recipe

You are currently browsing articles tagged recipe.

Easy, healthy, vegetarian food is what we need right now. I am more than a little bit upset with my weight gain over the last year, and I am realizing it’s true what they say. It’s much harder to lose weight once you’re in your 30’s. Keeping it off in the first place is the way to go, I have learned. My weight and health have been nagging me for most of the summer, but with marathon training, work, and social life, cooking has not been something I have wanted to do.

Teriyaki tofu

Figuring out quick, easy meals that offer great flavor is going to be the key to getting myself back on track, I think. I had a packet of Trader Joe’s Teriyaki Tofu laying around in the fridge, and I thought a banh mi would be a nice weeknight treat. I didn’t have to cook a thing!

banh mi ingredients

The most labor-intensive part of this recipe was cleaning and prepping all of the vegetables and creating an amazing cilantro mayonnaise for the sandwiches.

banh mi ingredients

On a crusty baguette, I layered cilantro mayo, sriracha, carrots, jalapenos, and tofu until the sandwiches were nicely stuffed. And that was that. A glass of Cline Viognier and some Real Housewives of Orange County rounded out the night, which began with a long run.

banh mi

I’m definitely finding that as my training for the New York City Marathon intensifies, I really look forward to little treats like TV and good food at the end of the day.

Do you have any super easy, healthy, and delicious recipes I can add to my rotation?

Tags: Food, healthy, recipe, tofu, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

What a beautiful weekend! I keep finding myself stopping and just sort of basking in the feelings of being happy and blessed. Summer is certainly a special time of year. Yesterday we celebrated summer in the best ways we know how, with a few hours out on the water followed by a Bastille Day dinner at home.

First of all, Market Basket in Woburn has an amazing, U.S. sourced seafood selection. We loaded up on fresh shrimp, clams, mussels, and cod for dinner, and we tasted the freshness in every bite. As chaotic as Market Basket can  be, I have to say that I will be returning to stock up on seafood very soon. This very seafood was the star of our beautiful Provencal dinner, making Sunday evening just a bit more special.

mas de gourgonnier Bastille Day, being a French summer holiday and all, could not pass without a glass of rosé. While I cooked dinner and my husband practiced on his new piano, we sipped a pretty pink wine from Mas de Gourgonnier, a blend of mostly Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Cabernet Sauvignon. Notes of tart dried cherries dominate this delicious  rosé, with the finish featuring rose petal and mineral flavors, nice and dry and absolute perfection with the bouillabaisse, which was also perfect, if I do say so myself.

I googled a bunch of bouillabaisse recipes and then kind of just went out on my own for the final product.

My  perfect bouillabaisse:

1 pound cod

1 pound mussels, cleaned

1 pound shrimp, cleaned

1 large fennel bulb, sliced

8 large tomatoes, diced

2 cups dry white wine

4 tablespoons butter

tarragon, salt, and black pepper to taste

 

tomatoes fennel

mussels and clams I got started by cleaning my mussels (and delicious Chatham clams, which we ate drenched in salted butter, as an appetizer) and chopping my veggies. Raw fennel is one of my favorites; a lot went missing while I was chopping.

Once the tomatoes and fennel were chopped, I added them to the butter in a deep pan and sautéed them for a couple of minutes, before pouring in the wine and adding the tarragon, salt, and pepper. I placed the cod, mussels, and shrimp on top of the veggies, put on the lid, and let the aromatic stew simmer until all of the mussels were open, the shrimp were pink, and the cod perfectly flaky.

bouillabaisse bouillabaisse

I really have to say, especially since I have given up cooking at home (Last week was a turkey sub kind of week.), that this dish was really exceptional. It brought together the aromatic flavor of fennel with fresh New England seafood and tomatoes, summer in a bowl, while the wine was summer in a glass. Eaten slowly while reminiscing about the day at sea, this meal was like a mini vacation to the South of France.

Did you do anything fun for Bastille Day?

Tags: Food, recipe, rose, wine

I LOVE mayonnaise. I love it on fries, especially, but I also enjoy it in salads, dips, as parts of dressings, and in my hair. Trust me, it’s great for getting knots out. One of my family’s classic Easter dishes, my mom’s potato salad, is pulled together by a mix of mayonnaise and mustard. It just has to be there.

When I received an offer to try Nasoya’s vegan nayonaise for an egg-free alternative, I was definitely intrigued and jumped at the chance to try a new-to-me product. How would it measure up with the creamy condiment I love?

vegan nayonaise

On its own, nayonaise tastes surprisingly like mayo. Pretty much just like it, actually. The texture is a little more gelatinous, to me, but it’s still pleasant. I haven’t tried it on fries yet, but I think it’s going to be a happy marriage.

Since we won’t actually be home for Easter, I made a small batch. This simple recipe only contains a few ingredients, but it is always a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:

3 cups small fingerling potatoes or chopped red bliss potatoes

1/2 cup chopped white onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1/3 cup brown mustard (Gulden’s is what my mom uses)

1/3 mayonnaise or nayonaise

fingerling potatoes

Once the potatoes are boiled and chilled, you just need to toss it all together and chill again until serving.

potato salad

I love how simple this is and how it reminds me of nice weather. We had this potato salad as a side to veggie burgers topped with all sorts of fun toppings, beckoning summer and sunshine to visit soon.

potato salad

The nayonaise was great in this dish; it was as delicious as ever and fun that the dish was vegan and egg-free. My husband is not a huge egg fan and even had some sort of allergy as a child, so it’s nice to be able to have the option to leave the eggs out.

My Easter memories are full of great food, and I love visiting the Eastern European stores in Dorchester this time of year. The kielbasa, paska bread, and smell of hyacinths remind me of my childhood. I just love how much smells and tastes can bring you back to a different place and time.

If you celebrate Easter, what will be on your table? If not, what are your go-to foods or smells that remind you of a favorite childhood holiday?

Tags: Easter, Food, recipe, side dish, vegan, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

« Older entries § Newer entries »

new restaurant
WordPress SEO fine-tune by Meta SEO Pack from Poradnik Webmastera