Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad

July 31, 2013 · by ·

Vietnamese-Rice-Noodles-SaladIt’s been crazy hot here on my part of the world. I’m trying to stay away from the stove as much as possible. I’m sure you all can relate.

I’ve been trying to come up with substantial dishes that can be served cool or room temperature that don’t require to much heating up of the kitchen. This especially applies to Shabbat, where I’m tasked with creating and serving multiple dishes for a crowd.

This Vietnamese Rice Noodle dish is a perfect example of a meal-in-a-salad that comes together quickly and is great both warm or cold. It’s also very adaptable. You can swap out some of the veggies and change the protein to whatever you prefer. For this dish, I used turkey. I knew that my guests would be looking for some kind of meat dish and I had the turkey ready to go.

I started by cooking up the rice noodles. I used the thin rice vermicelli, which I can pour boiling water over to cook. Super easy to do. After soaking for around ten minutes, I drained the noodles.

I then cooked up the turkey with some garlic, ginger, shallots and chopped shiitake mushrooms. I love the flavors that comes off of the meat. Once cooked, I added some tamari and lime lime juice to the meat directly.

I chopped up my veggies and made the dressing. I was ready to go.

I mixed the veggies with the noodles and layered the ground turkey over it and then poured on the dressing. Everyone was happy with the salad.

I also make a vegetarian version of this salad. When I do, I swap out the turkey and use chopped tofu or the soy beef-style crumbles. They work well. When I crumble the tofu, I tend to use an extra firm version and add some extra garlic, ginger and soy sauce for extra flavor.

Hope you enjoy!


Vietnamese Rice Noodle Salad
 
Save Print
Author:
Recipe type: gluten free, salad
Ingredients
  • 1 package vermicelli rice stick noodles
  • 1 tbsp. rice bran oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. ginger, chopped
  • 1 lb. ground turkey
  • juice of ½ lime
  • 2 tsp. tamari
  • 2-3 scallions, chopped
  • 2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. mint, chopped
  • 2 carrots, shredded
  • ½ daikon, shredded
  • 1 red pepper, chopped or julienned
  • 1 seedless cucumber, julienned or chopped
  • 1 cubed avocado
  • 2 tsp. red pepper flakes
For the dressing:
  • juice of ½ lime
  • 2 tbsp. rice vinegar
  • 1 tbsp. brown sugar or honey
  • 2 tbsp. tamari
  • 1 tbsp. water
  • ½ tbsp. rice bran oil
  • 1 tbsp. chopped peanuts (optional)
Instructions
  1. Cook the noodles by placing them in a large bowl and pour boiling water over it. Let sit a few minutes, drain and set aside.
  2. Heat up the oil in a large pan and saute the ginger, garlic and shallot.
  3. Add in the ground turkey and chopped shiitake mushrooms and cook until done.
  4. Squeeze the juice of a ½ lime and 2 tsp. tamari or soy sauce over the turkey and mix.
  5. Prep all of the veggies and set aside.
  6. Mix up the dressing ingredients and set aside.
  7. Mix the rice noodles with the veggies and then layer with the ground turkey mixture. Stir in the whisked dressing.
  8. Serve and enjoy!

 

 

Vietnamese-Rice-Noodles-Salad

Filed Under: asian, Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, poultry, recipes, Salads, vietnamese · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vegan Pulled BBQ Seitan

July 22, 2013 · by ·

Vegan BBQ Pulled Seitan

About a year ago, a group of kosher food bloggers came together as a group. We call ourselves the Kosher Connection. As a group, we have grown and learned a great deal from each other as food bloggers. We’ve supported each other and have been sounding boards for each other throughout the year. I am so glad we all got together. Since the group started, we have come together monthly for various themed blog challenges. For our anniversary challenge, we are doing a blog swap. Each kosher blogger has been assigned another kosher blogger to seek inspiration from. We are challenged with choosing a recipe from that blogger’s blog and making it our own.

I was super excited for this blog swap. I had no idea what to expect.

BBQ Pulled Beef Busy in BrooklynI was pleasantly surprised when I was tasked with coming up with a recipe from Chanie Apfelbaum’s blog – Busy in Brooklyn.  I mulled it over for a while and studied her blog intently. What would I make? I have already cooked a few of her recipes and all have been wonderful. Her recent recipe for chili and cornbread was amazing! What would I make this time? At first I thought I bought veganizing her Sesame Noodle dish. But I realized that was cop-out for me. I make sesame noodles often and swapping out chicken for tofu wasn’t much of a challenge.

I decided to turn one of her meat dishes in to a vegan dinner. From around the kosher blog world, I knew that her BBQ Brisket was a huge hit. What if I took the flavors of that dish and made it vegan? I knew that I could pull something similar off with seitan. I love that her ingredients are simple and something I would already have on hand.

I played around with the quantities a bit to make it work with the seitan. I cooked up about a pound of seitan in advance – about a day before. You can easily use prepared seitan with this dish as a shortcut. I am so happy I chose to make this dish! The flavor was fantastic and was a huge hit with the family. Even the picky kid ate it, gobbling it up quickly.

To celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the Kosher Connection, we are giving away two prizes from Emile Henry, a Bread Cloche valued at $130 and a 4.2 qt Dutch Oven valued at $170! Use the Rafflecopter below to win- you can enter up to 23 ways! Two winners will be chosen at random.

The contest winners will be contacted via email. They will have 48 hours to respond before other winners are chosen. This contest is open to United States residents over the age of 18

Be sure to check out the rest of this month’s Kosher Connection’s bloggers below!


Vegan Pulled Seitan
 
Save Print
This recipe is inspired by Busy in Brooklyn
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 6 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 lb. Seitan (homemade or store-bought)
  • 6 oz. sliced baby bella mushrooms
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup apple cider vinegar
  • ⅓ cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tbsp Hungarian paprika
  • ¾ cups vegetable stock
  • 2 tsp. chili powder
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • ½ tbsp. vegan worcestershire sauce
  • 3 tsp. ground pepper
Instructions
  1. Heat up the olive oil in a large saute pan.
  2. Add in the onions and garlic and cook a few minutes, until it softens.
  3. Add a teaspoon of the salt and pepper to that mix.
  4. Chop of the seitan in to thin pieces and add to the pan. Let the seitan brown a bit.
  5. Add in the mushrooms and cook a few minutes.
  6. In a small bowl, mix together the ketchup, the apple cider vinegar, the vegetable stock, worcestershire sauce and the rest of the spices. Pour the mixture over the seitan mixture. Stir everything together.
  7. Let some of the liquid cook off a bit. This will only take about 5-8 minutes on medium-high heat.
  8. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.
  9. Serve the pulled seitan on buns or in a wrap along with some avocado. A cole slaw would be a great way to give it some needed crunch.
  10. Enjoy!

Vegan BBQ Pulled Seitan

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Filed Under: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course, Vegan, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

July 2, 2013 · by ·

Bacon-and-Onion-Stuffed-Turkey-Burgers

It may be shocking to see me posting a meat recipe. It happens once in a while. It’s grilling season. You got to cook up some burgers during grilling season!

When I do buy and cook meat, I like to know that my meat is coming from a good place. Kind of like the chicken on the Portlandia episode. Well, I’m not that intense. I do like to know though, that the animals were treated well and fed well. I prefer to only buy sustainable, pasture-raised and grass-fed meats when possible. That’s where KOL Foods comes in to play. They have an amazing selection of pastured and grass-fed meats and poultry. You can read more about them here.

They recently sent me some beef bacon and ground turkey. I was so excited when the meats showed up. I had a few things in mind as to what to create.

Being that July 4th, Independence Day, is almost upon us, I thought I would share a treat that’s perfect for your family barbecues. These bacon and onion stuffed turkey burgers come together fairly painlessly and you will reap the rewards with the amazing flavor.

Earlier in the day, I stepped on to my deck to pick some herbs for my burgers. I like using sage, rosemary, parsley  and thyme whenever I mix up some burger meat.

In one pan, I began to caramelize some onions and garlic. I love caramelized onions both on and in the burger.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

In another grill pan, I began to fry up the bacon. Half of the bacon was reserved for garnishing the burgers, but the other half would be going in the burgers.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I let both the bacon and the onions cool a bit.

In the bacon pan, I sliced up some portabello mushrooms and grilled them.

I began to mix up my burgers. I mixed the ground turkey with chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper, rosemary, parsley, thyme and sage. I then added some gluten free oats, vegan worcestershire sauce and an egg to the mix. I mixed everything well. If you are not gluten free, feel free to add some bread crumbs or panko crumbs instead. I wanted to keep these gluten free for me.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I crumbled up half of the cooked bacon.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I formed some of the burger mixture in to a patty and then placed about a tablespoon of chopped bacon and a tablespoon of onions in the center of the formed patty. I then placed more of the burger mixture over it and sealed the bacon and onions in.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I managed to get 7 burgers out of this mixture.

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers

I then grilled the burgers in my grill pan until done. (You can use the BBQ. It was raining that day)

Burgers-Grilling

I served up the burgers with additional bacon, onion, mushrooms, spinach and avocado. Oh my. That burger was amazing! You must make it!

As far as KOL Foods goes, they are amazing. I found that the meats and poultry are much more flavorful than the traditional store-bought varieties. The turkey tastes like turkey and the no-nitrite bacon was incredibly flavorful. I really loved the meats I received from them and am excited to order and cook from them again soon. Thank you, KOL Foods!

Bacon and Onion Stuffed Turkey Burgers
 
Save Print
Author:
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 large vidalia onion, sliced
  • 1 large spanish onion, sliced
  • 1 large red onion, sliced
  • 5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 lb. of bacon (beef or pork) - half will be used in the burger, other half to top burger
  • 1 pound of mushrooms (portabella or baby bella), sliced
  • 2 lb. ground turkey
  • 1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
  • 1 tbsp. fresh sage, chopped
  • ½ tbsp. fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
  • 1 extra large egg
  • ½ cup gluten free oats or bread crumbs
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • Recommended Burger Toppings:
  • Avocado
  • Bacon
  • spinach or arugula
  • caramelized onions
  • grilled mushrooms
Instructions
  1. In one pan, heat up some olive oil. Add the onions, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook on medium until the onions are caramelized. Set pan aside when done.
  2. In another pan, cook the bacon. Because the bacon is fatty, you don't need to add any oil. Cook the bacon until crisp. Drain on paper towels and set aside.
  3. In that same grill pan, grill the mushrooms until nicely browned. Set aside.
  4. Crumble up half of the bacon.
  5. In a mixing bowl, mix up the ground turkey with the fresh herbs, the egg, the oats or bread crumbs, the worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
  6. Form the burger in to a small patty.
  7. Place a tablespoon of the crumbled bacon and the caramelized onions in center of each patty. Top and seal with additional burger mixture.
  8. Cook burger on a barbecue or on a grill pan until done.
  9. Top with your favorite burger toppings.
  10. Enjoy!

Bacon-and-Onion-Stuffed-Turkey-Burgers

 

Filed Under: burger, Dinner, fleishig, Gluten Free, grilled, Lunch, meat, product review · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wasabi Salmon Burger Wraps

June 11, 2013 · by ·

We had some leftover salmon from the other night. I wanted to use it up, but I am very bad about using leftovers. I just don’t like them. Salmon is one thing that I do use though. I usually like to turn it in to a salmon salad the next day. This time around though, I decided to turn it in to some salmon burgers. Similar to my baked salmon patties, you can use either recently cooked salmon or even some canned salmon. Both will work, but I always prefer to use fresh salmon when possible.

This salmon burger comes together in a similar way as the salmon patties, but the flavors are amped up a bit with the addition of the wasabi and ginger.

Salmon Burger Wraps

I mashed up my leftover fresh salmon in a bowl. You can use canned salmon if you don’t have fresh salmon lying around. To the salmon, add an egg, some wasabi, soy sauce, sesame soil, ginger, garlic, corn flake crumbs, chopped shallots. You mix it together and form in to burgers.

Salmon Burger Wraps

Fry the burgers in a large pan.

Salmon Burger Wraps

Serve in wraps with avocado, spinach, additional wasabi and mayonnaise.  So good! Make it now!

Salmon Burger Wraps

Wasabi Salmon Burger Wraps
 
Save Print
Author:
Recipe type: Sandwich, Burger, Lunch, Main Course
Ingredients
  • 12 oz cooked salmon or 2 - 6 oz cans of salmon
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 2 tsp. ginger paste
  • 2 tsp. garlic paste
  • 1 extra large egg
  • 2 tbsp. wasabi
  • 1 tbsp. mayonaisse
  • ¾ cup corn flake crumbs
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 tsp. soy sauce
  • 1 tsp. sriracha
  • Tortillas (I had mine in brown rice tortillas, while my family likes flour tortillas)
  • Avocados, sliced
  • Baby Spinach Leaves
Instructions
  1. In a medium mixing bowl, mash up the salmon with a fork
  2. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Mix well.
  3. Form in to patties/burgers.
  4. Grill on a barbecue, or fry in a large fry pan on medium-high heat in one tablespoon of oil. The burgers should be lightly browned on both sides.
  5. Wrap up the burgers in a tortilla with additional wasabi or sriracha, some mayonnaise, some sliced avocado and spinach.
  6. Enjoy!

 

Filed Under: Dinner, fish, Gluten Free, Lunch, sandwich · Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Breakfast Tostadas

May 7, 2013 · by ·

I’d love to be that kind of person who uses the term “brunch” regularly. I really want it to be part of my vocabulary.  You know those people where brunch becomes a verb AND a noun in their life?

My reality is that brunch rarely happens in my life. Ever since I became a parent, I have given my mornings away to my children. I’m not complaining. I love what motherhood has given to me. I just miss my lazy Sunday mornings.  Breakfast is my favorite meal and I would love for it to be leisurely – like a brunch should be.

A few years ago, I went back home to Minneapolis, a rare trip without children – to celebrate my sister’s 30th birthday. The weekend of celebrations was amazing and ended with Sunday morning brunch at a fantastic place called Hell’s Kitchen. This breakfast tostada that I’m sharing with you today is inspired by the brunch I had there.  This breakfast is perfect hangover food, but also goes great with a mimosa or a bloody mary, or even a cup of coffee. Not that mothers should be condoning alcohol consumption or hangovers, right? Mothers do deserve some fun once in a while.

These breakfast tostadas would be perfect for a Mother’s Day breakfast. Most of the components can be prepared in advance and then you can save the egg prep for Sunday morning.  I love layered dishes like this one.

To check out the fabulous breakfast tostada recipe and many others, head on over to JewHungry!
Breakfast TostadaBlog

Filed Under: Breakfast, Brunch, dairy, Gluten Free, guest post, Main Course, mexican, mother's day, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

February 28, 2013 · by ·
IMG_2538

It’s been pretty cold and windy here on the East Coast. I’ve been looking for some hot and tasty dishes to warm me up.

We just celebrated Purim the other day and I wanted to have a fun and festive meal to honor the holiday. I wanted to have a fun vegetarian menu that everyone would enjoy.

I came up with vegetarian tortilla soup, make-your-own burritos with an assortment of mix-ins, fish tacos, a giant green salad and a spanish rice. I love of all of the flavors that go along with this menu.

I’ve never made a tortilla soup before. Many of my friends make it, but it’s often made with chicken or other things I don’t eat. I wanted to make this dish my own.

It turns out that I love tortilla soup. Who knew? I also wish I had made double so I could have leftovers. Lesson learned.



Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
Ingredients:

1 tbsp. Mazola corn oil
1 large onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. salt
3 tsp. ground black pepper
2 14 oz. cans of fire roasted tomatoes mixed
1 4oz. can green chiles, diced (or less if you can’t handle the heat)
5 cups vegetable broth
1 medium zucchini, diced
1 cup corn (frozen is fine)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 tbsp. corn oil
corn tortillas
cilantro, chopped
avocado, sliced
cheese, optional

Directions:

Heat up the oil in a large soup pot.  Add in the chopped onion and garlic. Cook a couple of minutes.

Add in the diced peppers and the spices and cook for another 2 minutes.

IMG_2524

Add in the canned tomatoes and chiles as well as the soup broth.

IMG_2528

Add in the zucchini, corn and black beans.

Let the mixture come to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low and cover. Cook for about 45 minutes or so.

With an immersion blender, puree some of the soup. It should still be a little bit chunky.

IMG_2531

At this point, you can serve the soup right away, or you can put it away for later. I like when it sits for a half a day in the fridge to let the flavors develop more.

In preparation for serving, cut your corn tortillas in to strips.

Pan fry the tortillas in a small amount of corn oil for a couple of minutes on each side. You just want them to crisp up a little.

IMG_2537

Serve your soup with some sliced avocado, lime wedges, chopped cilantro and the tortilla strips.

Enjoy!

IMG_2538

Filed Under: avocado, pepper, salsa, Soups, spicy, tortilla, Vegan, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , ,

VeganMoFo: Black Bean and Avocado Quesadillas

October 25, 2012 · by ·

Avocados were on sale at my local store for something like 2/$1. When they get that cheap, I get really excited. So excited – I buy too much. It happens. I’m not complaining. It could have been worse.

So this quick dinner, like most dinners, was brought on by necessity. But it’s amazing what necessity delivered! This dinner worked out perfectly. I wish I had thought of this meal before!
Black Bean and Avocado Quesadillas
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. pepper
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp. water
1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
tortillas
1-2 avocados
1/2 lime
Daiya Cheese (optional)
Directions:
Heat oil in medium saute pan.
Add the onions to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes on medium high. Add in the garlic cloves and the spices. Cook a couple of more minutes. Add in the drained black beans. Cook for several minutes. Add the extra water if the mixture seems a bit dry. After about 7 minutes, mash some of the beans.  Remove from heat.
Cube up your avocado and sprinkle with lime juice and a tiny bit of salt.
Take a tortilla and spread some of the bean mixture over one half. Layer on top some of the cubed avocado and the optional cheese.  Fold tortilla over.
Heat 1/2 tablespoon of oil in a second pan.
Place folded and stuffed tortilla in pan. Cook for a couple minutes on each side.
Repeat with rest of mixture and tortillas.
Enjoy!
Black Bean and Avocado Quesadillas
veganmofo
Filed Under: avocado, black bean, daiya, quesadilla, Vegan, VeganMoFo, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Roasted Corn and Avocado Salad

May 15, 2012 · by ·

Summer is beginng to show it’s signs. Warm weather and fresh summer vegetables are starting to show their faces. Yahoo!

Summer produce makes me happy. On my Sunday trek to Trader Joe’s, they had the most lovely ears of corn taunting me. I usually wait until later in the summer, when the white, sweet corn comes out. I gave in to the urges. I grabbed a bunch. The whole family loves corn. The kids love the mess of eating it off the cob. I decided to roast the corn and then turn it in to a salad. Yum!

IMG_1233

Roasted Corn and Avocado Salad
Ingredients:

3 ears of corn, roasted (instructions below)
2 roasted peppers, diced
1/2 medium-sized red onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 cucumber, diced
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 plum tomato, diced
juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. cumin
salt
pepper

Preheat oven to 400.

Husk the corn. Make sure to remove all of the silk strands.

Brush corn with a little olive oil, salt and pepper

Wrap ears of corn in foil and roast in oven for about 25 minutes.

After 25 minutes, remove the corn from the foil. Use oven mitts!

Hold the ear of corn over your stove flame and sear it a bit.

IMG_1245

Do this with caution. This activity is not intended for kids.

Cut the corn kernels off the cob. Best to do this by holding the ear of corn straight up, while resting the bottom on the cutting board.

IMG_1243

In a bowl, mix up all of the veggies, including the freshly roasted corn.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, vinegar and spices. Mix in to the salad.

IMG_1250

Enjoy!

Filed Under: Gluten Free, Salads, Side Dish, Vegan, vegetables, Vegetarian · Tagged: , , , ,
1 2