Vegetarian Shepherd's Pie

OK, I confess, I never really liked shepherd’s pie growing up. It was one of my least-favorite meals. If you’re unfamiliar with this dish, in it’s basic form, it begins with a layer of ground, cooked meat, followed by a layer of vegetables; which, for us, was creamed corn, then covered in a thick layer of mashed potatoes. The casserole is baked in the oven until the potatoes get a little crispy and in my family’s case, would be eaten with ketchup.

I have to admit, though, that I do like the concept of a layered casserole and so after talking with a yoga instructor of mine who told me about a delicious dish she had out one evening, I decided to make my version of this. There is no meat. The bottom layer is lentils and the middle, vegetable layer is mixed into this, although it could be layered.

And rather than white potatoes for the topping, I’ve used a combination of roasted cauliflower and a bit of grated cheese, or if you’d like to make this completely vegan, you can replace the cheese with sunflower seeds that have been soaked for several hours then rinsed and drained. I tried both versions of the topping and I liked them both.

The recipe got the thumbs up, although, I was told that the top layer should be much thicker next time. This would mean either doubling or even tripling the ingredients for cauliflower topping below. Just as an aside, cauliflower roasted with a bit of oil, sea salt and pepper is addictive! This dish almost didn’t happen because I came very close to eating all the cauliflower, so you might want to make extra!! I hope you enjoy it. : )

Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie

1 c green lentils, picked through, soaked, then cooked in vegetable broth

1 T grapeseed oil

½ c chopped yellow onion

½ c celery, chopped

½ c fennel, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

2 – 3 large kale leaves, thick stems removed and leaves chopped

1 t dried basil or 1T fresh, chopped basil

2 c cauliflower florets

¼ c hard cheese, grated, such as parmesan or manchego, or ¼ c sunflower seeds, soaked for several hours then drained

sea salt and pepper to taste

Place cauliflower into a large bowl, then drizzle ~ 1T grapeseed or olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt. Toss the florets with your hands and place into a baking dish. Roast at 350°F, mixing occasionally, until it starts to lightly brown, ~35 – 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, in a sauté pan on medium heat, add the oil and cook the onions for a few minutes. Add the celery and fennel and sauté a few minutes more, then add the carrots and cook an additional 5 minutes. Add the kale leaves, mix well and cook the mixture just until the kale wilts.

Transfer the sautéed vegetables to a food processor and process until it resembles a fine mixture. Add the lentils and the basil and mix well. Add sea salt to taste. Transfer to an oiled pie plate.

Add the cauliflower to the food processor and process until it begins to resemble mashed potatoes. Add the cheese and mix well. As an alternative to the cheese, add the soaked and drained sunflower seeds to the cauliflower and process together.

Evenly spread the cauliflower and cheese (or seed) mixture over the lentils and vegetables. Sprinkle with pepper.

Place the casserole, uncovered into a 350°F oven and bake until the top lightly browns, ~25-30 minutes.

Quinoa Burgers

A couple of weeks ago, I was craving a burger big time. However, I’ve noticed lately that my palate has been changing with regard to meat and I’m simply not enjoying it as much as I used to. So I put together the ingredients below for a quinoa burger that are loaded with veggies, spices and healthy, complete plant protein, from the quinoa and chickpeas.

I tried two versions, one with wild rice, which I had on hand, and another where I substituted cooked turnips–I think I was going for more of a potato pancake feel for that one. Both were equally satisfying and would go perfect with a warm mug of v

egetable soup or a crispy salad. Sitting in the middle of a multi-grain roll with a side of sweet potato fries sounds tempting as well! : )

Quinoa Burgers

2 c cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed

¼ c wild rice, cooked (optional)

1 c quinoa, rinsed, soaked, then cooked in vegeta

ble broth

1 c onion chopped

½ cup celery chopped

1 c carrots, peeled and shredded

¼ c tahini

1 T oil

2 eggs

1 clove garlic, minced

juice and zest from 1 lemon

1 t sea salt

½ t tumeric

1 t cumin

1/2 t paprika

½ t coriander

½ t cinnamon

½ t ginger

Place the chickpeas and wild rice, if using, into a food processor.

Saute the onion and celery in a pan on medium heat until the onion is transluscent. Add the carrots and cook for 2 minutes more to heat through.

Add the sautéed veggies to the processor, then add the tahini, oil, eggs, lemon salt, and spices. Pulse until the ingredients are well mixed and the chickpeas are in small chunks.

Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl, then fold in the quinoa. If the mixture is too wet, refrigerate it for about an hour. Spoon ~½ cup of the mixture and shape it into burgers. These can also be refrigerated at this point to be cooked later.

Heat the oven to 375°F. Place the burgers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for ~20 – 25 minutes, or until they start to get crispy. Let them sit for a few minutes to set.

Alternatively, add 1 T grapeseed oil to a frying pan on medium heat and cook the burgers a few minutes on each side until they are crispy and brown.

I’ve also skipped the wild rice, reduced the chickpeas by ~½ cup and added ½ cup of cooked turnips to the mixture and processed in a similar manner.

Vegetarian Stuffed Squash

Something I’ve been preparing regularly this Winter is stuffed squash. To me, it’s an ultimate comfort food: it provides that warm, soothing, stick-to-your-ribs feeling and at the same time, it can be super healthy, depending on the stuffing. The recipe below uses a vegetarian filling that I mixed together with vegetables, rice, and beans and makes a nice base that I would even use to make a vegetarian enchilada, or to pile on top of a bed of greens.

Vegetarian Stuffed Squash

Grapeseed or olive oil

1 acorn squash

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium red pepper, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1 T fresh or 1 t dried basil

1 large handful spinach leaves, washed and dried

1 cup cooked black beans

1 cup cooked brown rice (prepared in water or light vegetable broth)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

sea salt and pepper to taste

1 large egg

grated parmesan cheese, optional

Preheat oven to 350°. Cut acorn squash lengthwise, lightly oil the flesh and place the halves in a baking dish, cut side down. Roast for ~45 min or until a knife inserts easily through the skin. Remove the seeds and leave the halves in the baking dish, cut side up.

Meanwhile, in a medium skillet, heat about 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for a few minutes. Add the celery and cook for several minutes more, then add the red pepper and basil. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.

Place the veggie mixture into a food processor with the spinach and black beans. Pulse several times until the spinach is incorporated. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Add the brown rice, garlic, basil, sea salt and pepper.

Add the egg and mix well, mix in ~1/4 cup of cheese if using. Spoon the mixture into the cavities of the squash and sprinkle with additional cheese.

Bake at 350° for ~20-30 min. The stuffing recipe makes a bit more than is needed to fill one full acorn squash and can easily be scaled up.

This works well in butternut squash too. Make a cavity in the long portion of each squash half and mix the scooped out squash directly into the stuffing before filling. I actually prefer the butternut squash because it has a sweeter taste…

Happy Chinese New Year with Buddhist Delight!

Me, Li, and our friend Linda

My girlfriend Li, who happens to be a fantastic cook, invited me over last weekend to show me how to make Buddhist Delight. And since the Chinese New Year was coming, I thought it would be fun to have her show you how to make it as well!

I met Li about 12 years ago when I was a graduate student. She was always bringing in delicious food to share with her lab mates and she frequently invited me over to try some of her authentic Chinese cuisine. This is where I learned about lots of different vegetables used in Chinese dishes and has been my inspiration for much of my own cooking.

In the video above, Li explains the origins of Buddhist Delight and goes into the main ingredients that are essential to making it right. These include shitake mushrooms, which give the dish an underlying dose of flavor, and tofu prepared in a variety of ways, including fried and smoked.

To add some crunch and texture, vegetables like bok choy, squash, carrots, and cabbage are added. The result is the delicious dish above that can be eaten as is or over rice. And if being served for Chinese New Year, Li explains why she would serve this dish in a bowl with a fish pattern. It’s all good. I hope you watch and enjoy!!

Anytime Bars

As I mentioned in a previous blog, I’m loving The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen by Rebecca Katz. Every recipe I’ve tried has turned out great and I’ve even shared some muffins from the cookbook at one of my seminars.

The recipe below makes a granola-like bar with oats, nuts, and fruit. What I like about them is that they are low in added sugar aside from the fruit (the recipe below actually calls for less than the original recipe) and they turned out delicious even when I made substitutions such as using all whole-grain spelt flour instead of some of the white flour the recipe called for. This time, I also substituted dried plums (prunes) for the dried apricots and added shredded coconut as was suggested and they were equally as good.

These would make a great after-school snack for kids or a great addition to their lunch box. I enjoy these with a cup of tea and will have one before or after my yoga class.

Anytime Bars

1 c raw pecans or walnuts

1 c raw whole almonds

¼ c whole grain spelt flour

2 T ground flax seeds

¼ t sea salt

1/8 t baking powder

1/8 t baking soda

¼ cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 c pitted Medjool dates, chopped

1 c unsulfured, dried apriots or dried plums (prunes), chopped

2 T shredded coconut

1 egg

3 – 4 T real maple syrup

1 t vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly toast the pecans on a pan lined with parchment paper for ~7 – 10 minutes. Toast the almonds in a similar manner. Turn the oven down to 325°F.

Combine the flour, flax seeds, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda and rolled oats in a food processor and pulse a few times until mixed. Add the nuts and pulse a few times to coarsely chop. Add the dates, plums or apricots, and coconut and pulse until a coarse, well-chopped mixture is formed.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Add the nut and fruit mixture and combine thoroughly. Spread the batter evenly in an oiled 9-inch, or equivalent baking dish. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then let cool before cutting into bars. Store in an airtight container.

Jicama, Cucumber, and Citrus Salad

With all the warm, cooked foods I’ve been eating lately, I was in the mood for something crunchy and refreshing. A couple of weeks ago, some friends brought back a couple of nice star fruit for me from their trip to Florida and I decided that a refreshing fruit salad was in order.

Technically, this salad isn’t completely fruit since it includes jicama, a root vegetable often used in Mexican cooking. It has a very mild flavor and a texture that resembles a firm pear. Jicama is low in calories and high in fiber and vitamin C. The star fruit are slightly sweet and a little bit tart and have citrusy notes to them, which makes them incredibly refreshing.

I combined the jicama with chopped cucumber, the star fruit, some diced, dried apricots and chopped basil. The final touch was a citrusy dressing that added a little bit of a zing to the mostly mild flavor of this salad. Since I don’t often buy star fruit, this time of year I would also try oranges as a substitution.

Jicama, Cucumber, and Citrus Salad

1 medium jicama, peeled and chopped into bite-sized cubes

1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped

1 star fruit, orange or other citrus fruit

¼ c dried apricots, chopped into very small pieces

¼ cup mild vinegar, I used an orange, Muscat, champagne vinegar

1 T honey, agave, or maple syrup

2 – 3 T water

a squeeze of fresh lime juice

pinch of sea salt

2 T finely chopped, fresh basil

Combine the jicama, cucumber, citrus fruit, and dried apricots in a bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sweetener, water, lime juice and sea salt. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well. Stir in the chopped basil. Let sit in the refrigerator an hour or so for the salad to soak up the dressing.

Winter Candy

After making a delicious root vegetable soup the other day, I found myself with lots of leftover vegetables. This time of year, root veggies offer a wealth of nutrients and fiber and will stop a sweet tooth in its tracks.

When roasted, roasted root vegetables are colorful, crisp on the outside, warm and creamy on the inside and loaded with flavor. They’re perfect as a side (I had them with a fritatta) or even piled on top of a bed of salad greens. And no worries about what you have on hand. This time around, I didn’t have sweet potatoes, which are my favorite, so I used parsnips, rutabegas, beets, and fennel. The result was still sweet like candy and I didn’t even miss the sweet potatoes!

Roasted Root Vegetables

Any combination of the following:

Onions, Shallots, Leeks

Parsnips

Carrots

Celery

Rutabegas

Turnips

Sweet Potatoes, yams, or white potatoes

Beets

Fennel

Garlic, minced

1 – 2 T olive or grapeseed oil

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Wash, peel, and chop the vegetables into uniform, bite-sized pieces. Place them in a large bowl and add the garlic, oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Combine well then spread the mixture onto a pan or in a baking dish. Roast at ~400°F for 30 minutes, turn the veggies over and roast an additional 15 minutes, or until tender.