Recipe: Grilled Carrot Tostadas

Grilled Carrot Tostadas
Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2024, p.42
4.8 stars

Even though I had purchased all of the ingredients for this recipe, we held off on making it ~ just didn't sound SUPER appetizing, but it turned out so much better than we thought it would!!! Great flavors and textures: creaminess of the cream cheese, crunch of the tostadas, acidity of the vinegar, sweetness of the date syrup, "herbiness" of the herbs.

We'd never eaten carrot tops before -- tasted like parsley.

Ingredients: tostadas, carrots with tops, cream cheese, cilantro, mint, jarred salsa macha, red wine vinegar, date molasses, olive oil, Kosher salt, black pepper

Tips/Notes:

• Added pepitas on top
• Roasted the carrots -- next time, need 3x the amount of carrots!
• Store was out of salsa macha both times so didn't use it
• Couldn't find date molasses but used date syrup instead
• Served with refried beans on the side (protein!)

Recipe: Yakisoba

Yakisoba
Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2024, p. 62
4.6 stars

This was good and different for a stir-fried Asian dish since it was on the "sweet" side. It definitely needs HEAT, though! 

Also, we had this as a vegetarian meal, but I can see how sliced steak would go so well with it as the recipe calls for.

Ingredients: ramen noodles, rib eye steak, napa cabbage, shiitake mushrooms, carrot, onion, scallions, vegetable oil, tonkatsu sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, Kosher salt

Tips/Notes:

• Didn't use napa cabbage; used kale instead
• Added celery, edamame and tofu
• Made our own tonkatsu sauce (see below which already has ketchup and soy sauce) so didn't add additional soy sauce to the dish
• Add chili crisp or Sriracha to taste at the table
• Served with egg rolls

Tonkatsu sauce

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp mirin
• 1.5 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp grated fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic grated

Mix all really well.

Recipe: Sweet Potato and Kale Soup

Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
Food & Wine Magazine, Oct 2024, p. 53
5 stars

So hearty and flavorful -- I wish we had more leftovers! I think the sage and nutmeg plus bacon must have given it the umami and depth of flavor. The blend of flavors was delicious!

Ingredients: bacon, sweet potatoes, lacinato kale, yellow onion, carrots, celery, sage, broth, Parmesan cheese rind, nutmeg, garlic, Kosher salt, black pepper

Garnish ingredients: salted pepitas, shaved Parmesan cheese

Tips/Notes:

• Didn't use a parmesan rind and it still was super flavorful!

Recipe: Cheesy Black Bean and Butternut Squash-Stuffed Poblanos

Cheesy Black Bean and Butternut Squash-Stuffed Poblanos

The Brain Health Kitchen, Annie Fenn, MD, p.237
4.5 stars

When eating this, I thought it was delicious, but as I've been eating the leftovers, it's been meh. Maybe if the cheese topping was a melty cheese like Monterey Jack or Mozzarella, it'd taste better. Cotija smells funky when heated up.

Overall, this was an easy base dish to make -- in the future, I can see us taking this and adding to it ~ like adding chipotle in adobo or fire-roasted tomatoes.

Ingredients: poblano peppers, butternut squash, corn, black beans, green enchilada sauce, goat cheese/feta or queso blanco, cilantro, pumpkin seeds, chili powder, Kosher salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used cotija -- next time, use a melty cheese
• Used frozen butternut squash and corn -- worked out just fine
• Used 5 poblanos but 4 would've worked as noted in the recipe
• Didn't make the quick-pickled Pomegranate red onions

Recipe: Tofu and Baby Bok Choy Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce and Noodles

Tofu and Baby Bok Choy Stir-Fry with Peanut Sauce and Noodles
The Brain Health Kitchen by Annie Fenn, MD, p.197
4.8 stars

I wasn't sure how this was going to turn out (being healthy and all) -- it was DELICIOUS!!! Definitely making this one again! The sauce makes the dish as it's nice and spicy. 

Ingredients: udon noodles, tofu, red onion, baby bok choy, peanuts, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sambal oelek (fresh chili paste), honey, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, avocado oil

Tips:

• Added carrots and celery
• Served with vegetable gyoza

Recipe: Bright and Spicy Shrimp Noodle Salad

Bright and Spicy Shrimp Noodle Salad

Bon Appetit Magazine, Feb 2020, p.60

4.6 stars

Nice, easy and healthy weekday "salad."

Ingredients: shrimp, glass noodles, cucumber, roasted peanuts, basil, lime juice, honey, serrano, ginger, garlic, fish sauce, extra-virgin olive oil, Kosher salt

Tips:

• Used rice noodles instead of bean thread (cellophane or glass) noodles
• Add mango
• Add edamame
• Serve with egg rolls

Recipe: Beefy Vegan Tempeh and Broccoli

Beefy Vegan Tempeh and Broccoli

VegNews.com

4.6 stars

This dish was fine -- I think I need to use different tempeh next time because I didn't love the texture of the one I bought from Trader Joe's.

This dish was great with spring rolls on the side, and we added chile garlic sauce to the dish to taste at the table.

Ingredients: brown rice, tempeh, broccoli, vegetable broth, hoisin sauce, tamari, red wine vinegar, sriracha, toasted sesame oil, cornstarch, shallots, ginger, garlic, scallion, dried hot chile pepper, toasted sesame seeds

Tips/Notes:

• Used quinoa instead of brown rice
• Used soy sauce instead of tamari
• Used a serrano instead of a dried hot chile pepper
• As noted above, added chile garlic sauce at the table

Recipe: Beet Tostadas

Beet Tostadas

Food & Wine Magazine, Feb 2024, p. 35
4.7 stars

I was so intrigued by this recipe, though, there were so MANY steps so with our culinary knowledge, we modified it a bit. It was overall good but needed something with umami -- see notes below.

Beet Tostadas Ingredients: beets, black beans, yellow onion, guajillo chiles, garlic, limes, lime juice, ground cumin, ground coriander, chile powder, red pepper, Kosher salt, olive oil

Picked Vegetables Ingredients: scallions, jalapeno, radishes, lime juice, white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, sea salt

Additional Ingredients: tostadas, queso fresco or crumbled feta, cilantro, roasted pepitas, flaky sea salt

Tips/Notes:

• Used frozen beets already peeled and sliced -- roasted them for about 28 min with all ingredients but used guajillo chile powder and garlic powder
• Did not grate the beets
• Need to drain the black beans about 75% as the puree was too runny
• Used queso fresco; also bought Oaxaca cheese
• Added hot sauce to taste
• Skipped the roasted pepitas
• To add umami, add mushrooms or plant-based meat

Recipe: Chilled Zucchini Soup

Chilled Zucchini Soup
Food & Wine Magazine
4.9 stars

This recipe from Chef Michael Anthony was just as good as Chef Grant Achatz's Silky Zucchini Soup but it had another layer of complexity because of ALL the other vegetables in it -- there are 12 (including the herbs)! 

We took this recipe and simplifed it by A LOT. See notes below. In short, we sauteed, then blended, then served it hot. We'll eat the leftovers chilled.

Soup Ingredients: zucchini, leek, spinach, yellow onion, shallots, garlic, lemon thyme, parsley, basil, vegetable broth, olive oil, Kosher salt

Garnish: hakurei turnips, summer squash, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, pepper

Tips:

• Literally just sauteed everything, blended it and served. No ice bath, no straining through a wire-mesh strainer, no chilling of the soup.
• Added red pepper when sauteing the vegetables.
• Used 5 sprigs of thyme and lemon zest since we don't have lemon thyme.
• Didn't use turnips.
• Topped with sauteed squash, Parmesan and croutons.

Recipe: Beet and Mushroom Miso Ragu

Beet and Mushroom Miso Ragu

Bon Appetit Magazine,  May 2023, p. 50
5 stars

This was so delicious!!!! Reading the title of the recipe, I was wary... you never know how these plant-based type of dishes will turn out. We will definitely be making this one again -- I didn't even miss the meat! Great umami from the shiitakes and miso, and loved the texture. We used organic lentil spaghetti.

Ingredients: spaghetti, beet, shiitake mushrooms, canned chickpeas, white miso, Parmesan, shallot, Aleppo pepper, garlic, vegetable oil, extra-virgin olive oil, unsalted butter, Kosher salt, pepper

Tips/Notes:

• Used frozen beets (thawed them)
• Didn't "thinly slice" the 2 garlic cloves -- minced them
• For the 1.5 cups of pasta water, use judgment
• The mixture didn't get very brown -- we likely didn't use high enough heat in our Caraway pan that can only take heat up to setting 7
• Added Impossible Italian meatballs to the dish