Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Broccoli Parmesan “Meat”balls

2013_08_02At the end of February I did a Vegan Week to try out new foods and used it as a way to jump start our eating to cut back on the amount of meat we ate. While we still eat meat when we go out, I haven’t cooked meat at home more than three or four times in the past five months. And to be honest, neither of us miss it too much either. I’ve been amazed at how filling and tasty some of these other dishes can be.

Awhile ago I tried the lentil mushroom “meat”balls and was surprised at how much I liked them. But these broccoli Parmesan balls blow them out of the water (in my opinion). They aren’t Vegan like the lentil balls, but they are vegetarian. I loved the texture and flavor of these! I imagine you probably need to like broccoli to appreciate these though.

I also made a homemade tomato basil spaghetti sauce for the first time. It turned out great!

RECIPES:

Broccoli Parmesan “Meat”balls

Tomato Sauce
(I followed the directions for this sauce except I added a large handful of chopped fresh basil, and I pureed the sauce. I let is simmer for a about 4 hours)

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Gammodoki (Tofu Patties) with Enoki Mushrooms

2013_05_24Aya’s mom sends seasoning packets to make these tofu patties. It’s really easy because you just mash up some tofu, add the seasoning mix, and fry in a pan. But after discovering the Japanese cookbook I have that’s in English, I decided to try these homemade with real ingredients.

They were fairly easy and Ellie loves them. I decided to serve them with some roasted enoki mushrooms in butter. I love enoki mushrooms! They have such a unique texture. I remember my first trip to Japan to meet Aya’s parents we ate a lot of them. They direct translation they told me when I asked what they were was “mountain sprouts.” That might be another reason I like them. But they are in my top three favorite Japanese vegetables.

I don’t repeat recipes a lot, but this has worked it’s way to be repeated recipe.

RECIPES:

Gammodoki

Ingredients:

1 standard firm tofu package
2 x 1 inch piece of konbu or 1/4oz. dried hijiki (I used shredded nori seaweed)
1/2 carrot, peeled
2 dried shiitake mushrooms (I used more like 4 or 5)
8 green beans, trimmed (I used a small handful)
1 egg
salt, soy sauce, and mirin
Sesame oil (I used regular vegetable oil)

1) Drain tofu, wrap in paper towel and let sit for 30-60 minutes to drain all excess water out.

2) Meanwhile, soak konbu or hijiki in water for 30 minutes. chop roughly into 1/2in. long shreds.

3) Cut the carrot, green beans, and shiitake into 1/2in. shreds. (I put everything in a food processor and pulsed it a few times.

4) Put the tofu in large mixing bowl with egg, pinch of salt, and a dash of soy sauce and mirin. Mix thoroughly to even consistency.

5) Add vegetable shreds to tofu bowl and mix well.

6) They tell you to deep fry them in oil, which I did not. I just put a little oil in the pan and fried them that way. You can served this with some shredded daicon on top, which I have done in the past.

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Zucchini, Corn, Poblano, and Cheddar Pizza

2013_05_22bAfter making the kale and mushroom pizza, I really thought I’d like this one better. But to my surprise, I liked the kale one better. Don’t get me wrong, this was quite tasty too. How can anything taste bad when it’s topped with cheddar cheese. I really liked how the vegetables were topped with an egg mixture making it slightly quiche like.

I’m sure I’ll make this again this summer with a bunch of garden vegetables, and maybe I’ll try making my own crust too.

RECIPES:

Zucchini, Corn, Poblano, and Cheddar Pizza

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Portobella & Kale Pizza

2013_05_22

 

This called for roasted garlic, but instead I just used a ton of garlic. I do want to make this again actually roasted garlic, because I usually don’t have fresh garlic on hand.I also nevmake my own pizza crusts. Not yet anyway. I usually just buy the pre-packaged Meijer brand organics pizza crusts. They aren’t anything special, but they get the job done.

I wasn’t sure if I’d like this a lot or not, but I really liked it. The kale wasn’t too bitter either. Simple and tons of garlic. Ellie picked off the green but ate the mushrooms.This was a winner in our book.

RECIPES:

Portabella and Kale Pizza

Matt Cooking Stuff, Recipes

Mini Vegetable Lasagnas (Cooked in muffin tin)

2013_05_23I was a little leery if these would turn out looking even remotely like the picture from the website I got them from, but to my surprise, they turned out pretty close! One thing that helped was the recipe page had step-by-step photos which really helped with this one.

These were filling and very flavorful, but they seemed more appetizer-ish to me. I’d like to try them in a mini-muffin pan next time. Ellie liked them because she could pick them up and eat it like a cupcake. So they get bonus points for the fun factor.

I made a double batch to last for two days and I even had enough left over to put in the freezer. I served it with green beans, mashed potatoes and a salad.

RECIPES:

Mini Vegetable Lasagnas