Aderezo de Pimientos Rojos Agosto 6, 2009

 

Este aderezo lo he hecho varias veces para las cenas en el Centro de Yoga… allí le encantan los pimientos rojos.  Lo he hecho tantas veces “a ojo” que la ultima vez decidí escribir los ingredientes para poder compartirlo con ustedes…

 

 

ADEREZO DE PIMIENTOS MORRONES

2 pimientos morrones, de pote

1 taza de mayonesa sin huevo

3 dientes de ajo

¼ de cebolla violeta

6-10 aceitunas

½ taza de vinagre de cidra

2 cdas de sazón “garlic and herbs”

1 cda de perejil fresco picadito, o puedes usar el seco si no tienes el fresco

1 cda de sal

1 cdita de pimienta negra

¼ taza de agua

½ taza de aceite de canola

 

1. Mezcla todos los ingredientes en una licuadora.
2.  Añado el aceite de canola último a través de la abertura de la tapa de la licuadora para asegurarme que mezcla bien con el resto de los ingredientes y que después el dressing no se separe.

Pasta Romesco Diciembre 29, 2008

El otro día me entusiasme haciendo un dip de pimientos morrones, Muhamara, y salió tanto que serví una parte como aperitivo y otra parte la use para hacer esta pasta.

Le llamo Pasta Romesco y no Pasta Muhamara porque me di cuenta que hace tiempo yo hacía una salsa romesco para mezclar con pasta y básicamente son los mismos ingredientes – Pimientos morrones, pan, nueces, vinagre balsámico, etc.  Aunque he visto algunas recetas que se llaman romesco y su base es tomate y no pimientos morrones, la versión que yo aprendí la primera vez fue con pimientos.

Esto es evidencia que este dip es sumamente versátil y delicioso. 

 

PASTA ROMESCO

½ paquete de pasta integral

¾ taza de dip Muhamara

¼ taza de queso Pecorino Romano, rallado

 

1. Hierve la pasta de acuerdo a las instrucciones en el paquete.  Recuerda salar el agua bien.
2. Cuando la pasta esté hecha, escúrrele bien el agua, guardando como 1 taza de agua para afinar un poco la salsa.
3. Devuelve la pasta a la olla donde herviste la pasta, añade el dip Muhamara.  Si lo sientes muy espeso, agrégale un poco del agua de la pasta para que se afine un poco.  Añádele el queso rallado y mézclalo todo bien.
4. Échale más queso rallado por encima antes de servirla.

Muhamara Diciembre 24, 2008

Ahora que las Navidades están aquí, me he convertido en la preparadora oficial de dips de todas las fiestas a las que me invitan.  Y encontré estos pimientos rojos bellos y preciosos en el supermercado y quería hacer algo especial con ellos.

Hace unos meses, uno de los lectores de KarmaFree Cooking me menciono de este dip conocido como Muhamara – hecho con pimientos rojos y granadas.  Lo curioso es que me puse a investigar de este dip y encontré en mis recortes de revistas con recetas una receta para él.  Lo tenía desde hace anos y nunca lo había hecho.  Esta versión no contiene granadas, pero sabe súper delicioso en mi opinión.

 

DIP MUHAMARA

2 pimientos rojos frescos

½ taza de agua

½ de un pan pita de 6″

1 diente de ajo pequeño

½ taza de nueces tostadas, y más para decorar

1 cdita de paprika (pimentón)

1 cda de vinagre balsámico

1 cda de jugo de limón o de lima

2 cdas de aceite de oliva, extra virgen

½ cdita de sal Kosher

Pimienta a gusto

 

1. Cocina los pimientos hasta que la cascara complete se vuelva negra.  Lo puedes hacer debajo del broiler o como yo, que lo hice en mi hornito tostadora en la temperatura más alta.  Le das vuelta de vez en cuando hasta que este prieto por todos lados. Los colocas en un bowl y los cubres con papel plástico.  Déjalo tranquilito como por 15 minutos para que el vapor del calor de los mismos pimientos le separen la cascara.  Pélalos, descarta los tallos y las semillas.  Déjalos a un lado.
2.  Tuesta el pan pita, pártelo en pedacitos y remójalo en el agua.  Deja que se ablande como por 10 minutos.  Exprímele bien el agua y déjalo a un lado.
3. En un procesador de alimentos, mezcla el diente de ajo y las nueces.  Procésalo rápidamente como por 10 segundos.  Añádele el pimentón, los pimientos y el pan pita.  Procésalo hasta que forme una pasta suave, como 10 segundos.  Añádele el vinagre, jugo de limón, aceite, sal y pimienta.  Púlsalo hasta que todo esté bien combinado.
4. Transfiere el dip a un bowl y colócalo en la nevera.  Déjalo reposar en la nevera hasta al otro día, cuando lo debes servir a temperatura ambiente con tus galletitas preferidas.  Échale un chorrito de aceite de oliva y nueces para decorarlo.

 

Yo serví este dip con unas galletitas Wheat Thins.  Estaba delicioso.  Y les aseguro que definitivamente es necesario que lo dejes reposar “overnight” y servirlo a temperatura ambiente.  Así que hay que planificarse un poco si vas a servirlo en una fiesta.

Este dip también sabe delicioso en un sándwich, con mucha lechuga, tomate y cualquier otra cosa que se te antoje.

Mexican Salsa Mayo 17, 2008

I told you I was in an international mode these days, no?  Well, around the 5 de Mayo days, with all the TV ads about Mexican treats, I wanted some of my own.

I found a  recipe for Home-Made Mexican Salsa.  Please forgive me, but I did not save the address of where I got it from.  It seemed simple enough and I had all the ingredients at hand.  Let’s make some salsa.  I should say that I omitted the canned green chiles and the cilantro… they just do not agree with me.

 

MEXICAN SALSA

1 cup chopped tomatoes – I used Viter brand that comes in a jar, but you can use 2 fresh tomatoes too, finely chopped

½ onion, finely chopped

½ green bell pepper, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, grated

The juice of 1 ½ limes

1 tsp of kosher salt, or more to taste

1 tsp garlic salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

 

1. In a medium sized bowl with a lid, mix together the chopped tomatoes, onions, bell pepper and garlic cloves.   Add the lime juice, salt, garlic salt and pepper.
2. Mix well and refrigerate overnight.
3. Serve with corn chips or tortillas.

 

I’ll be honest.  It’s good, but I still need to tweak this recipe to make it taste more like a salsa and less like a gazpacho.  And I am not fond of gazpachos because to me, they taste like a sofrito.

So you might be asking yourselves, why in the world did Madelyn is giving us this recipe if she doesn’t really like it??????  Because it served as a great starter for these Stewed Sweet Peas.   I served the sweet peas over rice mixed with some toasted almonds and as the filling for a Potato and Sweet Pea Pastelon.

This was a tasty exercise in recycling…   try it, and let me know if you have any other “recycling” stories in your cooking repertoire. 

Vegetable Lo Mein for one Mayo 13, 2008

I am in a real international vibe these days…  now I am on an Asian kick.  My mom started it because she’s been craving a tofu stir-fry I make with snow peas and bean sprouts.  The thing is that we have not been able to get together to actually make it. You know how it is with busy schedules…

So, in the meantime, I made for lunch this clean-out-the-fridge stir fry.  It was a completely impromptu dish…  not even planning to share it with you just yet.  But the results were soooo good, I had to take a picture of it. 

This is really a method…  you can change it up as you prefer.  This is what I used this time…

 

 

VEGETABLE LO-MEIN for one

1/8 packet of dry whole grain pasta – spaghetti or bucatini would work well

½ onion, sliced

½ red bell pepper, sliced

1 garlic clove, grated

3-4 leaves of romaine lettuce, washed, dried and cut into thin strips and tough stems removed

Handful of bean sprouts, washed and dried

3 tbs teriyaki sauce

1 tbs olive oil

Squirt of honey

Freshly cracked pepper to taste

1 tbs toasted sesame seeds – for garnish

 

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Once water is boiling, add plenty of salt and add the pasta.  Cook according to package directions, approximately 10 minutes.
2. While the pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet with olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the onions and peppers.  Stir to coat all the pieces with the olive oil.  Add the grated garlic over the onions and peppers.  Sauté for a few minutes.
3. When the onions start to get a cooked look, but are still crunchy, add the bean sprouts.  Sauté for a minute.  Add most of the lettuce pieces.  Sauté a few minutes more until the lettuce starts to wilt a bit.
4. Add the cooked noodles to the skillet and toss to combine thoroughly.  Add the teriyaki sauce and toss again.  Add any remaining lettuce.  The noodles will absorb some of the sauce.
5. Transfer to serving dish and garnish with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

 

This was a very nice lunch indeed.  Filled with veggies, light, yet very satisfying.  You can definitely serve this for any weekday meal. 

Corn Tostada Stacks Mayo 6, 2008

With the celebration of 5 de Mayo, I’ve been feeling like I should indulge in some Mexican food.

I bought a stack of white corn tortillas.  This stack is a testament of the size of typical Mexican families, because this will definitely last me for weeks, if not months.  This stack is huge!!!!  I have not counted them, but my guess is it has about 40-50 corn tortillas.  We need to start using them in multiples…

Inspired by a Simply Delicioso show I saw on the Food Network, I decided to create a stack of these tortillas, that when fried, they are magically transformed into Tostadas.

This is what I did…

 

 

CORN TOSTADA STACKS

2 white corn tortillas

1 potato, boiled

1 tbs cream cheese

½ onion, sliced

½ green bell pepper, sliced

1 garlic clove, grated

2-3 tbs Mexican salsa

2 lettuce leaves – I used romaine , washed well and sliced thinly

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 tbs canola oil, to fry the tortillas

1 tbs sour cream, to garnish on top

 

1. In a small skillet, heat the oil at medium high heat.   When the oil is smoking hot, fry one tortilla at a time.  They’ll take about 2-3 minutes on each side, until the tortilla is slightly golden and crispy.  Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt as they come out of the skillet.
2. While you’re frying these tortillas, mash the boiled potato with the cream cheese and a bit of salt.  If you find the potato too stiff, add a tab bit of olive oil to soften.  Set aside.
3. After you’ve finished frying the tortillas, sauté the onions and peppers in the same skillet.  Why dirty another pot?  Add some salt and pepper to season and to soften.  Add the grated garlic clove to season.  When the onion/peppers are soft take them away from the heat and set aside.

Now we assemble…

4.  Place one tostada on the bottom of your plate.  Spread the mashed potato mixture, spoon some salsa, spoon the onions and peppers, sprinkle the shredded lettuce and top off with the tostada you have left.

5.  Spoon some extra salsa on top and garnish with some sour cream…  I did not have any on hand when I did this, so that’s why it’s missing from the picture.  But I know it will add something good and delicious to the mix.

 

I am sure you can continue adding layers of goodness to this… how about a layer of corn and bean salsa or some fresh tomatoes, or even some saucy stewed soy protein (so it looks like ground beef)…  the possibilities are endless.

¡Viva México Lindo y Querido!

Mediterranean Eggplant Stacks Abril 28, 2008

Has it ever happened to you…  that  when you wish on something hard enough, the answer to your request will come to you automatically.  I am a firm believer in that…

Well, the other day I was feeling so-so, because my fridge was full of little somethings.  To the OCD part of me, that just drives me crazy.  I like order in my universe and that includes a clean, organized fridge.  I had some hummus left, I had eggplants that would start to spoil soon, I had an opened jar of roasted peppers, among others…  so, I sat down to watch my afternoon fix of Food Network and here comes Rachael with this 30-minute recipe for Mediterranean Eggplant Steaks – a vegetarian recipe good enough for meat-eating company…  my kind of recipe!!!

I tried the recipe that same night I learned, in fact, that I missed the olives in the original recipe…  and it turned out great.  I shared it with my neighbors and they were impressed.  They asked me to make this at an upcoming neighborly get-together…  nice, huh?   And if the Israeli neighbor liked it… it must be good, if not authentic.

Try it tonight…

 

 

 

 

MEDITERRANEAN EGGPLANT STACKS

1 medium eggplant, cut into 4 steaks lengthwise, about 1-inch thick
1 (10-ounce) box frozen spinach, defrosted
1 roasted red pepper, chopped
1 or 2 cloves garlic, grated
1 cup of hummus, home-made or store-bought
1 cup whole-wheat or spelt bread crumbs
2 tbs fresh flat-leaf parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

1. Defrost spinach.    Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high with about 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive in it.  Add roasted peppers and garlic to skillet.
3. Squeeze the spinach dry and separate as you add it to the skillet. Season the spinach with salt and pepper and heat through.   Set aside.
4. Brush the eggplant steaks lightly with extra-virgin olive oil and season liberally on both sides with salt and pepper.  
5. In the same skillet you made the spinach and peppers, pan roast the eggplants 3 to 4 minutes for small eggplant, turning occasionally, until the steaks begin to become tender but are not fully cooked.
6. Place the eggplants on baking sheets. Top each steak with a few forkfuls of spinach mixture.
7. 
8. Spread a few rounded spoonfuls of hummus evenly across the steaks on top of the spinach, covering it completely in a thin layer.
9. Toss the bread crumbs with 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and parsley. Divide the bread crumbs and scatter them over the steaks on top of the hummus.
10. Bake for about 5 minutes or so,  to brown bread crumbs.

 

A note about eggplants:

I learned once from Martha Stewart and a guest on her show, Eleonora Scarpeta, that you should always buy the lightest eggplants you can find.  They should be light for their size – kind of like the opposite you would think, no?  The reason being that the lighter the eggplant, the less seeds it has and therefore the less bitterness it will have.  This fact is particularly important in this recipe where we cut the eggplants and cook it straight.

Sweet Red Bell Pepper Dip Diciembre 3, 2007

This is the first dip I learned to make that was not just a mix of stuff I had bought.  I have to thank my friend Aniette for giving me the recipe 10 years ago.  This has become a staple dip in my parties… even my friend Ana Yolanda requested me to bring it to all her parties too.

When I first tried this dip, it was served with a chunk of cream cheese and the dip drizzled over it.  With a spreader, you would get a bit of cheese with some pepper dip on top of a chip and enjoy.  The thing is that the dip, as good as it is, will not look very appetizing after a while.  So after many tries later, I came up with a fool proof way to retain the flavor and integrity of the mixture, while still making it look appetizing no matter what.  This is the version right here.

 

SWEET RED BELL PEPPER DIP

1 red bell pepper, cut in pieces

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 8oz. pack of cream cheese

1. Place bell pepper, sugar and vinegar in a blender.  It might seem there’s little liquid to blend, but it will.  Believe me.
2. Transfer the blended mixture to a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil – watch it, because it could boil over.

 

1. Reduce heat and simmer for a few minutes.
2. Let it cool a bit.
3. Place cream cheese and most of the pepper mixture in a food processor.  Blend until smooth.  It will turn a nice shade of pink.  If the pink is too pale, keep adding pepper mixture.  Just watch out that the mix is still creamy and does not become too runny.

 

Enjoy with Wheat Thins or Ritz Chips. 

 You could also enjoy this dip without mixing the cream cheese.  It makes a great addition to a sandwich.  If you’re too lazy or the market is out of red bell peppers, my friend Ana’s mom does it with jarred red bell peppers.  If using those, you can omit the boiling part.

Stuffed Bell Peppers Diciembre 3, 2007

This has become one of my signature dishes.  I saw a recipe in a vegetarian cooking book and, because I never follow a recipe to a “T”, over time I developed my very own version.  My sister, who is not vegetarian, called me from Indiana to ask me for the recipe once.  That’s the impression it made on her.

 This recipe works with any color of bell peppers – green, red, yellow or orange.  They all taste great.  Buy the ones cheaper at the supermarket that day.  I cut the pepper in half, so each pepper yields 2 servings.  But I guess your servings will depend on the amount of hunger and how voracious are your guests.

 This recipe makes great use of leftover rice.  It’s hard for me to give you exact measurements for ingredients, because I always make this recipe out of leftovers… and the last few times, I have done it for 30 people – so the recent amounts are not applicable for a home dinner.  So bear with me on this one… I’ll try to give you my best estimates.

 

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

3 bell peppers, washed well, cut in half lengthwise from top to bottom

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 small carrots, shredded

2 tomatoes, diced or 8 oz. chopped tomatoes in glass jar (Viter or Pomi brands work well) 

1 cup of cooked whole grain rice

1/3 cup slivered almonds

4 oz cream cheese

2 oz goat cheese

2 tablespoons scallions or green onions

1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley

3/4 cup shredded cheese – cheddar or Italian cheese blend

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Wash peppers and cut them from top to bottom, so each pepper half has a bit of pepper stem, which looks nice as presentation.  Clean out all the seeds and white ribs inside with a pairing knife.
2. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. 
3. In a saute pan over medium heat, heat a small amount of oil and saute onions for a few minutes, add garlic, add carrots.  Saute until softened.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add tomatoes. If adding fresh, saute until the tomatoes exude most of their liquid.  This will provide moisture to the mixture.
5. Add rice to mixture. Remove from heat.
6. Add almonds and cream and goat cheeses. Add scallions and parsley.
7. Fill the pepper halves with the rice mixture.  Top with shredded cheese.
8. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes, until peppers are cooked and cheese on top is golden brown.
9. Remove from oven and rest for 10-15 minutes.

 If you rather prepare this recipe without cheese, it tastes great just the same.  You could also use rice cream cheese and rice or soy shredded cheese for the topping.  This way you will not feel as if you’re depriving yourself of anything.

You can definitely include in the rice mixture any vegetable of your choice.  Just like this is a recipe for leftover rice, it’s also great for leftover vegetables and cheese.  I once made this with a leftover cheese dip from a party. 

This is just the starting point.  Let me know what other version you can come up with.  OK?