all I’m feeling motivated to do is lay like Nikki-dog here. Seriously. Winter especially lends me days where it takes a lot of effort to crawl out of an emotional hole, or to actually enjoy myself. That has been the case for nearly half of my lifetime. I am learning, however, that being in the kitchen helps. On days where I’m feel a multitude of things along the emotion spectrum–things that make sense, lots of times things I don’t have any reason to be feeling aside from sheer lack of motivation to push myself to feel differently–I like to pour myself into new recipes. Or old recipes that need re-visiting. Maybe it’s the distraction. Or maybe it’s knowing that I’m doing something that will be appreciated, enjoyed, and creating something literally filling.

Today was kind of like that. So… I made a 12 ½ pound lasagna, filled with tofu, spinach, cheese, homemade marinara sauce, artichoke hearts, and crimini mushrooms. I made garlic-basil-parmesan dough knots. And a cake (which came out successfully — a non-flop cake!) — brown butter honey banana to be exact. With whipped honey buttercream.

I’ll get some recipes up in the next day or so. In the meantime, I think I’ll go to bed.

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Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits

Posted on January 22, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

I remember my mom making biscuits when I was growing up. Often plain or buttermilk drop biscuits, rather than those that had to be rolled (or patted) out and cut. We always had jam to slather in them. Or honey. Or just butter. “Biscuits and gravy” was something I hadn’t even heard of, let alone considered eating, until I moved to Oregon eight years ago.

Whenever the kids stay at Nana’s house overnight, they request biscuits and gravy for breakfast the following morning. Being an accommodating Southern-born and raised woman, she very lovingly gets up early enough to fill such desires. I’m not so willing to wake up at the crack of dawn to make biscuits. However, these cheddar black pepper biscuits — I’d almost, possibly, probably, consider waking up to make. Even when it’s still dark out. They are delicious.

I haven’t tried this, but imagine these biscuits would make an amazing egg sandwich. Even better, stuff ’em with a fried egg, cheese, and bacon (tempeh bacon in our case), then smother the WHOLE THING! in gravy. Oh goodness. Alas, I cannot talk myself into making and/or eating biscuits daily. But these are a delicious treat when they are made.

While I’d love to take credit for these amazing biscuits, I cannot. I found the recipe a few months back on Joy the Baker‘s site, one of my favorite food bloggers. Check her out — she has great recipes creatively put together and an amazing sense of humor that makes every post fun to read.

Try these biscuits. They’ll immediately have you contemplating a buttcrack of dawn wake up as well.

Black Pepper Cheddar Biscuits
adapted from Joy the Baker

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. sugar
4 ½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. cream of tartar
¾ tsp. sea salt
½ cup vegetable shortening (cold and cut into small cubes)
¼ cup butter (cold and cut into cubes)
1 egg, beaten
¾ cup COLD buttermilk
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
½ tsp. fresh ground black pepper
2 tbsp. heavy cream and black pepper for topping biscuits

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425º F and prepare an ungreased baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tartar, and salt. Cut in the butter and shortening, until the mixture looks like coarse cornmeal. Add in the cheddar and black pepper, tossing to combine the ingredients.

In another bowl beat the egg and buttermilk together lightly with a fork. Add it to the flour mixture, stirring to create a soft dough. (Work quickly, as you want to keep the mixture as cold as possible to keep the butter from breaking down before getting in the oven.)

Turn the dough out to a floured board and knead it about 15 times. Roll the dough out or pat it out, to about 1-inch thick. Cut into 2-inch rounds with a biscuit cutter (or tin can that’s had both ends removed — an easy, cheap, alternative to store bought biscuit cutters). Reshape and roll out the remaining dough scraps to make more biscuits. Place the biscuits on your parchment-lined baking sheet.

Brush the top of each biscuit with heavy cream and sprinkle on some black pepper. Bake for 12 – 15 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown on top.  Serve immediately. Makes 10-12 biscuits.

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Everything But the What? Hearty Vegetable Soup

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

The last few days have been gray, rainy, cold, and overall — my favorite type of January Northwest weather. I don’t think I’ll ever grow old of enjoying rain pouring down the streets, wind knocking at the front door, or the cold that invites you to bundle up. Although I’m from Kauai, I think I’ve acclimated to “real” winters quite well. This weather has been perfect for a giant pot of soup on the stove.

I’m not one to get excited about soup. Really. It’s one of various dishes I just can’t think too much about, because ultimately I enjoy eating soup, but rarely does it strike me as appetizing-sounding. This particular soup is more or less a pot of miscellany. You can add other vegetables if you please, or leave some out for that matter. Or add some pasta. Or follow these directions exactly. (More or less, do whatever the hell you want when it comes to making this soup! I don’t think you could mess it up — too terribly…)

Hearty Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

2 – 3 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, chopped roughly
1 ½ cups diced yellow bell pepper
½ cup diced celery
2 cups diced zucchini
3 cups diced red potatoes, skins left intact
2 cups carrots, peeled and cut into thin rounds
2 cups cooked beans (pinto, black, cannellini, etc.)
1 cup cut green beans
1 tbsp. diced jalapeño (seeds and veins removed if you want it less spicy)
1- 28 oz. can diced tomatoes (I prefer Muir Glen fire-roasted tomatoes)
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
2 dried bay leaves
½ tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp. dried thyme
8 cups vegetable broth
½ cup red wine (optional)
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

In a large stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add in the onions and garlic. Stir and then cook until the onions are translucent.

Add the bell pepper, celery, zucchini, red potatoes, carrots, beans (cooked and green), jalapeño, and tomatoes to the pot.

Stir, then sprinkle in the rosemary, bay leaves, coriander, and thyme. Add all of the vegetable broth (and wine, if using) at once, salt, and pepper, then give all the ingredients a good stir. Cover the pot and reduce heat to low. Allow the soup to cook on low heat for 1 – 2 hours, more if you want. Taste, then add more salt and pepper if needed. Serve hot.

Posted in Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Clementine Upside-Down Cake

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

What do you do with five — or ten — pounds of clementines? First you eat them. Six at a time. Every hour. Until you decide that you’re in fact hungry for something more substantial. When you have a house with two growing boys, hungry every five minutes, you encourage them to eat some Cuties. Stat. As many as they’d like, actually! When you don’t have two growing boys in the house to quickly diminish your clementine supply, well, you make things like this cake.

While I’d heard of citrus laden cakes before, I’d never baked one. This cake is somehow light and fluffy, except for  the sugary clementine top, which is rich — and almost takes on a honey-like taste. Immediately after taking one bite, I was reminded of the orange creamsicles we’d get when I was a kid. The cake was an excellent balance of citrus and vanilla, as well as extremely moist.

Note: I was baking a cake for just Craig and I, therefore using a small 7-inch pan. The recipe can easily be doubled and baked in a 9-inch round pan for more servings!

Clementine Upside-Down Cake

Ingredients:
5 tbsp. unsalted butter
½ cup light brown sugar
5 clementines, peeled & cut crosswise into ¼-inch rounds
2 – 3 more clementines for 3 tbsp. of fresh clementine juice
½ cup all-purpose flour, sifted
½ tsp. baking powder
2 eggs, separated
½ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1½ tsp. fresh clementine zest
pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
pinch of salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350º F. Wrap the bottom (and up the sides) of a 7-inch springform pan with foil, to prevent leaking. Place the butter in the pan, then allow it to melt in the oven (3 to 5 minutes). Remove from the oven and sprinkle in the brown sugar. Arrange the sliced clementines in the brown sugar, making sure the slices are touching very tightly in the pan, though not over lapping. You can fill the gaps between rounds with smaller pieces of clementine. Set aside.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Stir in the zest then set the mixture aside.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the yolks, granulated sugar, clementine juice, and vanilla, until creamy looking (1 to 2 minutes). Stir in the flour mixture. Fold in the beaten egg whites.

Pour the mixture over the clementine/brown sugar in your springform pan. Bake for 35 – 40 minutes, until the top is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the middle of your cake comes out clean. Let the cake sit for 5 minutes, then loosen it from the sides of the pan with a knife.

Place a plate over the top of the pan, then invert it, releasing the side of the springform pan. Gently remove the bottom piece of the springform, leaving the sliced clementines in place. Serve warm! (Or cold, or at room-temp. It’s  all good.)

Posted in Baking, Breakfast, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Banana Pudding

Posted on January 11, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Until I met my husband and mother-in-law, I didn’t know what a banana pudding was. I envisioned something like vanilla pudding with bananas thrown in, or something similar to the chocolate pudding my mom would make when we had a craving for something sweet come 10:30 or 11 at night… I’ve married into Southern born and raised folks though. Banana pudding’s a whole different Southern-creature. Layers of homemade vanilla custard, sliced bananas, and vanilla wafers (Nilla Wafers), topped with meringue or whipped cream… Oh goodness.

I’ve decided you can really tell the severity of someone’s OCD by the way they construct their banana pudding. For instance, how delicately (or hastily) you layer your wafers, bananas, and custard… I decided my technique is quite meticulous. I’m not one to just throw in the cookies, all haphazard. In fact, it took quite some time to align them like checkers up the sides of my bowl. Unnecessary, really… but so much prettier.

Also, my mother-in-law would likely have a heart attack to know how UN-gentle I am towards heating the custard in order for it to thicken… She goes for low heat, lots and lots and lots of stirring, and a lengthy amount of time. I go for the end-in-sight, probably-too-high temperature, vigorous whisking, and speedy method.

I’ve seen homemade Nilla Wafer recipes I’d love to try someday, but with a lack of time and store-bought cookies in our cupboard, I opted for those. Lots of traditional recipes have you top the pudding off with a meringue, but I voted for whipped cream this time around. A good decision, based on the reviews from our house of 3 boys.

This really wasn’t overly complicated or time consuming. Plus, it’s delicious and good-looking! Try it!

Banana Pudding

Makes one large bowl, serves 8-10.

Ingredients:

For the custard:
3 cups milk (I used 2 cups whole milk, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk)
½ cup sugar
3 tbsp. cornstarch
¼ tsp. sea salt
1 ½ tsp. pure vanilla extract
3 egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 tbsp. unsalted butter

For the  whipped cream:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

For the banana pudding:
3 large ripe bananas, sliced about ¼-inch thick
1- 12 oz. box Nilla Wafers (or homemade if you prefer)
1 recipe of custard
1 recipe of whipped cream

Directions: 

For the pudding:
In a medium-sized pot, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Pour in the milk, whisking to combine everything well. Heat over medium heat (or high, if you’re impatient like I was), whisking often until the mixture thickens to a pudding-consistency.

Remove from heat. Add a little of the pudding to your egg yolks, whisking, to temper them. Pour the tempered yolks into the pot of pudding. Whisk quickly. Stir in the vanilla and butter, then set the pudding aside.

For the whipped cream:
With an electric hand mixer or standing mixer with a whisk attachment, beat the cold whipping cream. Start slowly. If you start at high, you’ll have cream all over the place. Set the mixer so it goes as fast as possible without splashing. Add in the vanilla and sugar. As the cream begins to thicken, turn up the speed. Start to check for really soft peaks forming — that is when you want to stop the mixer. If you beat it too long, the cream will clump up and separate, more or less turning to a butter-consistency. (You don’t want that!)

For the banana pudding:
In a large bowl (I used a 2.5 quart bowl), place a layer of Nilla wafers along the bottom and up the sides of the bowl, trying to fit as many as you can without overlapping (or overlap ’em if you want–doesn’t hurt anything). Place a layer of bananas over the cookie layer. The spoon one-third of the custard over the bananas. Continue layering with: wafers, bananas, custard, wafers, bananas, custard, then top with your whipped cream. You can crumble one or two wafers over the top for decoration, but it’s not necessary.

Either serve immediately or wrap with saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to eat!

Posted in Dessert, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Very Cheesy Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

My meal planning often revolves around two things: what is both on sale and fresh at the grocery store and what cravings are currently plaguing our house. I love broccoli. And cheese. I am not so fond of the idea of soup, though I’ve made three different types in the last week and do not mind eating it once it’s in front of me. Luckily it’s not difficult to get the kids to eat vegetables around here.

Silas watched me cutting up numerous heads of broccoli to make this soup and proclaimed, “Julie, I really think I still hate broccoli. But I’ll try it… and see…” One bite of soup an hour later, he said, “MMM! You can’t even taste the broccoli! I love this stuff.”

I think I overdid the cheese though — my soup didn’t thicken up after I’d put it in the food processor to chop up the broccoli chunks… so I added more cheese, then more cheese, and more cheese… It was good, because how can you really go wrong with massive amounts of delicious cheddar? Unless of course you’re lactose intolerant (which obviously means this isn’t the soup for you…). Or just plain don’t like the stuff.

The soup was even better today after being in the fridge overnight… I’m sure it would freeze well, too, if needed.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

1 medium-large onion, diced
½ cup butter
¾ cup flour
6 cups vegetable broth
2 cups milk
½ cup heavy cream
6 small heads of broccoli, cut into florets (about 1¼ lbs.)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 ½ cups shredded medium cheddar
1 ½ cups shredded sharp white cheddar cheese
1 pinch fresh nutmeg
1 ½ tsp. ground black pepper (plus more if desired)
1 ½ tsp. sea salt

Directions:

In a large pot, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic, cooking until the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes).

Sprinkle the flour, salt, and pepper over the onions. Stir well and cook for two minutes. Add in the vegetable broth, milk, and cream. Add the fresh nutmeg and broccoli florets. Give the ingredients a good stir then allow them to cook over medium heat for 25-30 minutes, until the broccoli is tender.

Add in the cheese, stirring until it’s melted. At this point, if you like really chunky soup, you can eat it as is. I prefer a slightly smoother consistency and pulsed the soup in our food processor — in two batches, for about 1 minute per batch. If you go this route (food processor or blender), return the soup to your pot and bring the temperature back up before serving.

Serve with crusty bread or your favorite soup accompaniment!

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Happy New Year! Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies?

Posted on January 2, 2012 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

First of all, I’m not a New Year’s Resolution kind of girl. I don’t believe in setting goals for the upcoming year that are bound to result in disappointment or loom over me all intimidating and heavy. That said, I’m also not entirely pessimistic all the time. I simply think it’s good to constantly strive to be better, but take it one day at a time, always trying to improve yourself. And if you screw up, or back track here and there, so what? It’s a lesson in being human. If I were a resolution making kind of person, I’d strive to post more often on this blog and on my poetry blog. I’d be at the gym more often than every couple of weeks, as its turned into over the last couple of months. I’d call my family more often. I’d be more in touch. My phone wouldn’t be a foreign object that rings, 95% of the time, with telemarketers rather than familiar voices on the other end. I’d be more patient and pick my battles more carefully, even when I’m tired and caffeine deprived. I’d be more rigid with the gluten-free thing. I’d read more and electronically connect less. I’d paint a few times a week. I’d photograph more consistently. Phew. But I’d like to do all those things anyway. Realistically. With the understanding that I’m not going to do so perfectly all of a sudden.

Moving on, Craig and I got ourselves a dank Christmas present, which I’m very excited about using:

All of a sudden I have 5 burners to work with. And an oven that works consistently brought everything from www.discountfilterstore.com/ at discounts. WOOO HOO HOOOO!

So far its been graced mostly with Mexican meals: homemade tacos; poblano pepper, corn, potato, and cheese enchiladas; toasted yellow rice; lots of pinto beans; chilaquiles… and some red velvet cake, of course. I am very much looking forward to meals-to-come.

That said, prior to the new kitchen appliance, I made a few different types of cookies not too long ago. I had never baked a vegan cookie in my life prior to 2011. They were good, definitely best fresh out of the oven (what cookie isn’t?). I was very surprised with these cookies — they may be my new go-to recipe.

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

½ cup Earth Balance (vegan margarine)
½ cup cane sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. baking soda
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. water
1 cup vegan chocolate chips
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans, optional
water as needed

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Line a baking sheet or two with parchment paper (or lightly grease). Using a fork, cream together the Earth Balance and sugar with a fork. This will take 3-4 minutes, to really get the mixture combined and creamy.

Add the vanilla and baking soda to the Earth Balance/sugar mixture. Slowly mix in the flour and cinnamon.

In a small dish, mix together the baking powder, vinegar, and 1 tbsp. of water. It’ll get bubbly. Dump it into the batter, mixing well. If necessary, add more water 1 tbsp. at a time, until you have a semi-sticky dough that stays together. Stir in the chocolate chips. Oh, and the nuts if you’re adding them.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a cookie sheet, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 8 – 10 minutes, until lightly brown on top. Allow the cookies to cool on the sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

Enjoy while still warm! Yields about 1 ½ dozen cookies.

Posted in Baking, Dessert, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Merry Christmas Along with Baked Eggs in Spinach, Cheese, and Tomatoes

Posted on December 25, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Merry Christmas! Not for too much longer, but alas that’s how time works here — flies by and suddenly a new day is here; always movement forward. While we ate a very full holiday brunch/lunch, holiday cooking turned into a slight complication here.

We’ve been planning to replace our stove for years. Essentially I have been doing all my cooking on one power burner that ignites only when it feels the desire, a small burner, and one simmer burner that must be on high in order to not go out completely. Its been a fun challenge–most of the time–and I think I’ve gotten timing multiple dishes for a meal down to an art. Regardless, the afternoon before Christmas Eve, we removed our dysfunctional stove without a replacement on hand. Despite various attempts to find a fun, affordable, functional stove that fit our kitchen, we didn’t find one to arrive by Christmas. Luckily Craig’s mom lives in town and we were granted permission to cook at her house Christmas morning. Silas and Nana handled the mashed potatoes, while I roasted two vegetarian roasts with potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, oranges, and various herbs and spices. We also had my shredded brussels sprouts, homemade cranberry apple sauce, cajun buttermilk cornbread dressing, pecan-topped sweet potato casserole, creamy mushroom gravy, and a loaf of gluten-free herbed focaccia. Everything turned out deliciously, despite having to cook outside of my own kitchen familiarity.

However, the recipe about to follow isn’t one of the above mentioned things. The morning after we removed our stove, I decided the opportunity for a fun challenge lay in front of me: cooking breakfast not involving instant oatmeal, cold cereal, or a bowl of yogurt. I decided to utilize our toaster oven to make baked eggs with spinach and cheese. Much to my surprise, they turned out great. On top of that, they were quite easy to put together!

Baked Eggs with Spinach and Cheese

Serves 2

Ingredients:

4 eggs
½ cup cooked spinach
¼ cup diced tomatoes
1 russet potato, cut into very small cubes, cooked
2 tbsp. diced onion
1 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. fresh goat cheese
¼ cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
¼ tsp. dried thyme
¼ tsp. dried basil
sea salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Grease a shallow 8×8 -inch glass dish. Add the spinach, tomatoes, potato, onion, and garlic. Mix very well, to combine all the ingredients. Stir in the thyme, basil, half the goat cheese, half of the cheddar, and a pretty generous amount of fresh ground pepper and salt.

Make four slight indents in the spinach mixture, where you’ll add the eggs. Crack the eggs one at a time, filling the indents. Sprinkle on the remaining goat cheese and cheddar, evenly.

Bake uncovered in the toaster oven, set to 350ºF, for about 15 – 20 minutes, until the eggs are set and cooked to your preferred doneness. Serve while still hot!

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Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

Up until a month ago, I had never tried brussels sprouts. I don’t really care for cabbage and always imagined that’s what brussels sprouts would taste like. A month ago, however, we were in San Francisco and ate at a restaurant called Heaven’s Dog, where we indulged in pre-Prohibition drinks and modernized Chinese-influenced food. We shared the vegetarian pork belly  small plate, which included crispy tofu skin and shiitake mushrooms, flavored perfectly  in a steamed clamshell bun. We shared crab and shrimp stuffed peppers, and crispy tofu cubes that essentially melted in our mouths with each bite… But the dish that stood out the most (at least to me) was the shredded brussels with toasted garlic and black vinegar. Perfectly garlicky and tangy, I have been thinking about these brussels sprouts for the last month.

Last night I decided to create a version of this dish at home. I’ve never cooked brussels sprouts before. I often find that when I’m cooking something for the first time, I can’t over-think what I’m doing. My best approach is to jump in, create something, and worry about what it will or won’t taste like later. Sometimes that tactic doesn’t work out well; most of the time, something good comes out of it.

While wandering through the grocery store at it’s mad-hour (the awful dinner rush I so very much don’t like to partake in!) I quickly decided on baked salmon with homemade barbecue sauce, steamed rice, and these shredded  brussels sprouts for dinner. I couldn’t find black vinegar like Heaven’s Dog used and picked up some Napa Valley Naturals Grand Reserve Balsamic Vinegar to use instead. The brussels sprouts came out better than I thought they could. 6-year-old Silas had a bite and said, “I LOVE these brussels sprouts!” Although, that boy loves things like kombucha, pickled okra, wasabi peas, sheets of seaweed, etc., so I don’t know if his 6-year-old review is in tune with other kids, to qualify this as a kid-friendly side dish. ( ;  Try them though. They’re delicious. And the balsamic vinegar adds a touch of sweetness along with its tang.

Shredded Brussels Sprouts with Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar

Ingredients:

½ lb. of brussels sprouts
½ tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 small shallot, peeled and sliced thinly
6 – 8 cloves garlic, minced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. water
½ tsp. granulated garlic
¼ tsp. red chili pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to your taste


Directions:

Remove the core and harder outer leaves of each brussels sprout, then very thinly slice. Heat the oil and butter over medium heat, until the butter completely melts. Add in the sliced shallots, garlic, and red pepper flakes until the shallots are translucent and garlic’s tender (5-10 minutes).

Add the shredded brussels sprouts to the garlic-shallot mixture, stirring to evenly distribute everything. Drizzle in the balsamic vinegar, then stir to evenly coat the brussels sprouts. Add in the water, granulated garlic, and chili pepper flakes. Allow the brussels sprouts to sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to your liking and serve immediately.

Posted in Appetizer, Dinner, Gluten-Free, Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Quinoa Pasta with Goat Cheese, Garlic, and Tomatoes

Posted on December 13, 2011 by Julie Hashimoto-McCreery

While I enjoy cooking, I have to admit: my eating habits aren’t always the healthiest. For instance, I’m the worst breakfast eater. I prefer a cup (or three) of coffee (with real cream, no sugar, no soy/nut/non-dairy milk). Sometimes I forget to eat lunch. It’s especially bad when no one else is going to be home around lunch time — I pack the kids’ lunches the night before, then Craig’s immediately before he leaves for work (which is often somewhere between breakfast and lunch time). But most of the time, when 2 or 3 o’clock hits and I’m ready to 1. yell at everyone for no good reason, 2. ridiculously tired but not sleepy, 3. grumpy and withdrawn, I remember I haven’t had anything but coffee for the day thus far. Lunch it is.

Trying to go gluten free has made my cooking and meals a little trickier. I can’t just slap together a sandwich at lunch time. It’s also not helpful when the fridge and cupboards are down to minimal ingredients because we haven’t gone grocery shopping yet, after being gone for a few days. This afternoon the only thing that sounded appetizing to me was pasta. Luckily, we had some quinoa corkscrew pasta, which is my new preference (favored more than rice pasta–or even wheat and semolina pastas, which I can’t eat but certainly don’t miss!). I just found out tonight that quinoa is a complete protein in and of itself, which I’ll remember in the future… I am always excited after learning about new food items that can become future staples in my cooking!  We had some grape tomatoes leftover from when I made risotto a few days back. This past weekend, we were also gifted some amazing homemade goat cheese from the lovely Jane Fossen. It added the perfect creaminess to this dish!

This was a delicious thrown together dish and makes enough for one hungry person or two semi-hungry people!

Quinoa Pasta with Fresh Goat Cheese, Garlic, and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa corkscrew pasta (or your preferred shape)
½ cup grape (or cherry) tomatoes, sliced into small rounds
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
¼ cup fresh goat cheese
1 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
½ tsp. dried basil
½ tsp. dried oregano
¼ tsp. red chili pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Cook the pasta according to the directions on its package.

Meanwhile, heat the butter over medium heat, in a saucepan. Sauté the garlic for about 5 minutes. Stir in the red chili pepper flakes, basil, and oregano. Stir in the sliced tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes, over medium heat.

Drain the pasta then add it to the garlic-butter sauce. Add in the parmesan cheese and half of the goat cheese. Stir, making sure to coat the pasta evenly with the herbs and cheese. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then add salt and pepper to your liking. Gently add the remaining goat cheese and serve immediately.

Posted in Dinner, Gluten-Free, Lunch, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment