Vegetarian Pho

 

INGREDIENTS

Soup

Two 3-inch cinnamon sticks

3 Frontier whole cloves

2 star anise

1 large white onion*, peeled and quartered

4-inch piece of fresh ginger*, peeled and halved lengthwise

4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable stock or broth

4 cups water usually it uses 8 cups stock/broth... since combining with water make sure to use salt!

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari or soy sauce

6 ounces (one large handful) rice noodles

1 tablespoon avocado oil, mild extra-virgin olive oil or your neutral-flavored oil of choice

5 ounces thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms

Salt

Garnishes

Mung bean sprouts

Sprigs of fresh basil (use Thai basil if you can find it) or cilantro

Sprigs of fresh mint

Thinly sliced green onions (mostly green parts)

Very thinly sliced fresh jalapeño (omit if sensitive to spice)

Small wedges of lime

INSTRUCTIONS

• Pot 1 "30 MINUTES" Warm a medium soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. 
• Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and star anise and toast until fragrant, stirring occasionally, about 3 to 4 minutes. 
• Add the onion, ginger, vegetable stock, water and tamari. 
• Raise the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer. 
• Simmer for 30 minutes to give the flavors time to meld.
• Pot 2 In the meantime, prepare your rice noodles by cooking them according to package directions. Set them aside.
• Pot 3 To prepare the shiitake mushrooms, warm the oil in a medium skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the mushrooms and a few dashes of salt. Cook until the mushrooms are tender and lightly browned, about 4 to 6 minutes, then set them aside.  Or maybe I can use Pot 2 for this part once the noodles have been strained and set aside.
• Back to Pot 1 Once the broth is done cooking, strain out the onions, ginger and spices (this is easiest with a small metal sieve, but you can also strain the mixture through a colander into another large bowl). Season it to taste with extra tamari and/or salt until the flavors of the spices really shine.
• Ladle the broth into bowls, add cooked noodles and mushrooms, and fresh garnishes to your heart’s content (don’t forget the lime!). Serve immediately, with chopsticks and soup spoons.

NOTES 

*FOR EVEN MORE FLAVOR: Char your onions and ginger before adding them to the pot. If you go this route, just slice the onion in half (instead of quarters), and don’t peel the ginger. You have a few options on how to char them—you can supposedly char them with metal tongs over a gas flame (I don’t have gas, so I couldn’t try this), or broil them, cut sides down, on a baking sheet, or—the most reliable method—roast them, cut sides down, on a baking sheet, on the upper rack in a 500 degree Fahrenheit oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

**Receipt from Cookie + Kate

Vitamix Wild Rice Soup

INGREDIENTS
2 tbsp butter
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup chopped onions
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 cup cooked wild rice, divided use
1/4 sliced almonds, divided use
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup half and half
1/3 cup fresh parsley
6 ounces cooked chicken, diced
1-2 tbsp dry sherry

DIRECTIONS
1. In a small skillet, melt butter.  Saute mushrooms and onions (5-6 minutes).
2. Add flour, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring, to create roux (1 minute).
3. Add onion mixture, half of rice, half of almonds, chicken broth, and half and half to the Vitamix and secure lid.
4. Select Hot Soup program.  Start machine and allow to complete cycle.
5. Select Variable 2. Start machine and remove lid plug. Drop in remaining rice, almonds, parsley, chicken and sherry.  Blend 5 more seconds.  Serve immediately.

Makes 4 cups.

COMMENTS
A little too blended, thick and creamy for my liking. Also even though it's a quick soup to make, it requires a lot of clean up because of the prep for the mushrooms, onions, rice and chicken.

Sweet Potato, Cauliflower, & Kale Casserole

Yield: Makes 6 to 8 servings
Hands-on:55 Minutes
Total:1 Hour, 45 Minutes

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower (1 1/2 to 2 lb.), cut into small florets
1 (8-oz.) package fresh cremini mushrooms, stemmed and halved
6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 teaspoon ground cumin, divided
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3 large sweet potatoes (2 1/2 to 3 lb.), peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups chopped fresh kale, collards, or mustard greens
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
1 (14-oz.) can butter beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
Easy Cheese Sauce (see below for recipe)
1/2 cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

Preparation
1. Preheat oven to 475°. Toss together cauliflower, mushrooms, 2 1/2 Tbsp. oil, 1/2 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/8 tsp. pepper in a medium bowl. Spread cauliflower/mushroom mixture in a single layer in jelly-roll pan.

2. Toss together sweet potatoes, 2 1/2 Tbsp. oil, and remaining cumin, salt, and pepper. Spread in a single layer in another jelly-roll pan.

3. Bake potatoes and cauliflower at 475° for 10 to 12 minutes or until browned and just tender, turning once. Cool on wire racks 10 minutes.

4. Reduce oven temperature to 375°. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook, stirring often, 1 minute. Add kale; cook, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until tender. Add salt and pepper to taste; stir in vinegar.

5. Layer half each of sweet potatoes, cauliflower mixture, beans (if desired), kale, and 1 1/2 cups Easy Cheese Sauce in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining 1/2 cup cheese sauce. Stir together panko, chopped cilantro, and olive oil, and sprinkle crumb mixture over casserole. Note - I only did one layer of each. 

6. Bake at 375° for 20 to 25 minutes or until thoroughly heated, bubbly, and golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.



Easy Cheese Sauce Recipe (You can get away with only making a half of this recipe)

Yield: Makes 3 1/2 cups
Hands-on:25 Minutes
Total:25 Minutes

Ingredients
1/3 cup dry vermouth*
1 garlic clove, minced
3 cups half-and-half
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded pepper Jack cheese

Preparation
1. Bring vermouth and garlic to a boil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 7 to 10 minutes or until vermouth is reduced to 1 Tbsp.

2. Whisk together half-and-half and cornstarch. Whisk half-and-half mixture, salt, and pepper into vermouth mixture; bring to a boil over medium-high heat, whisking constantly. Boil, whisking constantly, 1 minute or until mixture is thickened. Add pepper Jack cheese. Reduce heat to low, and simmer, whisking constantly, 1 minute or until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Remove from heat, and use immediately.

*Dry sherry may be substituted.

Recipe from Southern Living's January 2014 issue.

Italian Goulash

4 big servings.   25 mins prep.   2.5 hours total.

Ingredients
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb of lean ground beef (94/6)
1 small sweet yellow onion, diced
3-4 baby bell peppers, diced recipe calls for red & orange. I used regular red & green pepper as a substitute.
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced canned or fresh
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste
3 cups of Roasted Tomato, Onion & Garlic Marinara i.e a whole container
12 oz elbow macaroni, cooked per instructions 12 oz = 3 cups <- too much. Try 2.5 or 2 cups next time.
Fresh basil, chiffonade
Asiago, grated

Directions
Heat the olive oil in a small Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions and mushrooms then cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the ground beef, bell pepper, chopped garlic then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper; cook for 4-5 minutes making sure to crumble the ground beef as it cooks. Drain any excess grease from the pan then add the marinara sauce, stir until mixed thoroughly. Simmer the sauce for 1-2 hours so flavors combine.

Cook the elbow macaroni per instructions (make sure to season the water with salt) then drain completely. Combine the macaroni with the sauce, add the fresh basil and mix well. Simmer for 15 minutes so the sauce has time to flavor the noodles. Top with Asiago cheese if desired and serve. Enjoy.

Recipe by For the Love of Cooking.

Spiced Lentils with Mushrooms and Greens Recipe - Jill Donenfeld | Food & Wine

Spiced Lentils with Mushrooms and Greens Recipe - Jill Donenfeld | Food & Wine

Got me in the mood to make more lentil dishes.
Shiitake mushrooms look really creepy raw, but they're very good once cooked.