Cooking with Ruchi

Ruchi and I cooked some pretty awesome Vegan and Vegetarian dishes last week. I didn't think I would be able to go 9 days without meat....but I did! Okay I cheated once and made Ruchi drive me to McDonalds. But I really didn't miss meat too much. Thanks to Ruchi, I learned about various vegan options such as Flax Seeds, Nutritional Yeast, and Soy Ice Cream (yum!). I also learned to cook vegetables I've been to scared to try out like Spaghetti Squash, Butternut Squash, some green leafy vegetable looking thingie (I forget the name). Squash is really not hard to prepare at all. I use a huge butcher knife now to cut through the squash and takes less than a minute. Then pop in the oven at 400 degrees for 30-40 mins, and you can literally eat it straight out of the oven on its own. The 3rd picture is Ruchi's butternut squash risotto.

The second picture is a random side dish I made with what I could find in the fridge. It's kinda like Eggplant Parmesan, except that I used Feta Cheese instead. I lightly cooked slices of eggplant in some olive oil, seasoned it with salt and pepper, then transfered it to a casserole dish. I layered some left over marinera sauce on top of the eggplant and topped it with chopped basil, panko bread crumbs, feta cheese and chili flakes. Baked it in the oven at 350 degrees. The feta/eggplant combination turned out really good!

Vegan Risotto with Butternut Squash, Peas, and Capers

I adapted this recipe from the Post Punk Kitchen. We added some butternut squash that I had from the farmers market and also Doz purchased some capers when we went to Kroger (because she played hookie from school today for prior insomnia related reasons).

You can really add any veggie of your choice to this recipe, like fresh or re-hydrated dried mushrooms, whole cloves of roasted garlic, chopped sauteed spinach and olives, chunks of pre-cooked pumpkin or other squash.

The fun vegan ingredient here, which is optional and could be replaced with Parmesan cheese, is nutritional yeast. Nutritional yeast is a deactivated yeast, usually Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It is produced by culturing the yeast with a mixture of sugarcane and beet molasses, then harvesting, washing, drying and packaging the yeast. It is commercially available in the form of flakes, or as a yellow powder similar in texture to cornmeal, and can be found in the bulk aisle of most natural food stores. It is a complete protein, a good source of vitamins, and is naturally low in fat and sodium. Many brands of nutritional yeast are fortified with vitamin B12. The vitamin B12 is produced separately from bacteria and then added to the yeast. Nutritional yeast has a strong flavor that is described as nutty, cheesy, or creamy, which makes it popular as an ingredient in cheese substitutes. It is often used by vegans in place of parmesan cheese. Another popular use is as a topping for popcorn. It can also be used in mashed and fried potatoes, as well as putting it into scrambled tofu or eggs. Some movie theaters offer it along with salt or cayenne pepper as a popcorn condiment.

Vegan Risotto with Butternut Squash, Peas, and Capers

Ingredients
4 cups vegetable stock (or mushroom stock)
3-4 cups water
1 medium onion, finely chopped (or 4 Tbsp onion flakes)
1/2 head celery, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 (or more if you like it spicy) cherry pepper, finely chopped (or thai pepper or jalepeno pepper or other spicy pepper you'd like to try!)
2 cups arborio rice
3 Tbsp capers, drained
1/2 cup peas (or edamame)
1 medium butter nut squash, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups dry white wine (We used cheap Sauvignon Blanc from Kroger, yay)
1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp. olive oil
Fresh basil, chopped, for sprinkling on top
1 Tbsp (or more to taste) Nutritional yeast, for sprinkling on top

Directions
1. Heat stock in saucepan to near-boiling.
2. Peel squash, and remove seeds. Cut into 1/2 inch cubes. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Add squash and peas and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover. Cook until squash is tender but still holds its shape, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
3. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onion, celery, garlic, and hot pepper. Cook until soft, 10-15 minutes. Add rice, salt and pepper, cook one minute, or until rice is slightly translucent, stirring constantly. Turn up heat to medium high.
4. Add wine and cook until absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in a pinch of salt.
5. Add 1/2 cup ladle of stock, cook until absorbed, stirring constantly. After stock is absorbed, add another ladle full. This process should take 15 minutes or so. Add capers and sauteed peas and squash thee quarters through going through all the stock. Taste some rice, if it is still under cooked, then add 1/2 cup of water, cooking until absorbed and stirring constantly. Repeat until rice taste cooked and al dente (slight resistance in the center when the pasta is chewed -- not mushy!).
6. When all the stock/water is absorbed, turn off the heat, put on the lid and let it sit for 3 minutes. Then take off the lid and stir in the rest of the olive oil. Stir and serve with chopped fresh basil and nutritional yeast (optional) sprinkled on top.

Sunday Funday of Cooking, Meal 3: Vegan Butternut Squash Casserole Bake

After the Durham Art Walk, we were feeling pretty lazy and thought about just picking up Chipotle. But... we had all those vegetables from the farmers market and knew they were going to go bad over the week we were in Pittsburgh. This rather large endeavor resulted instead... we decided to use the butternut squash, huge white radish, asparagus, rosemary, jalapenos, and green peppers that we purchased from the farmers market. I had read that hummus can create a "creamy cheesy" texture in a casserole which is often missing in a vegan casserole. Also the combination of nutritional yeast and flax seed (yay for vegan omega-3!) can create a yummy crunchy texture. I decided to use quinoa as the base grain, rather than pasta or rice, for the the "nutty" flavor and the added nutritional value (its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source. It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest).
So this was a creative, ridiculously healthy, Ruchi-made combination that turned out surprisingly awesome!

Ingredients/Supplies

Large casserole dish and rice cooker
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch pieces (this is hard, and here is a video that explains how to cut it)
1 bunch of asparagus, chopped into 2 inch long pieces and with the white ends discarded
1 large white radish, peeled and shredded (this was easy with Eric's food processor!)
Green leafy top of radish, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 green bell pepper, sliced and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups hummus (I used Costco purchased sun dried tomato hummus, but super garlicy hummus would be awesome here)
3 jalapenos, finely chopped
handful of basil (about 10 leaves), finely chopped
1 sprig of rosemary
1 cup dry quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
7 Tbsp nutritional yeast
7 Tbsp flax seed powder
7 Tbsp bread crumbs (I used Panko bread crumbs from Trader Joe)
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano (or Italian seasoning mix that has oregano in it, which we got from Penzeys)
1 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp granulated garlic powder
2 tsp salt

Preparation
-Preheat oven to 400 F
-Cook 1 cup dry quinoa in a rice cooker with 3 cups of water and a 1/4 tsp salt (it will come out a little watery, but that's OK because it will be further baked later)
-Mix together nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and flax seed powder in a small bowl and set aside.
-Place chopped vegetables in a large bowl, add vegetable broth, and toss/mix vegetables together.
-Spread a thin layer of olive oil on the casserole dish bottom and its walls
-Spread half of the cooked quinoa as a layer on the bottom of the dish
-Spread half of the vegetables and broth over the quinoa layer, make sure the vegetables are evenly and equally spread in this large layer
-Sprinkle evenly over vegetable layer: 1/4 tsp granulated garlic powder, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 the rosemary you removed from the sprig, 1/2 of your chopped jalapeno, 1/2 of your chopped basil.
-Spread a layer of hummus. Its not possible to actually spread an even layer, so use a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to take small amounts of 1 cup of hummus and spoon it in an evenly spaced pattern over the spiced vegetables.
-Sprinkle half of your nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and flax seed powder mixture over the hummus layer.
-Spread the rest of the cooked quinoa as a layer over the mixture
-Spread the rest of the vegetables and broth over the quinoa layer, make sure the vegetables are evenly and equally spread in this large layer
-Sprinkle evenly over vegetable layer: 1/4 tsp granulated garlic powder, 1 tsp of minced garlic, 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1/2 the rosemary you removed from the sprig, 1/2 of your chopped jalapeno, 1/2 of your chopped basil.
-Spread a layer of hummus. Its not possible to actually spread an even layer, so use a 1/4 tsp measuring spoon to take small amounts of 1 cup of hummus and spoon it in an evenly spaced pattern over the spiced vegetables.
-Sprinkle the rest of your nutritional yeast, bread crumbs, and flax seed powder mixture over the hummus layer.
-Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and flatten the casserole with the back of a spatula, squishing the top layer of vegetables into the juicy/melty looking inside of the casserole. Bake for another 10 minutes.
-Remove from oven and let it cool for at least 5 minutes before serving!

Curried Butternut Squash Gratin

This is a Giada recipe taken to another level - a curried level! I find that many of the recipes on foodnetwork do not cater towards the eastern palette. Butternut squash can be fairly bland without a good amount of spices. I also thought her recipe was overcomplicated, so below is a simplified version. Trader Joe's has all of these ingredients and their basil pesto is in a jar and very delicious.

Curried Butternut Squash Gratin
Serves 4
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 package of chopped and peeled butternut squash
2 tbsp of powdered garam masala
1 jar of basil pesto
1 cup (12 oz) of shredded parmesan cheese
1/4 tbsp of butter, cut into small peices
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
(1) Boil the butternut squash in a large pot for approximately 15 minutes. Make sure the butternut squash is fork-tender before removing from the boiling water.
(2) Place the butternut squash into large mixing bowl. Add garam masala, salt and pepper to taste. Use a fork to mash the squash and spices together. It should have the consistency of mashed potatoes.
(3) Butter an 8-inch baking dish. Add half of the butternut squash mixture to the bottom of the dish. Add half of the jar of pesto on top of the squash in the baking dish. Add half of the parmesan cheese on top of the pesto.
(4) Repeat the layers, so that you end with a layer of parmesan cheese on top. Add the butter pieces along the top of the cheese. It will melt in the oven and create a nice crispy top layer.
(5) Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Enjoy!!