Early Fall Mexican Casserole

Inspired to try some south-of-the-border flavors and armed with a bagful of produce from the farmer's market, I came up with this protein-packed, flavorful casserole. I highly recommend using dried beans, but if you're in a rush, canned will work just fine. This casserole is just a little bit spicy, but the heat can be adjusted either way. Like things more spicy? Try a hotter variety of pepper such as a jalapeno or a habanero. Like things less spicy? Try a milder variety like a bell pepper. This recipe also makes a fantastic cold salad-- just put everything together and omit the baking! (For the salad, I might substitute some fresh cilantro for the kale)

Bain taitneamh as do bhéil!

PREP TIME: about 1 hour (if cooking beans from scratch)

COOKING TIME: 25 minutes

SERVES: 6

INGREDIENTS:

7 cups vegetable stock, divided

1 cup dried black beans (substitute: 2 15 oz cans of black beans)

2 cups short grain brown rice

1 large onion, roughly chopped

1 clove garlic, diced finely

4-5 small hot peppers, such as cherry hots

4 ears of corn, kernels removed

4-5 kale leaves, stems removed, chopped finely

4 limes, zested and juiced

1/2 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon olive oil plus more for cooking

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a large stockpot, bring 3 cups of the vegetable stock to a boil. Add dried beans, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Simmer until beans are tender to the bite, stirring occasionally to prevent them from sticking to the bottom of the stockpot. (This should take about an hour)

While beans cook, bring remaining 4 cups of vegetable stock to a boil in another stockpot. Add rice, reduce heat to simmer and cover. Simmer until liquid is absorbed and rice is fluffy, stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking.

In a large frying pan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until just translucent. Add pepper, saute until just soft. Add corn and kale, stir mixture thoroughly and cover, reducing burner heat to low. Steam vegetable mixture for 2 minutes or until the kale turns bright green. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine zest and juice of the 4 limes. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon coriander and 1 teaspoon cumin. Stir to combine, set bowl aside.

By this time the beans should be done. (If not, everything you've cooked since can chill out while they finish up.) Drain any excess liquid from beans and discard. In one of the large stock pots, combine beans, rice, vegetable mixture and lime dressing. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly. If making the cold salad, add some chopped cilantro and put mixture in the fridge to cool for an hour before serving. If making casserole, proceed to next step.

Grease a large casserole dish and pour rice mixture in. Top with 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese. (Omit this step for a vegan casserole) Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil and bake for 5 minutes more, or until top browns slightly.

Serve with a big, salt-rimmed margarita!

Scrappy Vegetable Stock

A lot of my recipes call for vegetable stock. When cooking grains and pastas, plain old water will do in a pinch, but veggie stock adds so much more flavor and vibrancy to a dish!

Most grocers carry cans or cartons of vegetable broth and stock, but that can get a little expensive. My good friend Grace Gonglewski gave me her secret: she makes her own veggie stock with vegetable scraps!

Think about it-- when you chop up vegetables, a lot of that vegetable goes to waste. The tops of onions, eggplants, peppers, the cores of tomatoes, the skins of onions and garlic, the stems of fresh herbs, broccoli, cauliflower, kale swiss chard... it's all stuff that you wouldn't necessarily cook with, but it's all perfectly edible. And this goes for whole vegetables that are starting to go a little soft, too. I wouldn't save anything rotten or moldy, but if the veggie is simply too soft to eat or just a little past it's prime, I'll throw it in the mix.

So I save all of those odds and ends and freeze them, in gallon-sized bags. Once I have two of those bags full of scraps, I know it's time to make stock. (Side note: I'm having trouble figuring out the difference between broth and stock. Most websites point out the difference between the two in terms of meat, so as far as this website is concerned, I will use the two terms interchangeably. Unless someone can tell me the difference, that is....)

I find that the flavor of my broth really depends on the season. The last batch I made was pretty heavily tomato-based, as I made it right in the height of tomato season. (My garden went tomato-wild this year, so I've been cooking with tomatoes a lot!) This time around I had a lot of broccoli stems and eggplant tops, as well as the usual peppers, onions and garlic.

Below please find my photo-montage recipe for Scrappy Vegetable Stock.

Bain taitneamh as do bhéil!

PREP TIME: about 10 minutes
COOKING TIME: 3 hours
SERVES: makes about 18 cups of stock

INGREDIENTS:
2 gallon freezer bags worth of vegetable scraps
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon freshly cracked pepper
1 tablespoon powdered oregano
3 bay leaves
dollop of olive oil

EQUIPMENT:
16 quart stock pot with lid
smaller stock pot
colander that fits the top of the smaller stock pot
extra-fine cheesecloth
slotted spoon
ladle
measuring cup
containers for freezing broth (I like empty 32 ounce plastic yogurt containers)


It's stock time:

Look at all of this frozen goodness!

Grab your largest stock pot (I use a 16 quart) and throw all of the frozen vegetables in:

Fill the stockpot 3/4 of the way with water:

Now is the time for seasonings. I like to add 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon cracked pepper, 3 bay leaves and 1 tablespoon powdered oregano, but that is simply a suggestion. If you have different dried herbs you'd like to try, throw them in! Or don't season at all-- the vegetables will provide a ton of great flavor. I throw in a dollop of olive oil (don't go crazy, you don't want super-greasy stock) and stir it all up:

Looks like a mucky mess, doesn't it? Turn the burner on high and bring the mixture to a boil. (This might take some time with all of the frozen veggies!) Once a boil is reached, turn the burner down, bring mixture to a simmer and cover the pot.

Before the boil is reached:

And now you wait. The longer the stock simmers, the richer your flavors will be. It should simmer for one hour at the very least. I like to give it three. Take a break! Have a glass of wine!

About midway through the three hour simmer:

After you've simmered for a good long time, it's time for the real work. Line your colander with 2 layers of the extra-fine cheesecloth:

Place lined colander on top of smaller stock pot. Make sure colander is large enough to rest at the top of the stock pot-- we're going to be pouring hot liquid through it and we don't want it to fall in!

Turn off the heat and move large stock pot next to the sink. Have your slotted spoon and your ladle ready!

Scoop all of the large vegetable pieces out of the stock with your slotted spoon and discard (or compost!):

Looks pretty gross, right?

Once you've removed the large pieces, ladle the remaining stock and small bits into the lined colander. You should immediately hear the stock starting to drain through the cheesecloth and into the smaller stock pot. This will take some time, but don't rush it! You don't want nasty chunks in your stock.

When the mixture is all filtered through the cheesecloth, you should have some remaining muck:
Discard cheesecloth and muck. Now you have veggie stock! This stock freezes really well, and I like to measure it out before I freeze it so I can grab just the amount I need.

I freeze it in 2 cup and 4 cup increments. (2 cups is a small recipe, 4 cups is a big recipe!)


4 cups of stock, ready to go into the freezer! (Be sure to leave a little room at the top of your container to allow the stock to expand in the freezer)

A freezer full of stock!
And the next time I cut up vegetables, I'll start the cycle all over again by saving and freezing the scraps!

There you have it! It's a little time-consuming, but actually pretty simple. And you'll have a great supply of homemade veggie stock that you can reach for anytime the mood strikes you. I've even given it as a gift-- tell your friends it's your best scrappy vegetable stock!

A huge thank-you to Grace for this awesome idea!

Super Smoothie!

Who says comfort food has to be warm? The late September weather around here feels more like the dog days of August, so after a sweaty morning yoga session I'm craving something that cools me down and packs a good punch of protein into my tired muscles.

This smoothie requires a little bit of shopping, but don't be scared by the ingredient list. Once you buy this stuff, you'll be amazed at how long it lasts and how many delicious smoothies you can get out of it. I like to buy fresh fruit and freeze it myself (check out this handy website for tips) but this recipe works just as well with frozen fruit from the grocer. I highly recommend that you purchase organic frozen fruit-- I definitely notice a difference in taste between organic and conventional. The flax seeds provide essential omega 3 fatty acid, and you won't even taste the spinach once it's all blended in-- but you'll still get all of the benefits of this leafy powerhouse.

It definitely helps to have a good blender, but you don't have to go crazy-expensive. After years with a cheap-o, I thought smoothies were just hard to make. I recently upgraded my blender by just a few dollars and I'm totally amazed at the difference! I now have a Black & Decker Cyclone that I purchased from Target for about $30 and it's fantastic. Of course there are other great options out there-- as long as your blender has a "pulse" and a "smoothie" option, you should be great.

And last but not least, these measurements are completely not exact. It's all up to your taste. Do you like a thicker smoothie? Add less soy milk. Thiner? Add more! Don't like almond butter? Try peanut or cashew butter! Don't like blueberries? Try frozen mangos or peaches or strawberries... you get the idea. Don't have spinach? Try swiss chard or kale instead. The possibilities and variations are endless.

Bain taitneamh as do bhéil!


PREP TIME: 5 minutes
COOKING TIME: less than 5 minutes
SERVES: 2

INGREDIENTS:
1 tablespoon flax seeds
5-10 frozen grapes
15-20 frozen blueberries
1/2 a frozen banana
handful fresh baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup silken tofu
1 tablespoon unsalted almond butter
1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

DIRECTIONS:
In blender, layer all ingredients beginning with flax seeds through soy milk. Place lid on blender, and hold firmly while pulsing mixture a few times to get frozen fruit broken up. If blender is having trouble, remove lid and stir mixture a little. Replace lid and pulse again.

Finish the smoothie by blending it on the highest setting until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. If mixture is still too thick, try adding a little more soy milk until desired consistency is attained.

Serve with a big glass of iced green tea.

Creamy Broccoli & Pepper Rice Casserole

I bought a HUGE head of broccoli at the farmer's market on South & Passyunk and decided to try a more healthful spin on the traditional broccoli-and-cheese casserole. My good friend Melanie supplied me with the cherry hot peppers, as she has a veritable jungle of pepper plants in her garden right now. (Side note: she's also inundated with habaneros, any suggestions for her? She has no idea how to use them all!) Soy milk helps to create that creamy texture in the casserole, and cooking the rice in mushroom broth gives the whole dish a wonderful earthy flavor.

Bain taitneamh as do bhéil!


PREP TIME: about 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 30 minutes
SERVES: 6

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups short grain brown rice
4 cups mushroom broth
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
4 to 5 small semi-hot peppers, such as cherry hots, chopped (for less heat, use 2 bell peppers)
1 very large head broccoli, chopped up into bite-sized pieces
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup unsweetened soymilk
3/4 cup shredded soy cheddar cheese, divided
1 large bunch of fresh thyme, stems removed
Olive oil, for cooking
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large stockpot, bring mushroom broth to a boil. Add rice, reduce heat, cover and simmer until all liquid is absorbed and rice is fluffy.

While rice is cooking, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until just translucent. Add peppers and saute until slightly soft. Add broccoli, saute until broccoli is warmed through and starting to green. Be careful not to over cook whats on the stovetop-- everything's going in the oven!

When rice is done, mix in vegetables, sunflower seeds, soy milk, 1/2 cup soy cheese and fresh thyme. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir thoroughly until mixture is thoroughly incorporated.

Grease casserole dish with a thin layer of olive oil and spread rice mixture evenly over the bottom. Top with the remainder 1/4 cup soy cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, remove foil and bake for 10 more minutes uncovered to brown the top.

Serve with a leafy green salad and a big glass of wine.


I originally posted this recipe on VegWeb.