Vegetarian “Pulled Pork” Sandwiches

Living in Kansas City as a vegetarian – I often get a craving for BBQ…luckily I found a way to satisfy that craving without giving into meat. This was my first time using Tempeh (a faux meat made from nuts and soy) but I was very happy with the outcome. I gathered my ingredients and got to work.

 

Pictured from left to right: Tempeh, Whole Wheat Buns, Soy Chorizo, Sweet Vidalia Onion, Red Bell Pepper, Orange Bell Pepper, Arthur Bryant’s Sauce and 2 cloves of Garlic.

 

Here’s where it gets messy…in a good way. I combined the entire package of Tempeh, half of the Chorizo, and almost all of the sauce. I added a bit of salt, chili powder and brown sugar and let everything marinate for a short period while I worked on the rest of the ingredients.

 

I chopped all of the bell peppers, both cloves of garlic and half of the onion and then…

 

Sauteed the veggies in butter. Yum!

 

I added all of the ‘meat’ mixture to the pan, and drizzled some honey in to help everything stick together.

 

Finally I served it on a warm, toasted bun with melted smoked cheddar and bread and butter pickles. My craving for BBQ was satisfied. Praise Arthur Bryant’s sauce!

 

 

 

Red Pepper Parmesan Risotto

One of my FAVORITE dishes to cook is a risotto. Risotto is a rice dish cooked with arborio rice (a special kind of rice that is SUPER absorbant and contains a higher amount of starch than traditional rice strains) that is first sauteed in butter with onion, then shocked in cold wine (which then allows the rice to be absorbent) and then ladle-ful by ladle-ful you add a stock to the pan that the rice will slowly but surely absorb so much stock that it will start oozing it out into it’s own starchy sauce. Finally, one finishes off the risotto with butter and parmesan cheese to add a rich, salty flavor to the dish. Delicious.

I LOVE to make my own variations of Risotto. There are certain things one can not change about a risotto recipe. Starting the rice off in hot butter with onions is a must. As is shocking it with an alcohol of some kind (while white wine is traditional, I have had success with other kinds of alcohol). So is adding in warm stock that will lead to the eventual gooey goodness that comes from the rice absorbing more than it can handle…BUT…one can add different vegetables, nuts, or even fruits to the risotto. One can use different kinds of stocks to add to the risotto. One can change the alcohol that is used to shock the rice. One can even change the type of cheese that is used. If you make the right kind of changes, you can come up with lots of interesting risotto dishes. 

Here is just one of the variations I’ve made. Red bell pepper Risotto.

Ingredients from left to right: Romano/Parmesan blend. 1/2 cup of wine. Butter (I used 1.5 tablespoons for the sautee and 1.5 tablespoons to finish it off). 1 cup aroborio rice. ‘Better than boullion’ mix. Roasted red pepper and tomato soap. One small onion, diced. Half of one red bell pepper, chopped.

While I could have made my own stock, it’s very time consuming and usually more expensive than the shortcuts. I used a combination of Trader Joe’s organic tomato and roasted red pepper soup, water, and organic vegetable ‘Better than Bullion’ bullion mix. I seasoned it additionally with ancho chili pepper powder, garlic and some scraps from the onion and red pepper that I chopped to add to the sautee. I brought this to a simmer on the stove (having the stock warm is key, cold stock will shock the rice) and then began the sautee on a different burner.

One burner for the sautee, one burner for the stock. Cook the veggies in the butter first until they are just barely translucent.

Add the arborio straight into the sautee…this might seem a little counter-intuitive, but it is key. 

Sautee the rice until the outside layer becomes translucent (you will see a white, solid core in the middle of the grain, surrounded by a translucent layer of fat). If you look closely, you will see what I am describing. Once this happens, add the wine and stir until it’s absorbed/evaporated. Once this happens, it’s time to add the stock…

and stir…and add stock…and stir…and stir…and stir…

add stock and stir…and stir…and stir…

and add stock..and stir…and stir…and stir…

until it’s nice and thick. Taste some. If it’s soft, fully cooked and thick – it’s ready to finish.

add 1.5 tablespoons and lots of cheese…and guess what? STIR!

Finish off with cheese, basil, and EAT!…Yum.

 

 

Sunday Morning Fritatta

A Frittatta is probably my favorite egg dish to make. It’s basically a fancy breakfast pie that is cooked in two parts. First it’s partially cooked on the stove to get the bottom crispy, then broiled in the oven to crisp up the top. Everytime I’ve made one before I used pasta as the base/crust but this time I decided to go with potatoes to make it a little more breakfasty.

I began by gathering my ingredients. From left to right: an orange tomato, chives, spinach, fresh tarragon, a large potato, 4 eggs, English White Cheddar with caramelized onion marmalade, cracked black pepper and purple onions.

I made a ‘crust’ in the skillet of sliced potatoes, and while that was crisping up, I prepped the rest of the ingredients. (Not shown: second pan giving a quick saute to the spinach and onions)

Gave a good scramble to the eggs and added pepper, chives and tarragon to them.  Chopped the tomato into slices and quickly sauteed the spinach and onion.

I added the egg to the skillet right on top of the potatoes. Don’t stir, the bottom will cook quickly in here and the top will be finished off under the broiler.

Adding the spinach and onion…

And tomato…

and CHEESE!…

toss it under the broiler…

Five minutes later, it’ll be nice and fluffy with hints of a golden brown crispyness on top.

A fully loaded Fritatta, greek yogurt, an orange and vegetable juice…Delicious. Easy. Healthy. Gone in sixty seconds.