Am I a vegetarian? I do like tofu…
So as much as I had said I was going to blog every day about my vegetarian week, I didn’t. Alas. Above you can see three of the dishes I had made – a grilled vegetable panini, eggplant montadillos with goat cheese, and a sweet-and-spicy glazed grilled tofu. I was generally pleased with how they came out. Over the course of the week, I did discover a few things about being a vegetarian and my own food consumption:
- I had figured that being a vegetarian would be difficult, with my supposed lack of flexibility when it comes to eating vegetables. It wasn’t difficult at all, because…
- Apparently, I like eating more vegetables than I give myself credit for. Eggplant, zucchini, corn (OK, it’s a starch, but still) – all vegetables that you couldn’t get me to try a year or so ago, but now are core ingredients I found myself cooking more of. A wide variety of recipes is now accessible to me, and that makes me happy.
- I don’t need to eat cold cuts for lunch in order to be satiated during the school day. Steph and I enjoyed hummus on flatbreads with some sprouts and house-made pickled peppers, and were very happy with our lunches. I’m going to play around with some different recipes, because I tend to like a little more spice (not heat, spice) in my hummus than the recipe I was using. Aside from going meatless, it’s also easier on the checkbook.
- I tried some of the products that are created to be “faux-meat”, like Boca Burgers and Yves Veggie Dogs. The results of my unscientific study: they are NOT for me. I loaded up the “burger” with cheese, ketchup and mayo, and the “hot dog” was unpalatable without a mountain of sauerkraut and mustard. I would rather attempt to make my own faux-burgers rather than buy one of these. Bleh.
So what’s the end result? Steph and I are going to do our best to limit our meat consumption to one meal a day, usually dinner. Why? Personal health, environmental concerns, being more cost effective, taking advantage of the Garden State, whatever – it’s just a choice we’re making. We’re not activists, I still think that pigs are magical animals (and I will cook them as often as I can), and that cows taste delicious. I view it more as a challenge for me to try new ingredients and vegetables than a lifestyle choice.
Tonight, Stephanie was out at a bridal shower, which means two things: I didn’t feel guilty about picking up jelly beans (my secret vice) at Wegmans, and that I could cook myself a super-spicy dish for dinner tonight. Thai cuisine was a good choice since there’s lots of vegetarian options, and I could really crank up the heat on it. Hence, Thai red curry with tofu.
Tofu in Coconut-Curry Sauce
Recipe adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison – Serves 2
1 package extra-firm tofu
1 tbsp peanut oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 serrano chiles, minced (I took the seeds out of one of them)
2 tsp Thai red curry paste
.5 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (I used light coconut milk)
.5 cup water or vegetable stock
.5 salt (you may very well need more, I did)
cooked rice
chopped cilantro
chopped roasted peanuts
Preheat your broiler. Cut the tofu into .75″ cubes. Line a baking sheet with foil, put the tofu on the sheet, and broil until golden on the outside, 15 minutes total, shaking the pan to rotate the cubes every now and again.
Heat the oil in a saute pan or wok over high. Add onion, pepper and chiles and cook, stirring continually, 1 minute. Stir in curry paste until all vegetables are coated, then add coconut milk, water, salt and tofu. Simmer until tofu is heated through, 2 minutes. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro and peanuts.
It was delicious, but here’s what I’m going to change when I try this again: don’t wimp out with the chiles, add basil when I add the coconut milk (thanks, @chrischampion!), added some fish sauce (to round out the flavor, and add saltiness) and avoid the cilantro (for me, too soapy in this recipe).
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Vegetarian Week Day 1: Let’s do this!
There’s nothing wrong with admitting that I love cheeseburgers – they may very well be my favorite food on the planet. Unfortunately, biology and human anatomy have played a cruel twist of fate on us cheeseburger lovers, as they can be rather poor for you if you eat them continually. Last week at GenCon (the best 4 days in gaming!), I decided that since I was really only eating one meal a day, that it was alright for me to eat a cheeseburgers. I had a cheeseburger with peanut butter, pepper jack and jalapeños that was absolutely out of this world (photo credit to SpecialKRB, I didn’t think to take a picture), and I had a cheeseburger with onion rings and barbecue sauce that was rather tasty. I ate cheeseburgers pretty much every day, which is a dietary excess I have not indulged in for quite some time.
Stephanie (making better choices than me, but still not eating as well as normal) suggested that we take a week to go vegetarian, with the goal being to get ourselves back into a routine of eating healthily, as well as to take advantage of all the delicious foods from our local farmers markets. It is also a challenge for me, since I’m still not 100% on all vegetables, but I have made tremendous strides since I was younger and I wouldn’t touch a vegetable at all.
I’m hoping to update a bit this week chronicling what I’m doing with this and how it’s going. This vegetarian thing is not going to be a permanent thing (I like beef and pork waaaaay too much) but it’ll allow me to add some more vegetarian recipes to my repertoire. Any suggestions you, my faithful readers, would care to add regarding meal ideas (like, perhaps, a curry that doesn’t use curry powder per se?) I’d be most appreciative.
Penne with Roasted Peppers, Tomatoes and Arugula
Adapted from Cooking Light – Serves 4
1 orange bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
8 oz penne (I use Barilla Plus)
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic, divided
8 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp white wine vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tsp sugar
.75 tsp kosher salt
.25 tsp herbes de Provence (substitute any Italian herb blend)
.25 tsp fresh ground black pepper
3 cups baby arugula
grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Preheat broiler. Cut peppers in half lengthwise, discarding seeds and membranes. Place pepper halves, skin-side up, on foil-lined baking sheet. Flatten halves with hand, broil 15 minutes until skins are blackened. Place in paper bag, seal and let stand 10 minutes. Peel and cut into strips.
Cook pasta and drain well. Heat 1 tsp oil in nonstick pan over medium-high. Add .25 tsp garlic, cook 30 seconds, then add peppers & tomatoes, cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat.
Combine .75 tsp garlic, vinegar, 2 tbsp oil, sugar, salt, herbs and pepper in a small bowl. Add pasta & oil mixture to bell peppers in pan, toss well to coat. Cool slightly, then stir in arugula. Top each serving with cheese.
Guest Blog Post
This week, I filled in for my friend Kate Nesi for the Food Friday post she writes weekly. She’s a pretty amazing photographer and was busy traveling to upstate New York to do photos at a wedding, so she asked me if I would write a post for her. I took a trip to the Freehold Farmer’s Market that is set up every Friday afternoon as inspiration for my blog post. You can check it out here.
Red Curry Chicken Kebabs with Yogurt-Mint Sauce
As I’ve mentioned before, I look forward to the rare nights when my lovely wife is going to be out for some reason for dinner, and I am left to fend for myself. Tonight, Steph was going to go out with her friend Beth, a fellow English teacher who is off to the Azores next year, teaching in the DoDEA. While I enjoy spending time with Beth and hearing about her international jaunts (she’s taught in Japan & Germany, and has traveled extensively through Europe, Asia and Africa. We get tons of postcards), they were off for some English teacher geek bonding while watching Shakespeare, so I respectfully declined, especially since it meant I could cook something particularly spicy.
According to Wikipedia, red curry paste is made from red chili peppers, shallots, garlic, galangal (which is a not-as-hot relative of ginger), lemongrass, coriander roots, peppercorns, salt, shrimp paste (fermented ground shrimp) and zest from kaffir limes (a variety of Asian lime). These are ingredients that, unless you live close to a well-stocked Asian market, are going to be virtually impossible to find. While I am fortunate enough to live within 20 minutes of one, I went with the convenience of a pre-made jar of red curry paste.
Outside of that, this dish was quick, easy, relatively healthy (4 points per serving, for those keeping track of such things), with a decent heat, although not as much as I expected. Maybe I’ll convince Steph to let me make her a dish with a little bit of red curry paste sneaked in one day? 
Question: If you know your significant other isn’t around, what are you cooking for yourself?
Red Curry Chicken Kebabs with Yogurt-Mint Sauce
Adapted from Food & Wine – Serves 8
2.5 tbsp thai red curry paste
.5 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp kosher salt
2.5 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1″ cubes
.75 c plain lowfat yogurt
.25 c light mayonnaise
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp mint, finely chopped
Mix curry paste with oil and salt. Add chicken cubes and toss to coat. Let stand at room temperature, up to 2 hours or cover and refrigerate overnight.
Light a grill. Whisk together yogurt, mayonnaise, honey, lime juice and mint and season with salt.
Thread chicken onto 8 skewers, leaving .25″ between cubes. Grill over moderately high heat, turning frequently, until lightly charred and cooked through, 8 minutes. Serve the kebabs with the yogurt on the side, and with steamed white rice (if desired).
Chef’s Table @ Restaurant Nicholas
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m going to tell you all again that my favorite restaurant is Restaurant Nicholas, which is conveniently close by in nearby Red Bank. I’ve been fortunate enough to eat there to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and just for the hell of it. I’d like to think I’m at a point where Chef Nicholas recognizes us, even though we’re not quite regulars, but he does a great job making us feel welcome even if he didn’t. We’ve eaten in the dining room, and we’ve eaten at the bar, leaving us only with one dining experience we had not had yet at the restaurant: dinner at the Chef’s Table.
When we arrived, we went to the bar for a glass of champagne, while they went to “prepare the kitchen” for us. It turns out, the entire kitchen staff lined up to greet us as we walked down the stairs to the kitchen, where the lights were (mostly) off. After we were seated into our alcove, the lights came up, and the kitchen went back to work. I’ve read quite a few books about the restaurant industry and how restaurants run, probably owing to the fact if I hadn’t pursued a career in education I may very well have ended up engaged in the culinary arts. I’ll admit that I was not surprised by the efficiency of the kitchen – not a wasted movement, no one falling in the weeds, not a dish that needed to be re-fired, nothing. What I was surprised about was how quiet it was in the kitchen. Most of the time, the only speaking was when the sous-chef would call out the orders, and the brigade would repeat the orders back to confirm. The entire operation was clean, efficient and seamless – not shocking considering the high level of culinary talent on display every night at the restaurant
Let’s talk about the food: a “Grand Tasting” menu, customized to mine and Steph’s preferences (seafood for her, no walnuts for me), with wine pairings for each dish and our own personal waiter. I can’t stress enough how delicious every plate was. Here are our menus from the evening.
I’m not going to paste in every single picture of the meal into the post, so go check out my Picasa gallery here.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Back now? Good. That was a lot of food, right? Looked delicious, huh?
Out of all the courses, my favorite was probably the butter-poached lobster (with pork belly!), while Stephanie was a huge fan of the soft-shell crab. I was also able to help myself to my favorite dish at the restaurant, the parisian gnocchi (which you can watch my friend Rob blog about here). Really, the entire meal was out-of-this world. The level of execution was amazing, and there were no ‘misses’ at all during the meal. The only negative is that there is so much food and so much wine and I ended up hitting a wall when we got to the final savory course, which made me sad because the duck was delicious.
In this case, the food was matched up by the attentiveness and openness of the culinary staff. Nicholas, the chef de cuisine (also named Nicholas, coincidentally), the sous-chef and some of the other staff were more than happy to take the time to answer our questions, which we politely timed to fit in lulls in activity. It was fascinating hearing the garde-manger chef talk about the need for perfection in every knife cut and every prepared plate, the sous talk about how he organized himself while expediting, and talking to both Nicholas and Nicholas about their inspirations, their failures, their successes and their goal of not only providing a top-notch dining experience, but doing it over and over each and every night.
I’ve been to Restaurant Nicholas before, but I feel like I’ve gotten a peek behind the curtain, and I can’t be happier at what I saw.
Grilled Chicken & Spinach Salad
I’ve cooked with jicama before, but haven’t really talked about it much. Know your food: jicama is a Mexican tuber vegetable, with a texture similar to a potato and a flavor reminiscent of apples. (Random note – the Hebrew for potato, תפוח אדמה, literally means “ground apple”. Did you know I used to speak fluent Hebrew?) Jicama is tasty and usually eaten raw, although I’m sure jicama pickles are probably fantastic.
The jicama, combined with the other veggies, gave this dish a nice crunch, and provided a good flavor contrast with the sweet pineapple and the somewhat spicy chicken and sauce. It also needs to be noted that this meal was only 3 points, for those who keep track of such things. Amazingly simple, light, yet filling. This meal is definitely a repeat!
Grilled Chicken & Spinach Salad with Spicy Pineapple Dressing – Serves 4
Recipe adapted from Cooking Light
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp chili powder
.5 tsp salt
cooking spray
8 oz pineapple, cut into 1″ cubes, divided
2 tbsp cilantro, chopped
2 tbsp orange juice
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
.5 tsp habanero pepper, minced (I used jalapeño and didn’t use enough – should be spicy)
1 garlic clove
.25 cup olive oil
.75 cup jicama, peeled & julienned
.66 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
.5 cup red onion, thinly sliced
5 oz baby spinach
Heat grill pan over medium-high. Place chicken between plastic wrap sheets & pound to even thickness. Sprinkle chili powder & salt. Lightly coat chicken with cooking spray. Add chicken to pan, cook 3 minutes per side. Set aside.
Process half of pineapple, cilantro, orange juice, vinegar, habanero and garlic in blender until smooth. With blender on, gradually add olive oil until blended.
Combine remaining pineapple, jicama and remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Drizzle with .75 cup dressing, tossing to coat. Divide salad evenly on 4 plates. Cut chicken into thin slices; divide chicken evenly over salads. Drizzle salads evenly with remaining .25 cup dressing.
Thai Turkey Sliders
I’ve made these twice, once for dinner for Steph and I and once for last week’s Top Chef Foodpocalypse. The recipe is too good not to share with you, my loyal readers.
Thai Turkey Sliders with Peanut Sauce and Quick Pickles – serves 4
Recipe adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
Sliders
1.5 lb 93% ground turkey1
1 tbsp sambal oelek2
4 scallions, finely chopped
.25 c cilantro, chopped fine
1 tsp grated lime zest
.5 tsp kosher salt
Sauce
.25 c creamy peanut butter
4 tsp fish sauce3
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp light brown sugar
Pickles
.5 English cucumber, sliced into thin rounds
.5 red onion, sliced thin
2 tsp fish sauce
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp light brown sugar
8 slider buns (I recommend Pepperidge Farm)
Combine all slider ingredients in a bowl, mix until combined. Form mixture into 8 .75″ thick patties.
Whisk all sauce ingredients together in second bowl until smooth.
Combine all pickle ingredients in a third bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Heat nonstick skillet to medium-high. Film bottom of pan with oil, using paper towel to wipe out excess. Griddle burgers until done, approximately 3-4 minutes per side. Place burgers on buns, top with peanut sauce and pickles, and serve.
1 – The recipe calls for “regular” ground turkey, but all we have at my local supermarket is either 99% or 93% lean ground turkey. I recommend the higher fat grind, as it will lead to a tastier and moister burger. If you decide to go with 99% ground turkey (aka ground turkey breast), watch your cooking time very carefully to prevent drying out your sliders
2 – Sambal oelek is my favorite condiment, a super-spicy, pungent paste made from fresh hot chile peppers, and you should be able to get it in the international aisle of the supermarket. If not, substitute in some habanero hot sauce or red pepper flakes. Do NOT use Tabasco to substitute, it’s got its own specific flavor that will clash with the other flavors in the meal.
3 – I used to hate fish sauce, but I’ve learned to love it over the past year. I can’t stress enough the need to keep trying it until you discover the sublime flavor it adds to Asian cuisine. I use Tiparos brand, based on the Test Kitchen recommendation, and it is by far the best of all the other brands I’ve tried. It’s worth tracking down in the international aisle, or in an Asian grocery.
