Marinated Mushrooms and Roasted Rutabaga with Smoked Paprika Sauce

June 19, 2015June 18, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Because I mostly eat a plant based diet, I don’t make many marinades. For some reason, I always forget about marinading vegetables and this makes me sad because I love the flavor a good marinade can impart. Plus marinades don’t have to be super complicated and can be made with the things you already have on hand.

Mushrooms were on sale at Jewel the past week so I decided it was time to make a good vegetable marinade. This one would also be really good with eggplant or maybe some jicama. Oooo, jicama would be tasty…. Anyway, this marinade pulls double duty in this recipe because it turns into the sauce at the end of the process. Good for you because it means less work for a super tasty dinner.

Make sure you leave enough time to marinate the mushrooms for at least 12 hours, preferably a full 24. That gives the dish the most intense flavor.

Marinated Mushrooms and Roasted Rutabaga with Smoked Paprika Sauce

For the marinade:

4-5 cups sliced mushrooms, I used cremini but use what you like
1 cup onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp cilantro, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients into a large container or zip lock bag and mix to combine. Put in the fridge to marinade for at least 12 hours, 24 hours if you can.

For the roasted rutabaga:

3 cups rutabaga, cubed (I used a medium-sized rutabaga)
olive oil
Italian seasonings
salt and pepper to taste
1-quart vegetable broth or water
2 tsp smoked paprika

Preheat oven to 400. Place cubed rutabaga onto a large baking sheet lined with a Silpat or parchment paper. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with herbs and spices. Toss to coat and roast for 30 minutes rotating halfway through.
Once the rutabaga has finished roasting, heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add in the mushrooms and all the marinade and saute for 5-7 minutes.
Add in the rutabaga and mix to make sure they are covered with the marinade too. Cook for another minute. Pour in the vegetable broth or water and season with extra smoked paprika and salt and pepper.
Stir everything together and bring the broth to a boil. Once it’s boiling lower to a simmer and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has thickened it’s ready.

At first glance, it looks like there are a lot of steps and a lot of ingredients, but half of them are for the marinaded mushrooms and that is the easiest part. This meal is good enough on its own but if you want an even heartier meal you can serve it over rice or pasta. You can also use this marinade on chicken or pork and use those instead of the mushrooms. Or use all of the meat and vegetables, it’s all fair game!

DIY Wednesday: Croutons and Breadcrumbs

June 17, 2015June 17, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Today’s DIY is so easy, it barely counts as a “recipe”. I didn’t even think about it until I was trying to brainstorm ideas for this series because it’s something that I don’t even think about I just do it. You will never have to buy croutons or breadcrumbs again with this handy little trick up your sleeve.

The other great thing about this DIY is that you can customize it to your needs. Whether you need gluten-free, low-carb, egg or dairy free, you can make sure that you get what fits your lifestyle. I will say that making these things with homemade bread works a little better than store bought. Sometimes store bought bread has preservatives and conditioners that prevent the bread from drying out, which is what you need for croutons and bread crumbs. Make sure to read the ingredient list and only buy things that you are comfortable with eating.

One more tip, using older bread is better than using fresh bread. You can use fresh bread you just might have to adjust times on drying out in the oven.

Croutons and Breadcrumbs

bread, a few days old (use gluten-free bread if needed)
Italian seasonings, optional
salt and pepper, optional
olive oil, optional

For Croutons: Preheat oven to 200. Cut the bread into 1-inch cubes. If you want seasoned croutons, place the cubes into a bowl and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil and then sprinkle with seasonings. Mix until everything is covered. Spread the cubes out onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, rotating every 10 minutes. The croutons are done when the bread is entirely dried out and crunchy.

For Breadcrumbs: Preheat oven to 200 and cut bread into bite size pieces. Place the chunks into a food processor or blender and pulse until bread is broken up into small crumbs. If you want seasoned breadcrumbs, add in those into the food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Spread out the crumbs onto a large baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, shaking the pan every so often to prevent burning. Once the breadcrumbs are golden brown, they’re done.

Like I said, this is a really simple DIY and can be used anywhere you would use the store bought versions. The croutons can add a nice crunch to your salad and the breadcrumbs make a great binder for my lentil loaf or a nice crunchy topping for casseroles. Enjoy!

Where do you like to use croutons?

Cilantro-Garlic Pasta with Egg Sauce

June 12, 2015June 12, 2015 / ktbuchs87

Sometimes when I am coming up with recipes I let things get a little out of hand. I blame The Flavor Bible and The Vegetarian Flavor Bible. These are my go-to cookbooks when I am creating recipes and they are awesome. You look up whatever ingredient you have and find flavors and other ingredients that go well with them. I get a little ingredient happy as I’m looking through the lists and soon I end up with a recipe that has 500 ingredients, not all of which are easy to find.

I have to remind myself to keep it simple. We often think simple recipes that have fewer ingredients can’t be as good as the fancy elaborate recipes. Fancy recipes have their place, but it’s the simple recipes that are the backbone of the food world.

I took it simple with this pasta dish. I was looking for a meal that was light and refreshing but also felt like comfort food. I also didn’t have much food on hand so I had to work with what I had. I remembered seeing a recipe for spaghetti carbonara and wanted to try and make a pasta using the same kind of a sauce. This in no way is spaghetti carbonara, but the egg sauce is made in the same way. With only four ingredients and less than 20 minutes to put together, this makes for a really easy weeknight meal that everyone will love.

Cilantro-Garlic Pasta with Egg Sauce

1 package of pasta like penne or rotini (I used Trader Joes brown rice pasta)
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
4 large eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package drain and set aside. While pasta is cooking, mince the garlic and chop the cilantro and whisk the eggs.
Once the pasta is cooked and drained, in a medium saucepan, heat a little olive oil over medium high heat. Add the minced garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add the pasta into the pan and mix to coat with olive oil and garlic.
Remove the pan from the heat. Pour in the eggs while constantly stirring the pasta. Make sure you keep stirring the pasta or else you will end up with scrambled eggs over pasta instead of a creamy sauce.
Once all the eggs have been whisked in, stir in chopped cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

That’s it! The egg sauce makes this dish feel super comforting and indulgent, but the cilantro helps brighten it up and make it not feel too heavy of a meal. This is also great poor college student food because there are no specialty ingredients and each serving is less than $3.00.

What is your favorite simple meal?

Happy Friday and have a great weekend everyone!

DIY Wednesday: Tortilla Chips

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015 / ktbuchs87

This week is flying by because it’s already DIY Wednesday! So far we’ve come up with our own spice blends and made some quick but healthy jam. Feeling crafty yet?

I hope you enjoy these posts as much as I do. I really like being able to make my own things at home because it saves money and ends up being a lot healthier. So many people shy away from making their own stuff because they don’t think they have the time or skill. Believe me I am not a pioneer woman who can spin yarn, preserve vegetables, and make my own clothes. But you don’t have to be Laura Ingalls Wilder to make some food staples for you and your family.

Today will be the easiest and cheapest DIY yet. You’re going to make tortilla chips in less than 20 minutes and it will only cost you about $.40. Yes you heard me right, $.40. You will never buy tortilla chips again after this post. Ok you might, but you don’t have to with this trick up your sleeve!

I use El Milagro corn tortilla shells for this because the ingredient list is extremely short (corn, salt, lime) and they are only $.33 at Aldi. You can use any corn tortilla that you would like, just make sure to read the ingredients. I also use a pizza cutter to cut the tortillas because it’s faster, but a sharp knife will work too.

Tortilla Chips

1 package of El Milagro corn tortillas
1 lime
salt
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375. Using a pizza cutter cut the tortillas into chip size pieces. On a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet arrange the chips into a single layer.
Squeeze the lime juice on to the chips and then drizzle the chips with a little olive oil. You don’t need to drench them, just a little bit will work. Then sprinkle with a pinch or so of salt.
Bake the chips for 8-12 minutes checking often to make sure they don’t burn. Remove from oven and let cool before devouring.

It’s that easy to have a pile of tortilla chips ready to scoop up delicious guacamole or salsa. Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!

What’s your favorite chip topping?

Lentil Taco Filled Empanadas

May 29, 2015May 29, 2015 / ktbuchs87

These empanadas have been a labor of love. The first time that I made them I was basing them off another recipe and they turned out really well. I made them a few times to make sure they worked and was happy with the outcome. But I couldn’t just leave them alone.

The first version I made used eggs, which is fine because I love eggs and use them daily. I wanted to try and make a version that didn’t use eggs. That’s when the labor part of “labor of love” started. I won’t say I failed, I just found 452 ways to NOT make empanadas without eggs. Finally I had a breakthrough and came up with an eggless empanada. I might have done a little dance in my kitchen….

I included both versions of the empanada here so you can choose which version you want to make. The ingredients will be different but the process will be the same. I’m also including my recipe for taco lentils as a filling for the empanada, but you can use any filling you would like. Try shredded chicken or pork or ground turkey or beef. Whatever your little heart desires. Dream big my friends, dream big.

Empanada with Eggs- based on this recipe from Barefoot Provisions

1/2 cup brown rice flour
4 eggs
3/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder

Empanada without Eggs

1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup aquafaba
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder

1. Whatever version you make, combine all the dry ingredients and mix together. Then add in the wet and stir to combine. For the version with eggs the batter will seem very runny but that is fine. The eggless version should be a little thicker like pancake batter.

2. Preheat oven to 350 and line a large baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

3. Heat a little olive oil in a small skillet over medium high heat. Pour a little bit of the empanada batter into the skillet and cook for about 3 minutes. You want the bottom to be cooked but the top to still be a little doughy.

4. With a spatula transfer the empanada from the skillet over to the lined baking sheet. Spoon a little of your filling onto one side of the empanada. Fold over the opposite side pressing along the edges to seal. Repeat this process until you have used all the batter. I usually get about 5 empanadas out of this recipe.

5. Bake the empanadas for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. You can top with avocado cream, cashew sour cream, salsa, or hot sauce.

Lentil Taco Filling

1 cup cooked lentils
1/2 cup cooked black beans (canned or dry)
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1/3 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 tsp taco seasoning
3 tbsp fresh cilantro chopped
2 tsp tapioca starch or cornstarch mixed in 1/4 cup water

1. Mix the tapioca starch/cornstarch into the water and set aside.

2. Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Saute the onions until soft and translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Add in garlic and saute for another minute. Add in everything else except for the seasoning, starch, and cilantro. Cook for about 10 minutes.

3. Sprinkle the seasoning over the lentil mix and then pour the starch mix over everything. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken. Turn off the heat and stir in cilantro.

It might seem like a lot but this meal actually comes together pretty easily. You can even make your filling ahead of time and then just pull it out when you’re making the empanadas. Whichever version you try I hope you enjoy these yummy empanadas!

Have a great weekend and enjoy the last few days of May!

What’s your favorite Mexican dish?