Vegetarian sushi

I thought vegetarian sushi would be a lot harder to make, until I actually tried it. It was really easy, and kind of fun! This video does a good job explaining how to make the rice and wrap the sushi. But I did a few things differently- I used rice vinegar mixed with sugar and salt (about 1 Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp salt), and I cooled the rice by spreading it out and fanning it, and also sprinkled on some toasted sesame seeds. My rice wasn't perfect, but good enough.

I made bigger rolls than what the video showed by spreading more rice onto the sheet. For 1 1/3 cups of uncooked rice, I ended up with 4 rolls this size. I used about one carrot, cucumber, and avocado, and a handful of green onions. The leftover veggies went into a salad. I should have packed down the rice and veggies before rolling it, but they turned out pretty well.

I also made a side salad (romaine + leftover veggies + ginger dressing + freshly grated ginger) and miso soup from a package. I've come to expect these side dishes (as well as the accompanying pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce) from most sushi restaurants. Altogether it was a pretty filling meal, but next time I want to incorporate more protein. Maybe some fried and marinated tofu?

Buying the ingredients was relatively inexpensive at an Asian market or World Market. I noticed that my usual store, Sunflower Market, has prices about twice as high for these items and the miso soup mix. But they had some good ginger dressing that I used for the salad (Gingerly lite by Annie's), and pretty cheap veggies.

I've realized that I'm pretty good at managing complicated dishes. Not necessarily in my techniques, but in the actual management and precision that comes from years of working in biology and chemistry labs :) Although when I get stressed or rushed, things tend to go awry. Some of the next dishes in my wish list will require more actual skills. With cooking, practice is obviously the best way to get better, even when it means suffering through some unsavory meals myself. I'm not quite a novice, but I still have a lot to learn!

Goat cheese, pistachio, and date salad

My daily meals fall into two categories, 1) dishes I cook or prepare in bulk, then eat leftovers throughout the week, and 2) dishes that can be quickly prepared from a stock (i.e. grilled cheese & soup from a carton, leafy salads, sandwiches and wraps). Most of the meals featured here so far are in the #1 category, but I really enjoy the #2 list when I can remember to keep the right ingredients in stock. For example, when I was in high school, I kept a stock of wraps, hummus, cherry/grape tomatoes, feta cheese, and other mediterranean-style accouterments for a tasty wrap (I didn't know how to cook back then- so go figure!). When I lived in a co-op with 30 people and didn't keep much food for myself, I ate a lot of bagel-egg-cheese sandwiches that I could quickly prepare for lunch.

It's nice that my schedule as a graduate student allows my time to enjoy lunch at home (and that I live close to school!). So today for lunch I enjoyed some leftover Middle Eastern appetizers and made a salad from some ingredients I had purposely stocked this week (otherwise I seldom remember to buy greens or toppings). It's one of my favorite flavor combinations: dates, goat cheese, with various nuts, and tangy red wine vinegar all on a baby spinach and mixed baby spring greens bed.

It's quite a healthy salad, as long as you keep the toppings to small amounts. The goat cheese gets a bit muddled with the vinegar, so it's a great dressing. And the dates and pistachios were just fantastic. I should eat more salads!

[UPDATE]

I have been eating more salads! For this salad, I used almost the same recipe as above, but added some canned white beans, and a side of whole wheat bread.

Veggie pasta with side of cardamom carrots

This type of veggie pasta has been a long-time favorite of mine due to its simplicity and tastiness. Today I decided to pair it with a side of cardamom-spiced carrots.

There are endless variations for this veggie-pasta sauce. Today I started by sauteing half an onion, then browning some Boca-crumbles (enough for about 4 servings). Meanwhile, I microwaved a package of frozen chopped spinach. After the faux-meat was brown, I added a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then the spinach and a good dose of pasta sauce, and cooked until warm. Other delicious veggies for this sauce might include mushrooms, zucchini or summer squash, carrots, and red or yellow bell peppers. You could also use tempeh or tofu as the protein. I topped it off with parmesan cheese.

For the carrots, I thinly sliced four carrots and sauteed them in some olive oil. As they were almost done, I added a pinch of powdered cinnamon and ginger, then about a half teaspoon of powdered cardamon. I also added a splash of agave nectar to sweeten it up. They turned out pretty darn delicious, and are almost a dessert! I later attempted an actual dessert of a pear tart, but I somehow messed up the dough and it was a little goopy plus burned around the edges. Barely salvageable, but oh well.

My recipe wish list

I'm hoping to get back into the swing of cooking. Here are some things I'm looking forward to trying out this semester.

Date night foods:
Vegetarian sushi (vegan)
Goat cheese and corn enchiladas (GF)
Paprika empanadas stuffed with greens
Penne with roasted asparagus and balsamic butter
Black bean and sweet potato tacos (GF and vegan)
Coconut chickpea spinach curry

Party foods:
Sweet potato, arugula, and ricotta flatbread
Chocolate stout cake
Chocolate Spice Cookies with Mascarpone Frosting and Candied Kumquats

Gluten-free adventures:

Cornmeal Pancakes with Vanilla and Pine Nuts

Cauliflower pizza crust

(also see those marked GF above)

Plus some others that I'll come across in the food blogs I follow and my cookbooks!

Grilled eggplant and leeks

Today's culinary adventure was a spontaneous, original creation designed to utilize my family's super-cool Cuisineart grill/panini press/griddle. I love grilled leeks and eggplant, so I figured they'd taste good together and with some other Mediterranean-themed ingredients.

I started by trimming, halving, cleaning, and grilling 3 leeks while a sliced eggplant was salted. Transferred the leeks back to the cutting board, sliced into 1/2 inch strips, and grilled the eggplant, which was later quartered.

Meanwhile, I cooked up some Israeli couscous. If I had veggie broth, that would've been good instead of water. I put the leeks, eggplant, one can of chickpeas, some canned artichoke hearts, and a bit of sundried tomato in a pan to let the flavors mingle and to warm up the chickpeas. I added some salt, smoked paprika (which is the BEST THING EVER), some cumin, and a spritz of truffle oil (yeah, advantages of cooking at my dad's). Finally, I mixed in the cooked couscous.

This dish is pretty vegan-y (high in fiber, lack of any dairy or egg, and not very energy-dense), and I feel like it was missing something. Maybe balsamic vinegar or lemon juice? Also, next time I think I would only use 2 leeks, and saute them on their own a bit longer.

Southwestern frittata

Coming back to Michigan for Christmas break, I always love shopping at Meijer because of their great vegetable selection. So I picked up some underutilized (by me, anyway) vegetables and decided to try something new. I ended up with okra, tomatillos, and a poblano pepper-- all intended for different recipes, but by the end of the week they just needed to be cooked, and we needed dinner.

Enter the frittata, here to save the day!

I started by slicing up and sauteing half an onion. I sliced a handful of tomatillos and threw them in with the onions once they started to brown. I cooked these just until the tomatillos were tender, added a pinch of salt, then set aside.

Meanwhile, my brother acted as sous-chef by roasting the poblano over an open flame (could also broil it, but I couldn't handle that). He removed the skin then cut it into thin strips. And in a separate pan-- yep, just had to make this complicated instead of sauteing everything in one pan-- I fried up some sliced okra (battered in just flour).

Ok, I promise there's just one more simultaneous step (it helps to have extra family members around!). I mixed together 6 large eggs, a splash of milk and yogurt (it adds extra tanginess and helps with the consistency), and salt. Once the vegetables were fairly cool, I mixed everything together, wiped and reused the large saute pan, and then poured it all it. I kept it at a low heat for about 10 minutes, then broiled until the top started to brown.

After cooling just a bit, I slid the whole thing onto a cutting board and cut it into slices. We enjoyed it with some pumpkin bread and local hard cider. It will also be great for breakfast tomorrow! There are plenty of veggie variations on this recipe, and I also wish I had some queso to sprinkle on top, but so it goes.

Artichoke and goat cheese casserole

Technically this is called a "strata"... but I will stick to layman's terms and call it a casserole. The recipe is straight out of Cooking Light, and you can find it here.

Image source.

This is not exactly "light" fare, but it is delicious and is a hearty vegetarian side dish. Last year I made it with fontina instead of goat cheese, which turned out good, but the cheese didn't really stand out against the other flavors. So this time I'm sticking true to the goat cheese. I also used a slightly larger pan, but it ends up being less deep, obviously.