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: , , , , , , ,

Caprese Salad

February 18, 2013 · by ·
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I was so happy when I found out that Matan and Ali of AliBabka, a fellow blogger, were getting married. The Kosher Connection group of bloggers is hosting a virtual sheva brachot to celebrate with them. The Sheva Brachot are the seven blessings said at a Jewish wedding and it is customary to hold special meals for the new couple for the days following the wedding. We call these meals Sheva Brachot.

For today’s meal, I decided to contribute one of my favorite salads. The caprese salad is a simple dish, but always looks elegant and is the perfect salad starter for a dairy or vegetarian meal. Remember to always use a good olive oil and balsamic vinegar and the freshest mozzarella you can find when making this dish. It truly makes a difference.




Caprese Salad
Ingredients:

1 pound fresh mozzarella
2 medium-sized vine ripened tomatoes
Fresh basil leaves  – a handful
Olive Oil for drizzling
Balsmic Vinegar for drizzling
sea salt
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

Slice up your tomatoes and mozzarella in to 1/4-1/8 inch slices and wash and stem your basil leaves.

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Lay out the tomato, mozzarella and basil in alternating layers on a serving dish.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Drizzle with about a tablespoon or two of olive oil and vinegar.
Serve and enjoy!
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Filed Under: cheese, dairy, Salads, 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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Enjoy!

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

Vegan BLT with Homemade Vegan Bacon

May 9, 2012 · by ·

While browsing Pinterest (such a time suck, but so fun!), I came across some homemade tempeh recipes. From there, I moved on to tempeh bacon. When I clicked through to the bacon though, I learned about the traditional way to make tempeh. You have to let the soybeans ferment and get moldy. You also need a special tempeh starter. Well that totally turned me off. I don’t need instant gratification, and I am willing to go mail- order for something I must make, but this wasn’t going to happen. So I kept on looking.

I finally came across a recipe for a vegan and gluten free tempeh-like bacon that I could handle. I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand. So excited, I had to make the vegan bacon that night. So maybe there was a little bit of instant gratification going on there. 
For a little history, I’ve never really eaten the real thing. Not even in the days when I didn’t keep kosher. I have had beef-fry, bacon salt and bacon bits. I know that those don’t count. I do like a smoky bacony flavor though. So I was excited to try my hand at this. I was doubly excited to turn this in to a BLT. Something I have never sunk my teeth into, but always looks so good. The results were great. The other good thing about this fake bacon stuff is that it freezes well and is pretty versatile.
Vegan Bacon
slightly adapted from No Meat Athlete
Ingredients

1/2 cup dried adzuki beans or other small red beans
1/3 cup whole kasha (buckwheat groats)
1 tsp.onion powder
3 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. liquid smoke
4 tsp. nutritional yeast
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tbsp. tamari or soy sauce
1.5 tsp. sea salt
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 teaspoons maple syrup


Soak the beans and buckwheat in a bowl for several hours. I let it sit while I went to work.

When you get home, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Strain and rinse the soaked beans and buckwheat.

Place all of the ingredients, including the strained beans and buckwheat in to your food processor. Pulse until everything is uniformly ground up and pasty. Don’t puree it though.

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Spray with baking spray.

Spread the mixture out on the paper.

Press down on the mixture to spread out with another piece of sprayed parchment.

Bake for 10 minutes.

Let cool.

Slice in to bacon-like strips.

Store and freeze at this point, or cook up like bacon!

Vegan BLT (makes 2 sandwiches)
Ingredients:
1/2 a recipe of the vegan bacon
3 tsp.oil of your choice
Earth Balance buttery stick – a few tabs
4 slices of bread (I used Rye)
Lettuce
Thinly sliced tomatoes
Vegan Mayonaisse (or you could use the real stuff if you are in to that sort of thing)
Fry the vegan bacon on medium in an oiled pan.

Vegan Bacon

Let it get to your desired crispness. Don’t let it go too long or at too high of a heat as it burns quickly.
Set aside on a paper towel lined plate. Keep in a warm spot.
In that same pan, melt some of the Earth Balance.  Toast your bread in that buttery spread. 
Spread mayo on each slice. 
Layer with lettuce then vegan bacon and then the tomatoes. Top with the second slice toasted bread.
You’ve got a sandwich now!  Take a bite! This was so good! 

Vegan BLT


Enjoy!
Filed Under: Dinner, Gluten Free, Main Course, sandwich, Vegan, whole grain · Tagged: , , , , , , ,
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