Pinneaple Cashew Quinoa "Pad Thai"

We ran out of veggies from our winter share two weeks early ... which is great because it means that I am getting adept at using the veggies. After trying to tough it out with frozen meals bought months ago, I finally broke down and bought spinach ... and pineapples. I know, I know! But I was craving greens.

I recently bought Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook and was looking forward to making some of the interesting recipes in it. This is an adapted version of the "Pinneaple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-Fry."

1 1/2 cups of uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups of pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups of water
1/2 tsp + 6 tblsp of soy sauce

1/2 - 1 cup of cashews
peanut and/or sesame oil for stir-frying
2 shallots, diced
1 tsp of chili-garlic paste
2 tsp of ginger puree
1 package of frozen peas
1 bunch of baby spinach
2 cups of sliced pineapples
6 tblsp of chicken (or vegetable) stock
2 tblsp of lime juice
2 eggs

Cook the quinoa by pouring, quinoa, pinnaple juice, water, and 1/2 tsp of soy sauce into a pot and bring it to boil. Quinoa is done when all the liquid is absorbed.

Meanwhile, turn the stove on low and pour the cashews into a large pan. Toast for a few minutes but don't let burn (like me ...). Remove the cashews from the pan and set aside.

Add the oil to the pan and turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the shallots. Stir-fry until they begin to become translucent. Add the spinach, peas, chili-garlic paste, and ginger. Stir-fry until the spinach begins to wilt then add the pineapple and quinoa.

Mix the rest of the soy sauce, stock, and lime juice in a bowl. Pour the mixture over quinoa mixture then add the 2 eggs and scramble with the mixture until eggs are cooked.

Spiced Apples, Cabbage, Carmelized Onions, Candied Pecans and Sausage

I threw this together using the last of February's winter share and am quite proud of myself ... perhaps I'm getting a hang of this whole cooking thing.

1 onion
2 apples, cored and sliced
1 tbsp of butter
1 tsp each of nutmeg, allspice, and cloves
1/2-1 cup of pecans (or other nut)
1 tbsp of maple syrup
1 head of cabbage
4 pre-cooked sausages (I used TJ's Chicken Apple Sausages)
oil for sauteing

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Slice the onion, spread out on pan, and place in oven. Stir occasionally until brown.

Meanwhile, heat butter in a large pan over medium high heat. When the butter is melted, add the spices and then the apples. Stir-fry the apples until brown then remove the apples from the pan and set aside.

Turn the heat to low and add the pecans. Toast for a few minutes then pour in the maple syrup. Mix until nuts are completely covered then remove from pan and set aside.

Add a little bit of oil to the pan if needed and turn the heat up to medium high. Add the sausage and cabbage and stir-fry until cabbage begins to wilt. Add the apples and pecans back into the pan and cook until everything is warm.

Sweet Potato Quesdaillas

This recipe is from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life and can be found online here.

I altered it a little, partly on purpose and partly by accident ...

2 medium sweet potatoes
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced or finely chopped
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp basil
1 tsp cumin
olive oil for saute
4 tortillas (I used Trader Joes Spinach tortillas)
1/2-1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese or "mexican" mix

Cut sweet potatoes into chunks, place in microwave safe bowl, and microwave for 8-10 minutes until soft then mash.

Chop the onion and saute it along with the garlic in a large skillet. Add the spices and sweet potato. Mix. Turn the burner of low.

Preheat the oven to 400. Oil a baking sheet. Spread tortillas one at a time onto the sheet and press into the oil. Spread the sweet potato mixture onto half and top with cheese. Fold the other half of the tortilla over. Repeat with each tortilla. Bake until brown and crisp.

Notes:

• These were pretty good although I felt like they needed a bit more - I topped them with cream cheese (since I was out of sour cream) and it was quite tasty.
  
• I have extra sweet potato mixture left over so I think I will try it with brie as in the original recipe and also with cream cheese on the inside.
• The original recipe calls for adding shredded swiss chard along with the cheese. I didn't have any but will surely try this if I have chard, kale, or spinach next time.
  

Celeriac and Apple Salad: Take Two

This is my second experiment with celeriac and apple salads. The first one is here.

4 cups of water
3 tablespoons of lemon or lime juice
2 tart apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into strips
1 large celeriac, peeled and cut into to thin strips

Put the the apples & celeriac into a bowl with water and lemon juice to prevent browning. Leave approximately 15 minutes.

1/2-1 cup chopped walnuts or almonds or combination

Toss the walnuts in a skillet over high heat (don't add oil or anything) until they start to brown.

1 1/2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp of greek yogurt
1 tblsp heavy cream
2 tsp of Coriander
1/2 tsp Pepper

Drain the celeriac and apples and return to bowl. Pour apple cider vinegar over and mix. Add the nuts.

Mix the yogurt, cream, coriander, and pepper in a small bowl. Pour the dressing over the celeriac and apples and toss to coat.

Chill over night.

This was pretty good, however, I have some thoughts on improvement:

• Replace the 1 tbsp of heavy cream with orange juice and/or add 1/4 tsp of orange extract
• I used walnuts in this one and I think almonds would be better
  

Adapted from Farmer John's Cookbook.

Sweet Beet & Goat Cheese Pita-dilla

I'm always in search of new things to do with beets (and kale and celeriac) and for some reason, I had mexican on the mind. So I googled 'beet quesadilla.' While I didn't find a recipe, I did find a scrumptious and inspiring image on flickr.

Adam says this is almost dessert. Sweetness can be adjusted to your liking.

• 2-3 large beets, 4-5 small beets, cooked with your preferred method, peeled, and chopped into chunks.
• sausage or chicken sausage or other meat or protein (optional)
• 4 pitas
• honey or maple syrup or agave nectar syrup (I used Trader Joe's Apple Chicken Sausage)
  
• cinnamon
• allspice
• cloves
• goat cheese

While the beets are cooking, cut the pitas in half and spread goat cheese on the inside.

If you are using meat, lightly oil a pan and sauté the sausage over medium heat. When the sausage starts to cut through (before it browns), add some cinnamon, allspice, cloves, and maple syrup.

When the beets have finished cooked, puree them in a food processor or blender. Add a dash of cinnamon, allspice, and cloves, and a drizzle of maple syrup and run through the food processor again.

Mix the beets and sausage and scoop into the cheese lined pita halves. Place pita-dillas on a pan, sprinkle with goat cheese, and bake in the oven or toaster oven until the pitas become crisp (5 minutes or so).

How to Cook Beets

There are generally two ways to cook beets and from my perspective that don't taste that different for most recipes.

Boiling Beets

• Cut the beets into chunks and peels if you like
• Place the beets in a pot of boiling water until tender (i.e. you can easily pierce with a fork) usually about 15-20 minutes
  
• If the beets are not peeled, place them in cold water and slip the skins off

Roasting Beets

• Peel the beets
• Cut beets into chunks
• Preheat the oven to 350
  
• Option 1: Place beets on a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil and any spices you'd like. Fold the top the the aluminum foil into a tent and place it in the oven
• Option 2: Place the beets in a roasting pan with a inch or so of water. Sprinkle with any spices.
• Roast until tender (i.e. easily pierced with a fork) usually about 15-20 minutes.