Tomato and Balsamic Frittata

September 17, 2013 - Elspeth Leave a comment

I just ate half a bag of cheese crunchies. Which emptied the contents completely, because I did the same thing ~~last night~~ this morning. This is why, people. This is why I’m not allowed to be alone with tasty treats. They call to me. I actually hear little powdered-dairy voices echoing in my head saying things like “You know you want it” and “Everything tastes as good as skinny feels” and “Just cave already! Eat your feelings! Nom!” And yes– they actually do get angrier the longer I hold out, until I cave under the pressure and eat THE WHOLE DANG BAG.

But moving on from crazy town and into actual, adult conversation….

I had to do something healthy for myself after the cheese debacle (I did donate a bag of brownies to a neighbor and trashed the rest of the crunchy population residing in my cabinets), so dove into my vegetable drawer and came up with something that didn’t make me feel like a teenage headcase mourning over the loss of a bag of potato chips. Pathetic!

Tomato and Chard Frittata

2 cups cherry tomatoes, washed
1 shallot, diced fine
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1 t salt
pepper
1 T olive oil
2 c roughly chopped chard
4 eggs, beaten with 1 T milk
1/3 c shredded or chunked Parmesan Gouda or Cotija or goat cheese
1/4 c fresh basil, sliced thin

In a large bowl, combine the shallot, garlic, vinegar, salt, and pepper and mix well. Cut the tomatoes in half and add to the bowl. You can use larger tomatoes, but you will need to seed them or else there will be too much liquid in the pan. Toss the mixture and set aside to marinate for up to 1 hour. In a large pan heat the oil over medium-high and add the tomato mixture. Cook for a few minutes and then add the chard, stirring to cover everything with the vinegar. Cook this down for a few minutes, or until the liquid is reduced to a syrup-like consistency. Do not over cook– no longer than 5-7 minutes. Add the beaten eggs and turn heat down to medium-low. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the eggs are mostly set. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and cover for another 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from heat, sprinkle with the basil, and serve immediately. Great with garlic toast!

Honey Glazed Tofu

August 25, 2013August 25, 2013 - Elspeth Leave a comment

I recently stumbled upon the Herbivoracious blog and have been having an absolute ball flipping through his recipes. That man knows how to get his vegetarian on like it’s his JOB (which, actually, I believe it is. He’s a chef.)

This recipe is all about the sauce, so if you’re not a tofu kind of gal/guy/whatever, then you can sub it out for beef, chicken, water buffalo, etc. Let me warn you: it’s insanely delicious. Lock away the portions you don’t plan on barreling through well before you begin, or you may end up like me: black-out snarfing over the sink while my cat shot me judgmental looks. She thinks she’s so superior.

Honey Glazed Tofu

adapted a tad from Herbivoracious

20 oz tofu
1/2 c vegetable oil
1/2 thinly sliced yellow onion
Sauce:
1/2 c honey
1/4 c rice wine
1 T rice wine vinegar
2 t sesame oil
1/3 c soy sauce
dash fish sauce
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 t freshly grated ginger
1/2 t red pepper flakes
sliced green onions
2 T crushed minute tapioca (food processor or mortar & pestle)

Prep the tofu by slicing it into 3/4″ slabs and laying it out on paper towel. Press out some of the moisture with more paper towels and set the tofu aside. In a medium bowl combine all of the sauce ingredients and whisk together. In a large cast-iron skillet, heat the vegetable oil over medium-high. When hot, lay the tofu out in a single layer and brown for about 5 minutes. When the tofu is loosened from the bottom of the pan (if it doesn’t “give” fairly easily then it’s not ready to be flipped), flip and cook another 4-5 minutes. Pour off about half of the oil into a heat-proof ceramic bowl. Add the sliced onion to the pan along with the sauce and reduce the heat to medium low. After a couple of minutes, remove the tofu pieces and allow the sauce to come to a simmer. It will thicken nicely, but add some stock if you want a thinner situation.

I served this over coconut rice (a must, in my opinion) with some grilled bok choy and it was delightful. Crispy, saucey goodness–what more could I want?

One-pot pasta: Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

August 20, 2013 - Elspeth 1 Comment

Sometimes I hate Pinterest. It’s an overload of awesome and my brain just can’t take it. No-bake peanut butter pretzel bark with a side of rainbows and magic beans! Seriously– who can resist? And when there are 60,000 of those flying in your face in perfect little columns of glory….doomed. Doomed to spend hours every day salivating without ever actually making anything! Oh sure, you want to cover your walls with DIY mason jar crafts and adorn the dinner table with 43 kinds of Baked Alaska, but you can’t because your productivity has taken a destructive nose dive. All you can do is scroll for more…and more…and more.

Today I said “Enough, self! Get up and make something worthy of the Pinterest gods!” And it was done. All with minimal clean up, since my garbage disposal is broken and I’m too lazy to figure out how to fix it. So it goes.

Oh, and it tastes good. I took some inspiration from Pasta Putanesca with the olives and anchovies, which make it salty and delightful and tummy-warming.

Spicy Tomato Cream Sauce

2 T olive oil
2 T butter
1 small red onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/4 white wine
12 oz pasta
2 c stock
1 c milk
1.5 c tomato sauce
1 t anchovies, chopped fine
1/2 c olives, cut in half
1/4 c fresh basil, sliced thinly
finely grated parmigiano reggiano
S&P (because of the anchovies, olives, and cheese, you will not need much salt)

Heat a large pot (if you are using linguine-type noodles, make sure that the pot is wide enough to fit the noodles laying down; otherwise, you’ll need to break them in half) over medium heat. When hot, add the oil and butter. When the butter is melted, add the onion and saute for a few minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add the wine and reduce for a couple of minutes. Add the anchovies and stir until a bit melted. Add the stock, milk, tomato sauce, and noodles. Bring to a boil, then reduce to low. Stir frequently and add more water if the sauce becomes thick and the noodles aren’t yet done. When the noodles are al dente, remove from heat and taste for salt. Top with olives and parmigiano cheese and serve over fresh arugula.