Vegetarian cooking rarely involves the kind of feature dish that meat-eaters get. A big steak, a roasted chicken, a lovely filet. We get side dishes elevated to the main course, hearty stews, gorgeous salads, bread and cheese.
Tonight, I decided to embrace that.
A series of sides:
Mushrooms on toast, curried deviled eggs, roasted chickpea and broccoli, caprese salad. These recipes all work well on their own, but tonight was about the strange rhythm of preparing so many dishes all at the same time.
Ingredients:
For the Mushrooms:
8oz crimini mushrooms
3-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup butter
juice of a 1/2 a lemon
splash of white wine (optional)
good balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper and fresh herbs to taste (I used oregano, rosemary and savory but thyme would be amazing.)
1 slice of good wheat bread per person
For the chickpeas:
1 can chickpeas
1 large head broccoli
1 diced spring onion or 1/2 regular onion
1 diced sweet bell pepper
fresh spinach leaves
crushed red chili flakes
liqud aminos or soy sauce
olive oil
smoked paprika
cumin
salt and pepper
For the Caprese:
Fresh Mozzarella
tomatoes
olive oil
balsamic
fresh basil or other herbs
salt and pepper
For the Eggs:
8 hard boiled eggs, chilled
olive oil
vinegar
good brown mustard
curry powder
salt and pepper
a dash of mayo
paprika
Preheat the oven to 400. Put the eggs in a pot and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Start chopping things while you do. When it boils, remove from the stove and allow to sit. Set your timer for 10 minutes so you don't have to drop everything all at once the second it is done. (They can set for up to 15 minutes but I like my yolks softer so I aimed for 12ish.)
Finish chopping things. Combine chickpeas, veggies, spices, oil and aminos in an oven-safe pan (the shallower the better.) Put the mushrooms and garlic in a bowl with fresh herbs and toss with salt, pepper and lemon juice. When the timer goes off, put the eggs in cold water and set aside.
Start the mushrooms in a nonstick pan, adding the knob of butter to melt on low heat. Stir when you remember. Put the chickpeas in the oven. Slice the fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, toss with olive oil and balsamic and spices and set aside to marinate.
Peel the eggs, stopping from time to time to check the stove and the oven, stirring when needed. Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks carefully. Mash well with oil, vinegar, spices, salt, pepper and mayo if you want it. Spoon carefully back into the whites and garnish with paprika.
Remove the chickpeas when the other veggies are just starting to get dark edges. Splash a little white wine into the mushrooms and cook on high for a minute to reduce. Toast your bread (I used the oven).
Set handfuls of fresh spinach to wilt under the chickpeas. Serve, and try not to stuff yourself sick.
Tonight, I decided to embrace that.
A series of sides:
Mushrooms on toast, curried deviled eggs, roasted chickpea and broccoli, caprese salad. These recipes all work well on their own, but tonight was about the strange rhythm of preparing so many dishes all at the same time.
Ingredients:
For the Mushrooms:
8oz crimini mushrooms
3-5 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup butter
juice of a 1/2 a lemon
splash of white wine (optional)
good balsamic vinegar
salt, pepper and fresh herbs to taste (I used oregano, rosemary and savory but thyme would be amazing.)
1 slice of good wheat bread per person
For the chickpeas:
1 can chickpeas
1 large head broccoli
1 diced spring onion or 1/2 regular onion
1 diced sweet bell pepper
fresh spinach leaves
crushed red chili flakes
liqud aminos or soy sauce
olive oil
smoked paprika
cumin
salt and pepper
For the Caprese:
Fresh Mozzarella
tomatoes
olive oil
balsamic
fresh basil or other herbs
salt and pepper
For the Eggs:
8 hard boiled eggs, chilled
olive oil
vinegar
good brown mustard
curry powder
salt and pepper
a dash of mayo
paprika
Preheat the oven to 400. Put the eggs in a pot and cover with 1 inch of cold water. Cover, and bring to a boil. Start chopping things while you do. When it boils, remove from the stove and allow to sit. Set your timer for 10 minutes so you don't have to drop everything all at once the second it is done. (They can set for up to 15 minutes but I like my yolks softer so I aimed for 12ish.)
Finish chopping things. Combine chickpeas, veggies, spices, oil and aminos in an oven-safe pan (the shallower the better.) Put the mushrooms and garlic in a bowl with fresh herbs and toss with salt, pepper and lemon juice. When the timer goes off, put the eggs in cold water and set aside.
Start the mushrooms in a nonstick pan, adding the knob of butter to melt on low heat. Stir when you remember. Put the chickpeas in the oven. Slice the fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, toss with olive oil and balsamic and spices and set aside to marinate.
Peel the eggs, stopping from time to time to check the stove and the oven, stirring when needed. Cut the eggs in half and remove the yolks carefully. Mash well with oil, vinegar, spices, salt, pepper and mayo if you want it. Spoon carefully back into the whites and garnish with paprika.
Remove the chickpeas when the other veggies are just starting to get dark edges. Splash a little white wine into the mushrooms and cook on high for a minute to reduce. Toast your bread (I used the oven).
Set handfuls of fresh spinach to wilt under the chickpeas. Serve, and try not to stuff yourself sick.
