Tomato Pie (Tart) with Not-Fried Green Heirloom Tomatoes & Spicy Remoulade (Vegetarian or Vegan)

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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OK.  This is fucking easy & light & can be vegan if you have a vegan dough recipe.  I used a Pillsbury pie crust which I just discovered has lard in it.  Oops!  I won’t make that mistake again.

Anyway – you can make your own pie crust with vegan butter or use a pre-made thing that is ACCIDENTALLY vegan – like Pillsbury Butter Flake Crescent Rolls.  Check out SO FAKE IT IS VEGAN or PETA’s ACCIDENTALLY VEGAN list for some surprising vegan items.

The fact is – if you are vegan but not on a gluten-free diet – you probably can figure out your pie crust pretty easily.  Gluten-avoiders probably have all their alternative options lined up, too, so I am not going to worry.  I am just gonna post this easy & yummy thing & let you guys work out subbing where you need to sub.

I really LOVE fried green tomatoes but good luck finding genuine green tomatoes in LA.  Yet – often when I squeeze the heirloom selection – the green ones are very hard.  Likely, they would be red ones if left on the vine long enough.  Who cares?  The hard green ones (and a resilient yellow one) worked great in this dish.  And, while it offers most of the pleasures of a fried green tomato recipe, it is not fried at all & comes with far less guilt.

This spicy remoulade I made is basically spicy Thousand Island dressing.  Or – a tweak on the Delta Dipping Sauce I posted with my Spicy Baked Parmesan Zucchini Chips and my “Oh, shit!  I ate too big of a chunk of a pot truffle and now I need to cook my way out of an eighteen hour high” dinner (for THAT story – look here – and read the whole post) – Spicy Southern Fried Cauliflower and Delta Dipping Sauce with Smashed Baked Potatoes and White Gravy and Buffalo Mac & Cheese – seen below, respectively.

There are a bunch of ingredients but you just blend them up & go – so don’t be intimidated.

SPICY REMOULADE

INGREDIENTS

(PS – you can go ALL mayo rather than with yogurt – if the extra calories don’t concern you or if vegan yogurt is hard to find.)

1/2 cup yogurt – or vegan alternative

1/4 cup mayo – or vegan alternative

1/8 cup grain or Dijon mustard

1-3 garlic cloves

1 tsp dill pickle juice

1 cocktail dill pickle

1 tsp capers

1/2 tsp prepared horseradish

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp hot or smoked paprika

1 tsp hot sauce (I used Crystal)

DIRECTIONS

Blend that shit up in a food processor or blender.  Refrigerate.

Tomato Pie (Tart) with Not-Fried Green Heirloom Tomatoes

INGREDIENTS

Pie crust for the tart shell (I used Pillsbury but I hear there is lard in them – so choose or make your crust with your own dietary restrictions in mind)

4 heirloom tomatoes (color selection not important) – mine were NOT ripe & were rock hard so look for this sort (or the hardest tomatoes you can find)  – sliced very thin

1 small sweet onion – sliced thin

2-4 garlic cloves – chopped

S&P

2 TBS butter – or vegan alternative

3/4 cup Panko or other bread crumbs

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Basil or arugula or parsley as garnish (insanely optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

I used a spring form tart pan like this one (photo stolen from Google):

ANY spring form pan or even a traditional pie dish will do – so don’t go buying something you don’t need.

Whatever pan you use – grease it up with cooking spray or olive oil or butter.

Slice the tomatoes & lay them on paper towels.  Sprinkle with salt & press more paper towels on top.  This will remove lots of their moisture so your tart is not soggy.

Press your crust dough into whatever pan you are using and cut some vent slits in the bottom & bake empty (par-bake) for SEVEN MINUTES.  Take it out of the oven & set aside.

After the tomatoes drain for 15 minutes or more – layer the sliced onions & garlic & tomatoes into your crust.  Add lots of S&P.

Melt the butter in a pan and add the panko & seasonings.  Spread it on top of the tomatoes.

Wrap tightly in foil (don’t forget the foil or your panko will burn) and bake for about 45 minutes to an hour – erring on the longer oven-time if you want really soft tomatoes.  Remove the foil & bake another five minutes or until the panko turns golden.

Let this sucker rest unmolested for at least 15 minutes before cutting into it.

Serve with the spicy remoulade & any garnish you feel inspired to use.  Bust out some champagne.  It’s the holidays!   Draw a hot bubble bath & polish off the champagne in the tub – with a copy of my book!  www.bathingbook.com!  Makes a great stocking stuffer – assuming the recipients of your stuffed stockings like to read raunchy comedies about drinking too much & regrettable sex.

Cheers!

Fried Sage and Mushroom Pizza – A Vegetarian or Vegan Thanksgiving Alternative

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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What can what say about pizza except, “Yes, please!”?

I love pizza.  I love sage.  I love mushrooms.  WTF?  Why haven’t I posted this pizza before?

I usually make my own sauce but this particular Rao’s is like crack for me & I use it when I am feeling very lazy, in a hurry or if I just don’t have the ingredients to make a sauce.

It has a genuine kick & a great texture and I can literally eat it cold out of the jar with a spoon.  It is $$ but it is SO worth it!

I made my own dough (and always do) but I use this pizza dough recipe from SAVEUR – though I just dump all the ingredients into my bread machine (without letting the yeast do its thing) and I let the machine knead.  I also tend to use the dough the same day – but it makes enough for at least 4 individual pizzas so it takes a few days for me to get through it all.  If making your own dough is not your idea of fun – use your favorite store version.

 

With many recipes, the quantity of each ingredient really depends on one’s personal preferences.  I like spicy food & I like thin crust pizza with toppings that do not overwhelm.  You might like a marinara or a thick pizza & triple cheese.  So – I will just tell you what I used – without strict quantities listed – and you make this bad boy to suit your own tastes.  The flavors here are reminiscent of the traditional Thanksgiving tastes – and nobody has to die!

Fried Sage and Mushroom Pizza

INGREDIENTS

Pizza dough (I use THIS recipe)

Sauce (I used Rao’s Arrabbiata)

A handful of mushrooms – sliced

Garlic cloves (I left mine whole but you can chop yours)

Fresh sage

Butter or olive oil

S&P

Mozzarella cheese (fresh in water is best but I used the cheap grated shit & it was delicious) – or vegan alternative

DIRECTIONS

Get your oven all the way to 450-500 degrees.  Full temp is important.

Melt 1-2 TBS butter or olive oil over medium-high heat & fry the sage for about a minute.  Do not burn it.  It should still look green & even still seems soft.  Remove the sage leaves with tongs or a slotted spoon & drain them on paper towels.  Raise the heat to high & fry the mushrooms and garlic in the sage-infused butter/oil.  Cook them until they are to your liking.   Set aside.

Roll out the dough to your preferred thickness.  Put it on some kind of cooking sheet.  I use a really cheap, old, round pizza pan topped with parchment paper but I could just treat it with cooking spray.  I have come to really love parchment paper, though, because nothing seems to stick to it & it because it looks pretty when it comes out of the oven.

I pre-cooked my crust after brushing it with olive oil (as you can see in the images) but I don’t really recommend that unless you are topping your pizza as lightly as you would a flatbread.  Just top it raw.

Add some sauce, mushrooms, sage & cheese.  I left my sage whole but can crumble yours, if you prefer.

Bake 8-12 minutes or until it is cooked to your liking.

Slice it up.  Eat it.  Make another.  Eat that, too.  Fuck it!  It is the holidays!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!

 

Easiest Ever Vegan Garlic Sesame Chicken (with or without Honey) for the Slow Cooker

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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There is nothing easier than putting raw ingredients into a crock pot & walking away – only to return in a few hours to a home that smells yummy & food that is delicious.

This is the easiest fucking dish ever.  I used Beyond Meat’s vegan chicken but if you insist that meat be involved – just use it.

I used honey but I am not vegan.  If you are – don’t get your panties in a bunch.  Either use agave nectar or just omit it & don’t sub anything else.  I don’t think it is critical as the jam adds all the sweet this dish needs.

There are no photos of the process because there is no process.  Just dump the shit into your crock pot & go for a hike.  Come home & shove this in your pie hole.  You can thank me later.

Easiest Ever Vegan Garlic Sesame Chicken (with or without Honey) for the Slow Cooker

Feeds 2 well with rice

INGREDIENTS

9 oz vegan chicken

6 cloves garlic – minced

1 small onion – diced

1/4 cup of some dark berry jam – I used blueberry but blackberry would be great

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/2 cup honey (if you are not vegan) or agave nectar (if you are) – optional

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 TBS sesame oil

1 – 2 TBS cornstarch

For garnish:

Scallions, sesame seeds and/or Thai basil and cooked rice

Directions

Cook some rice.

Put everything EXCEPT THE CORNSTARCH the garnishes in your crock pot.  Stir it all up.  My crock pot has no settings so I assume it is just always on high.  Leave it alone for an hour or two – stirring it if you can or want to but it doesn’t need it.

Once it was all bubbly & hot, I used a slotted spoon & took the chicken out and used two forks to sorta shred it – like a pulled pork.  I whisked about 1-2 TBS cornstarch into the sauce to thicken it & then returned the shredded chick to the pot.  I let it sit a while longer but it didn’t need it.  It didn’t REALLY need the shredding or cornstarch, either, so if it looks good to you right outta the pot au naturale – go for it!

Then I garnished it & ate some over rice.  I enjoyed it.

True story.

Fresh Mint and Zucchini Mac and Cheese

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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This mac & cheese is the easiest of the three I posted this week.  I already posted Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko and Chipotle Gouda and Guinness (Stout) Mac and Cheese with Vegan Pulled Chicken (or Pork) in Homemade Chipotle Apricot BBQ Sauce – seen above, respectively.

I have also posted another version of mint & zucchini pasta in one of my earliest recipes in the first week or so of my food porn blogging adventure – Zucchini & Mint Pasta with Parmesan – seen below in a rather underwhelming photo.

That recipe was stolen from my friend Naomi but this mac & cheese is all mine.  Mint & zucchini might sound odd but they add a light & refreshing taste to pasta – which is sort of the opposite of what you think of when you think pasta.

This mac & cheese was easiest because I did not bother with a roux.  This can come together very quickly  – like – the time it takes to cook the pasta – and then sit waiting on your counter (or fridge) until you are thirty minutes away from serving dinner.

Alas – my photos of THIS mint & zucchini dish are also underwhelming because 1) I didn’t photograph the leftovers until the next day (as these three mac & cheeses were made for a birthday dinner) and more importantly 2) I tripped over a dog gate as I carried the ramekins to a nicely lit spot & I took quite a fall.  I broke a little table:

and hot mac & cheese flew all over a nutmeg leather & brocade love seat & all over the floor, too.  My self-pity knew no bounds & the photo session was over.  So – I had to settle for what I had taken so far.  But – trust me – this dish is far yummier than the photos suggest & it really is easy.

Fresh Mint and Zucchini Mac and Cheese

INGREDIENTS

1/2 to 3/4  lb macaroni (or pasta of your choice)

6 very large zucchini or 12 regular ones

1 bunch fresh mint

6 garlic cloves

2 TBS olive oil

2 cups pepper jack – grated

2 cup mozzarella – grated

1 cup Parmesan

4 oz cream cheese

S&P

Extra Parmesan for garnish

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the pasta.

Meanwhile, using a cheese grater or a food processor – grate all but one large (or 2 small) zucchinis.  Slice the remaining ones into 1/4 inch thick rounds to be used to top the pasta – like you see on the one on the far right.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan.  Drop in the garlic cloves.  I left mine whole because they were small but you can chop yours first – if the idea of biting into a whole clove later bums you out.

Add the zucchini & saute until soft.  Season with S&P.

Chop the mint.  Reserve some for garnish later & toss the rest into the zucchini pan.  Stir to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain it & toss it with the zucchini mixture.  Reserve 1 cup of mozzarella & the cup of grated Parmesan & mix the pepper jack, cream cheese & remaining one cup of mozzarella with the pasta.

Treat a casserole pan (or ramekins) with cooking spray & put the pasta mix in.  Top with zucchini rounds & then with the 1 cup each of mozzarella & Parmesan.

Heat for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is all melted & bubbling & beginning to turn golden.

Let it rest 5-10 minutes, serve & garnish with more mint (and Parmesan) and lots of freshly ground pepper & then dig in.

Delicious, no?    Told ya so!

Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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This is the second installment of my mac & cheese hat trick.   Easy & THIS one was the crowd pleaser of the three.  The other day I posted Chipotle Gouda and Guinness (Stout) Mac and Cheese with Vegan Pulled Chicken (or Pork) in Homemade Chipotle Apricot BBQ Sauce – seen just above.  I kinda liked that one the best but this one is simple & elegant.  Just do not be heavy-handed with the truffle oil because it gets overpowering quickly,  Also – be sure it is not old – because it goes rancid faster than most oils or, maybe because you typically use it sparingly, it just sits around past its shelf life but be sure to sniff it before using it.

Here is the mint & zucchini mac & cheese!

Again – I cooked these for a birthday party (the three versions) and did not photograph them out of the oven.  The photos in ramekins were taken the following day as I reheated leftovers.   You could cook yours in a casserole pan or in ramekins.  Either way, it still tastes delicious!

Without further ado – I present my Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko!

Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac and Cheese with Crispy Panko

INGREDIENTS

1 lb pasta – cooked, drained & cooled under running water

12 oz smoked Gouda – grated

2 cups mozzarella – grated

A few tsp truffle oil (black or white) used in a quantity to suit you particular tolerance of the flavor

1 TBS Dijon

4 cups milk

4 TBS butter

4 TBS flour

S&P

1-2 cups panko

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook & cool the pasta.  Drizzle about 1 tsp truffle oil on it & stir it in.  Set aside.

Warm the milk.

In another pan, melt the butter over med-high heat & then add the flour.  Whisk constantly & it should bet thick pretty fast.  Heat it until it starts to turn a golden sandy color.  Then, reserving ONE CUP of the milk to the side for later, add the remaining 3 cups of milk 1/2 cup at a time, whisking the whole time, until all the milk is incorporated & it is sorta thick – but still pourable.

 

Whisk in the Dijon and a tsp of truffle oil.  Taste it & decide whether you think it could use more truffle oil.  I did not add more here – but you can if you like.  All truffle oil is not created equal & some may be stronger than others & the amount required is a matter of personal preference.  Add S&P.

Now add the smoked Gouda & the mozzarella.  When the cheese is all melted & incorporated, mix in the pasta.  Taste it.  Does it need more truffle oil?  You decide but try to go light with it.

At this point, I felt my pasta was too dry & might get ruined in the oven so I stirred in the remaining cup of milk.   This is also a judgement call.  I like wetter mac & cheese – others like it drier.  Use your judgement.  The top picture is before I added milk & the next shows what it looked like with a cup of milk added.

 

The truffle mac & cheese is above on the right.

Treat a casserole pan or a bunch of ramekins with cooking spray & put the pasta in.  Top with panko.  I sprayed the panko with cooking spray.  It helps add some crunch to the breadcrumbs.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until it is all melty & the panko is beginning to brown.

Serve with additional truffle oil on the table so folks can add more if they like a heavy truffle flavor.

Enjoy!

Chipotle Gouda and Guinness (Stout) Mac and Cheese with Vegan Pulled Chicken (or Pork) in Homemade Chipotle Apricot BBQ Sauce

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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Macaroni & cheese.  Who doesn’t love it?  It can be customized so many ways and, even better, can be prepared in advance & baked in the last half hour so – if you are hosting a party – you can actually enjoy it, too, and not slave in the kitchen while the guests swill your liquor together.

I hosted a little birthday thingy recently & made three, count’m – THREE – different kinds of mac & cheese.  I made the one posted here and I made a Mint & Zucchini Mac & Cheese & a Smoked Gouda & Truffle Oil Mac & Cheese with Crispy Panko – seen below – respectively.

I made this pulled chicken version with Beyond Meat vegan chicken.

You could use any fake (or real) meat.  I also made a homemade BBQ sauce (which is VERY easy) but your favorite jarred variety will do.

I used chipotle gouda.  Only 8 oz.  LOTS of other cheese, though, so the chipotle part was a tad overwhelmed but the chipotle BBQ sauce more than made up for it.  If you love chipotle, maybe add a chopped chipotle pepper or two into the cheese mix of double or triple the quantity of chipotle gouda?  These kinds of dishes have lots of wiggle room so do not get all anal about this shit.  Mix it up & trust.  It is fucking cheese & pasta.  Who is gonna complain?

I used a combination of various pastas in my three dishes.  The kind you use is up to you.

My dish was inspired by this photo – but the recipe is mine.  The list of ingredients in the BBQ sauce is long but the instructions are short – so do not be intimidated.

Homemade Chipotle Apricot BBQ Sauce

Makes WAY more than you need for just the mac & cheese recipe – so keep leftovers jarred in the fridge

INGREDIENTS

1 TBS Olive Oil

1/2 onion – diced

7 garlic cloves – minced

1 4 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo – minced

3/4 cup apricot jam or preserves

1 cup tomato sauce (I used a spicy homemade pasta sauce I had around but jarred/canned is fine)

1 cup ketchup

A few shakes hot sauce ( I love Crystal)

1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 cup brown sugar

1-3 TBS sriracha (or other hot sauce)

1/4 cup cider vinegar

2 TBS Dijon

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp celery salt (optional)

1 tsp ground pepper

1-3 DROPS Liquid Smoke (optional – but if you use it – GO LIGHT because this stuff gets gross fast)

2 TBS cornstarch (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Heat the olive oil in a pan & saute the onions.

Once they are soft, add everything else & bring to a boil – then lower heat & simmer for 15 minutes or so.  You could puree this in a blender if you liked – but I did not.  I then left mine in a crock pot for a few hours but a few minutes stove top is great.  If you want it thicker – stir in some cornstarch at the end.  I did not do this.

Set aside.  See?  easy!

 

OK – one thing – because I made this mac & cheese for a party, I cooked it in a large casserole pan but the ramekin images were taken the next day – when I reheated the leftovers.

This is not burned on top.  You are seeing the BBQ sauce & vegan chicken.  Mmmmmmm!

Chipotle Gouda and Guinness (Stout) Mac and Cheese with Vegan Pulled Chicken (or Pork)

INGREDIENTS

2 cups BBQ sauce (recipe above)

1 lb dry pasta – cooked & drained & cooled under running water

9 oz vegan chicken or pork (or real meat)

2 cups milk (I used almond)

4 TBS butter

4 TBS flour

pinch of nutmeg

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

1 12 oz Guinness (or other stout)

8 oz chipotle gouda

3 cups grated cheddar

2 cups grated pepper jack – divided

4 oz cream cheese

S&P to taste

1-2 cups panko or other breadcrumbs

 

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook & cool the pasta.

Heat up 1 1/2 cups of BBQ sauce (reserve 1/2 cup to drizzle over the top later) & drop the vegan chicken in there.  Bring to a boil & the lower heat & simmer while you do the next things.  When you can, however, use two forks & shred the chicken in the BBQ sauce.

Warm the milk.

In another pan, melt the butter over med-high heat & then add the flour.  Whisk constantly & it should bet thick pretty fast.  Heat it until it starts to turn a golden sandy color.  Then, add the milk 1/2 cup at a time, whisking the whole time, until all the milk is incorporated & it is sorta thick – but still pourable.    Now add the beer the same way.  It could get frothy & bubble over so be careful.  It won’t get thick again once you add the beer.  Once it is all incorporated – add all the other ingredients – EXCEPT the BBQ chicken – and be sure to reserve one cup of pepper jack to top the dish.

Spray a casserole pan with cooking spray & put the mac & cheese in.  If it seems too dry, stir in some milk.  I didn’t have to with this recipe.  Top with panko (and I spray them with cooking spray).  The one on the left is the one for this recipe.

Bake for about 25 minutes & then top it with the BBQ chicken & the reserved pepper jack.  Bake another ten minutes or so – or until the cheese is melted.

Drizzle with reserved BBQ sauce, if you desire.

Let it rest 5 minutes or so & serve that shit up!

Vegetarian Pasta “Carbonara” with Roasted Asparagus, Mushrooms and Tomatoes

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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I am a HUGE fan of homemade pasta.  I love the process of making it.  I like looking at it on my counter drying and, more than anything, I love eating it.   Homemade pasta is more different from boxed pasta than you expect & easier to make than you might think.  It is especially easy if you have a Kitchenaid stand mixer & the pasta cutting attachment.  This blog today will not get into making pasta because I have covered that a great deal already over the years.  Click HERE to see a partial list of recipes I have blogged about that used homemade pasta.  They will all contain info or links to info on the wonder that is homemade pasta.

One of my most successful pasta dishes was so awesome – it didn’t even need the homemade spaghetti to push it over the top.  It was my smoked salmon carbonara.  Is it gorgeous or what?

I really love salmon & smoked salmon in pasta is hard to fuck up but – alas – I gave up seafood this year.  Still – I found myself craving this simple & smokey dish so I dug through my fridge & came up with today’s version of carbonara.  Traditional carbonara uses eggs & some form of pork – ham or bacon.  It should not involve cream & it has nothing to do with the Americanized alfredo-like dish so many places serve up.  It should be clean & light & flavorful.  This vegetarian version lives up to those standards.

I used tomatoes because I had a few that were on their last legs & I did not want them to go to waste.  They add a nice color to the photos but I think they might be too sharp in taste to really serve the others flavors in this dish so – in the future – I will omit them.    Use PASTURED eggs.  Only pastured eggs are genuinely cruelty-free   They cost about a buck apiece but they are so worth it.  This dish is very easy to pull together once you have roasted the veggies so do not be intimidated.

Vegetarian Pasta “Carbonara” with Roasted Asparagus, Mushrooms and Tomatoes

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

1/2 pound dry pasta (or homemade) – spaghetti is traditional

1 bunch asparagus – tough ends trimmed (see and easy way HERE) and sliced into 1-2 inch pieces

4 Roma tomatoes – diced (optional & I actually suggest skipping them)

6-10 mushrooms – sliced

4 garlic cloves – chopped

Olive oil

2 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Smoked mozzarella for grating

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Toss the mushrooms, asparagus & tomatoes (if you are using tomatoes) and garlic in about 1-2 TBS olive oil.  Toss in some S&P.  Roast for 30-45 minutes – stirring every 15 minutes until the vegetables look about like this & have released most of their moisture.

You could do this in a saute pan, too, but the oven is effortless & dries the veggies out well so – yeah.

Whisk the eggs & Parmesan & most of the parsley & some salt & pepper in a bowl.

When you think the vegetables are almost ready, cook the pasta.  Drain it & toss it immediately with the hot vegetables & the raw egg mixture.  The heat from the pasta & veggies will cook the eggs – I promise.

Serve the pasta with the extra parsley & grate some smoked mozzarella over the top.  The smokey cheese will replicate the missing ham just a bit.

Add more Parmesan, if you like, and lots of freshly ground pepper.  Mmmmm!

Vegan Slow Cooker Red Curry Lentils

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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Slow cookers.  Mmmmmm!  So satisfying.  Like I said in my Baked Rigatoni with Spicy Slow Cooker Fennel and Grilled Eggplant Sauce and Smoked Mozzarella (Scamorza) post – coming home to a house filled with the aroma of a fresh cooked meal is the next best thing to having a wife.  Or a husband.  Because the dogs just never seem to get motivated enough to cook.  Or maybe they do – but they just eat it all up themselves.

Either way – a slow cooker can be a dreamy thing.  Some recipes, like my pasta above, require a bit of prep & post work but THIS one does not.  Just throw everything into the slow cooker & go away.  I did.  For TEN HOURS.  And I came home to a delicious & healthy meal with enough left over that I will have a nice lunch to warm for several days, too.

I used this slow cooker here because it has low & high settings.

I have three other slow cookers but one is TINY and best used to heat dips that are supposed to be served warm, another is pretty small with no settings & I did not feel safe leaving it unattended all day & the last one is just huge.  So – I dragged this beauty out & just used the center bowl.

This is not particularly spicy so I added sriracha when I served it but you could add more spice (or less) from the beginning – according to your taste.

This could also be made stove top in just the time it takes to cook the lentils but you might want to saute the onions a bit first to soften them.

Vegan Slow Cooker Red Curry Lentils

feeds at least 4 very very well with rice

INGREDIENTS

3 cups lentils ( I used pink/red ones but any would do – though pink will be prettiest)

1 TBS olive oil

26 oz strained tomatoes

1 small onion – diced

4 garlic cloves – minced

2 tsp fresh grated ginger (or 1 tsp dry ground ginger) – I used jarred

1 tsp ground cumin

4 TBS red curry paste

2 tsp turmeric

2 tsp salt

1-3 tsp cayenne pepper (according to your tolerance for heat)

2 tsp garam masala (recipe below if you cannot find it as garam masala)

1 TBS harissa or other hot sauce – like sriracha

4 cups water

1 (14 oz) can coconut milk (I used lite but regular is fine)

Chopped cilantro as garnish (and cook some rice to serve the lentils over – I used brown Basmati)

DIRECTIONS

Here is the beautiful part.  Just stick all the ingredients EXCEPT THE COCONUT MILK & CILANTRO into a slow cooker & set it on low.  Go away for 8-10 hours.  Or set it on high and it should be done in 2-3 hours.   When you are ready to serve it – stir in the coconut milk & serve over steamed rice.  Garnish with cilantro & maybe additional hot sauce.

Enjoy!

Garam Masala

INGREDIENTS

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Baked Rigatoni with Spicy Slow Cooker Fennel and Grilled Eggplant Sauce and Smoked Mozzarella (Scamorza)

 

 

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

Follow @celisemccarthy

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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Working a long day & coming home to a house filled with dogs is lovely but it would be even more lovely if they fucking cooked once in a while.  It would be really nice – for once – to come home to a homemade meal filling the house with tempting aromas & a nice glass of wine already poured & waiting for me.

The fact is – I am NEVER too tired to pour my own glass of wine but the home-cooked meal can really be a daunting pain in the ass and, as a result, I have been living largely on tortilla pizzas.  I complained to the badass, Miles Miller, that I really needed to get myself a little wife action – a little “Honey, you’re home!”  A little bit of someone slaving away in the kitchen for me prepping a warm & delicious meal – as I toiled elsewhere.

And then I remembered my slow cooker!  Slow cookers have always appealed to me but never more than now.  With my trusty crock pot chugging away in my absence – I COULD come home to a house filled with yummy smells & a warm dinner waiting for me.

And so – I dug through my fridge & pantry yesterday to see what I could throw together.

This is not the most basic slow cooker recipe as it requires prepping a few things before slow cooking and assembling a few things & throwing them in the oven after the slow cooker has worked its magic but it is still pretty easy & my house DID smell amazing when I walked in last night.  It was very welcoming.

I had a random collection of ingredients handy but they worked incredibly well together.  I grilled my eggplant first but this is not necessary.  I used fennel because I had it.  You could use these things or make your sauce with other stuff you like – sausage, for example.  The real key to this was the smoked mozzarella.  Smoked mozzarella adds a meaty richness to dishes and it made my baked rigatoni feel comforting & seem autumnal.  Try it.  I actually used Scamorza – which is basically mozzarella.  I had two little balls that were smaller than a pool ball and just one of them added enough oomph to make this dish incredible.

DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED by the ingredients list.  Look at it.  It is mostly spices & other crap you likely have around already.

 

 

Baked Rigatoni with Spicy Slow Cooker Fennel and Grilled Eggplant Sauce and Smoked Mozzarella (Scamorza)

INGREDIENTS

About 12 oz pasta – cooked, drained & tossed with a bit of olive oil

Olive oil

4 oz smoked mozzarella (or more)

Parsley – chopped (as garnish)

1-2 cups grated mozzarella (regular not smoked)

for the sauce (this makes about 10 cups of sauce but the baked pasta only requires HALF of that – so either be prepared to freeze some or cut the recipe in half)

2 (10 oz) cans of Rotel (or other fire roasted tomatoes)

2 (26 oz) cans or boxes of crushed and/or strained tomatoes (I used one of each)

1 cup tomato juice (I used a spicy V8 but any will do – or just add a cup of tomato sauce)

1 cup water

1/2 cup dry white wine (or  water)

1 eggplant – sliced & grilled or simply cubed without grilling (I dredged my eggplant in Newman’s Own Lite Italian dressing before grilling but olive oil is fine)

2 fennel bulbs – sliced very thin

1 red onion – diced

4-10 garlic cloves (I used 10)

1-3 TBS crushed red pepper (I used 3 and the sauce was genuinely spicy)

2 tsp salt

1 TBS black pepper

2 TBS dry oregano

1 TBS onion powder

1 TBS garlic powder

Fresh herbs (I used a big handful of basil, a large sprig of fresh rosemary, a few sprigs of fresh thyme & a small sprig of fresh oregano but any combo you have will do – basil being most important)

 

 

DIRECTIONS

Prep:

Cook the pasta & toss with olive oil & put it in the fridge until assembly time.

Grill the eggplant – if you are if you are doing that – and chop it.  I dipped mine in Italian dressing & grilled on my stove but a grill pan will do.  Or – just cube it & cook it a bit with the fennel & onion.

Heat 1-2 TBS olive oil in a large saute pan & saute the WHOLE garlic cloves & fennel & onion (and eggplant – if you are not grilling it) & cook (stirring frequently) – over medium heat – until the vegetables are soft & beginning to brown a bit.

 

 

 

Now, put all the sauce ingredients (don’t forget the water!!!) into your slow cooker & set it on low.  I left mine for ten hours.

Go away.  Come home.  Smell the yummy smells!!!

Assembly time!  Half an hour or so before you want to eat – continue with the recipe.

Heat the oven to 350.

 

Remove any hard stems that might be in your sauce (most of mine had broken down – with the exception of the rosemary stems).

Treat a casserole pan with some cooking spray.  Put the pasta in there & toss with about a cup of grated regular mozzarella & about 5 cups of the sauce.

Top with more sauce if you want to & maybe about a cup of grated mozzarella.  Top with sliced or grated smoked mozzarella (Scamorza) & bake, uncovered, for about 30 minutes or until it is bubbling at the edges & the cheese is just turning golden a bit.

Serve that shit up with some chopped parsley & congratulate yourself on what a good little wife you got when you bought that slow cooker!

 

 

 

EASY Homemade Crunchy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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OK – I am not really a fan of pumpkin seeds.  Or, at least I wasn’t until YESTERDAY when I roasted up some of my own!  Wow!  So easy & so yummy!  You will never throw pumpkin seeds away again.  Trust.

EASY Homemade Crunchy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

INGREDIENTS

Pumpkin seeds

Olive oil

Sea salt (fine)

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to about 325.

Get a large bowl of water & put the messy seed mix in there.  Separate the seeds from the flesh & the seeds all float to the top.  Use a slotted spoon & get those suckers outta there.

Boil some water & add a tsp of salt.  Lower the heat, add the seeds &  simmer the seeds, uncovered, for about 10 minutes & then drain them.

I let them set out to dry a bit & then tossed them with just a hint of olive oil.

Spread them on a cooking sheet in as thin a layer as you can – trying to minimize overlap so all the seeds get heat equally.  Sprinkle with a little salt & bake for about 10 minutes.

Take them out & stir them around.

Now continue roasting in 5 minute increments because you DO NOT want to burn these.  They are done when they are just starting to look golden but the real test is how they chew.  So – cool a few off each time you test them & eat them.  They are done when they chew easily & are nice & crunchy!

I stored mine in a jar on the counter & I steal some every time I walk by.  SO TASTY!

Roasted Pumpkin Lasagna with Red Chard and Fried Sage Bechamel (with Homemade Pumpkin Puree)

All Photos © Christine Elise McCarthy 2014

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To see images of my past posts & get links to the recipes – look on my Pinterest board – HERE.

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All my posts now have a VERY customizable PRINT & PDF option.  Create a PDF & save the recipe to your computer or print it out.  It offers a “remove images” option & you can delete any part of the post you do not need before printing.  The button is below by the Twitter & Facebook links.

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This recipe requires a few steps but all are pretty easy & the result is an impressive crowd pleaser.  I roasted a couple of pumpkins myself but you could use canned pumpkin with little change in the result.  The only real difference is that canned pumpkin doesn’t come with seeds & I am going to post a roasted pumpkin seed recipe next & they are SO FRIGGING YUMMY – you will definitely be missing out if you do not try them.

Roasted Pumpkin Lasagna with Red Chard and Fried Sage Bechamel (with Homemade Pumpkin Puree)

INGREDIENTS

1/2 – 1 lb lasagna noodles (I used about 10-12 noodles)

3 cups pumpkin puree (recipe for homemade is below)

16 oz ricotta cheese

1 bunch red chard (or rainbow or green chard or kale) – thick ribs cut out

1-2 TBS crushed red pepper (optional)

1+ cups grated Parmesan

1+ cups grated mozzarella

S&P

for the bechamel

4 cups milk (I used almond milk)

7 TBS butter

6 TBS flour

1 large bunch of fresh sage

Pinch of nutmeg

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cook the lasagna noodles for about half the time recommended for them to be al dente and – being sure to reserve the boiling water – scoop them out & run cold water over them in a colander.  Maybe toss with a touch of olive oil to be sure they don’t get sticky.

Plunge the greens you are using into the hot water & let them sit 2-3 minutes.  Drain & chop them & set aside.

Melt 1 TBS of the butter in a small saute pan & fry the sage leaves for about 1 minute of med-high heat.  Do not brown it.  Drain the sage on a paper towel & set aside.

Melt the remaining 6 TBS butter in the same pan in which you fried the sage (to take advantage of all the lovely sage flavor) & then transfer it into a stock pot large enough to hold 5 cups of milk.

Set the heat at med-low & whisk in the flour.  Keep whisking until the mixture smells nutty & takes on the color of light sand – about 6-7 minutes.

Meanwhile – in another pot – warm the milk but do not boil it.  Add the milk to the flour & butter roux – one cup at a time – and whisk until smooth & thick.  Reserve a few sage leaves for garnish & then crumble the rest into the bechamel.  Bring to a boil – whisking the entire time.  In 5-10 minutes – remove from heat, add some S&P and the nutmeg & set aside.

To make assembly easier – I blended the ricotta & pumpkin puree in my food processor.  This isn’t necessary but ricotta tends to be thick & hard to spread so blending it with the puree makes spreading easier & assures an even distribution.

Treat a small lasagna pan with cooking spray & assemble the lasagna.  Put 1/4 of the sage bechamel in the bottom of the pan & top with a layer of noodles.  Layer 1/2 of the ricotta & pumpkin & top with 1/2 of the greens & a sprinkling of crushed red pepper.  Add another 1/4 of the bechamel & another layer of noodles.  Top this with the other 1/2 of the pumpkin/ricotta and the other 1/2 of the greens.  Add more crushed red pepper – if you like – and maybe some S&P.  Add another 1/4 of the bechamel & another layer of noodles.  Top with the rest of the bechamel & spread the Parmesan & mozzarella on top.  Garnish with a few sage leaves.

Bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling & beginning to brown.  Let the lasagna rest about ten minutes & then start hacking into it & shoving it into your pie hole.  Mmmmmm!  Autumn!

Oh!  And in the interest of full disclosure – the pictures I used here of the lasagna on a plate is really TWO pieces of lasagna stacked on top of each other.  You can do this when you serve it – if the deeper lasagna appeals to you visually.

Homemade Roasted Pumpkin Puree

INGREDIENTS

Fresh pumpkin (I used two small pie pumpkins & got about 4 cups of puree from them)

Water

S&P

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the tops off & then pumpkins in half (or quarter them, if your pumpkin is large), seed them (keeping the seeds for roasting!  I will post a recipe for that next) & roast for about 40-50 minutes or until the skin is soft & the meat is fork tender.

Let them cool a bit & then scoop out the meat & puree in a food processor or blender.  I added about 1 cup of water to mine to thin it enough to blend.  Add a bit of S&P.

This puree is REALLY good for dogs & can be a miracle cure for doggy diarrhea if you add some to their food.  Just FYI.