Tag Archives: onions

Smoky Beet Green & Black Bean Tostadas

Posted on by under mains

A wise man once told me to never discard your beet greens. Shout out to my brother, Andrew. Although these sandy bastards can be cumbersome to clean, the effort is well worth it as the result is nutritious, resourceful and most important— tasty. A tostada is like an open faced taco. Or a gigantic nacho.  Smoked paprika, garlic and onions infuse the beet greens with a rich and smoky flavor and black beans add the necessary protein to make this dinner satisfying. Feel free to use any leafy green you like such as chard or kale. This dinner is a great quick and budget-friendly delight. It also helps to live in a Spanish speaking neighborhood where the queso fresco flows like Cristal in a rap video.

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photo 5Smoky Beet Green & Black Bean Tostadas

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

4 tsp olive oil

1 bunch beet greens, chopped

salt and pepper

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

4 tortillas

1/4 cup queso fresco

2 limes

Greek yogurt

cilantro, chopped

tomato, chopped

Heat oven to 425. In a large frying pan, heat 2 teaspoons of oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Add beet greens, salt and pepper and cook for 2 minutes or until wilted. Add smoked paprika, oregano and black beans. Cook until beans are warmed through and mash slightly with a fork. Taste and season accordingly with more salt and pepper. Drizzle 2 teaspoons of olive oil on a cookie sheet and place the tortillas on the cookie sheet, flipping the tortillas so they are coated in the oil. Bake for 5 minutes until golden. Top each tortilla with the bean and green mixture, chopped tomatoes, a dollop of Greek yogurt, chopped cilantro and queso fresco. Serve with lime wedges.

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Tolafel

Posted on by under mains

“Where does Liz Lemon go when she’s out on the town? To the Barnes & Noble bathroom!” To no one’s surprise, Liz Lemon knows what’s up yet again. Not only does Barnes and Noble offer a free, semi-clean bathroom but the place also boasts an extensive collection of cookbooks! I found myself in a Barnes and Noble recently and not only did I use their restroom, but I perused the shiz out of their cookbook section. After learning about the Moosewood cookbooks recently, I began to pour over the Moosewood Restaurant Favorites cookbook. This vegetarian gem offers a wide array of delicious sounding recipes, like tolafel, a tofu-falafel hybrid that’s packed with protein and veggies. The patties are baked, not fried and make a very satisfying dinner. I roasted up some eggplant slices and made a quick Israeli salad to go alongside the tolafel. Throw in some Israeli pickles and hummus and hop on the express bus to tolafel town.  And the next time you find yourself in a Barnes and Noble, make your way over to the cookbook section and you too may find a weeknight dinner keeper. 

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Tolafel

From the Moosewood Restaurant Favorites Cookbook

12 oz block of extra firm tofu (pressed to remove excess water)

16 oz can of chickpeas

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp ground coriander

3 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup tahina

sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 375. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté for about 7 minutes. Add the red pepper and cook for another 5 minutes until soft. Stir in the sesame oil, turmeric, and coriander and cook for another minute. In a food processor combine the chickpeas, tofu (broken into crumbles by hand), lemon juice, soy sauce, tahina and parsley and pulse until combined. Place the mixture into a large mixing bowl and add the pepper and onion mixture. Stir until combined. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray. Form patties using about a 1/2 cup of the mixture. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for 35-40 minutes.

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Vegetable Soup

Posted on by under soups

With the snow rapidly falling here in New York, I had soup on the brain in a big way. And maybe a tropical beach vacation too. When my brother, Andrew, told me he was making my mom’s famous vegetable soup on his snow day, I knew I had to follow suit. Trudging through the snow, I made my way to the market to purchase the essential veggies and 45 minutes later it was soup time. Carrots, zucchini, potatoes and cabbage all in a rich tomatoey-beef broth will have you coming back for seconds. And thirds. This soup is really quite special and should not be overlooked when plotting your next pot. Add your favorite veggies, omit the ones you don’t care for, and throw in the ones already in your fridge. SOUP there it is!

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Vegetable Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced carrots (2 carrots)picstitch (47)
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery (2 stalks)
6 cups beef broth
2 cups canned diced tomatoes, including the liquid
1 cup peeled, diced potatoes
1 cup diced zucchini
1 cup chopped cabbage or spinach
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1/4 tpsp pepper
salt to taste
Briefly saute onion, carrots and celery over medium heat until they start to sweat a bit. Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the cabbage, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 35 minutes. Add chopped cabbage and cook at least 15 minutes longer, or until cabbage is tender. It’s very important to taste the soup and adjust the seasoning to your liking. I added more beef broth, salt and pepper and even a bit more of the canned tomatoes.
I told you I was dreaming about vacation. Does drinking this out of a stemless wine glass make it classier? Don’t answer that.

I told you I was dreaming about vacation. Does drinking this out of a stemless wine glass make it classier? Don’t answer that.

Chinese Meatball Soup

Posted on by under soups

This is a classic soup my mom always made for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot. Sukkot is a fall holiday, where family meals are eaten in a well decorated hut (re: Christmas lights everywhere) with a roof made of  some sort of coniferous tree that also smells suspiciously like Christmas.  In Cleveland, eating outside in the fall months can be downright blustery, so a hot bowl of soup loaded with meatballs and thin vermicelli noodles floating in a delicious tomatoey-soy broth was the perfect antidote to freezing your butt off in the Christmas tree hut. Naturally, when the blizz hit this week, my first instinct was to make this festive and satisfying meatball soup. While there are some additional steps to this recipe, beyond just throwing everything in a pot, it’s easy enough to prepare and features simple ingredients that are probably in your pantry already.

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Chinese Meatball Soup

1/2  cup chopped yellow onions

1/2 cup chopped scallions

2 cloves of garlic mincedpicstitch (21)

2 tbsp oil

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes

3 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp sesame seeds

Pinch of cayenne

6 cups beef broth

1/4 lb thin noodles (vermicelli or angel hair)

Saute onions and garlic in oil until soft. Add tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes over low heat. Add soy sauce, sesame seeds, cayenne and broth. Cover and simmer over low heat for an hour. Add meatballs (recipe below) to the broth and place cooked noodles in each bowl right before serving.

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1 lb ground beef

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tsp sesame seeds

1/4 tsp ground ginger

Mix all ingredients together and form petite meatballs. Put them on a broiler pan and bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Add them right to the soup.

The key to non-soggy noodles is to put them in the bowl just before ladling on the broth.

The key to non-soggy noodles is to put them in the bowl just before ladling on the broth.