Contemporizing my Roots: Gołąbki Bez Mięsa...aka Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

A good portion of my heritage is indeed polish. My great grandfather (whom everyone called Dziadziu) was the first member of our polish family to emigrate to the states. Crazily enough, him and his siblings started a brand new and successful life in Chicopee, MA, and he even wound up becoming the mayor after living there for a while! Talk about living the American dream. But, I must admit that I have never really made too much of an effort to explore that many Polish cultural aspects, especially food, but I think with good reason as most of Poland's dishes incorporate some sort of meat, blood, marrow, etc (see: kielbasa, blood soup, pyrogies filled with all kinds of meat, and more).  But one thing that I have been wanting to try for a while now that I knew I could easily vegetarianize is simply cabbage rolls, or "Gołąbki" as they are known in Polish.

Really I'm not sure if my Dziadziu would be so proud of me because I kind of made this recipe "un-Polish", but it still has the basic idea. Instead of the normal meat and rice filling, I used a base of lentils, mushrooms and ricotta, 3 things that work very well together to create a creamy, earthy delicious taste. After rolling the filling into the cabbage leaves, I smothered it in a kind of "every vegetable in the fridge" spicy tomato sauce, though you can certainly make whatever kind of tomato sauce you like.  I'd almost venture to call them the "lazy, health-conscious person's ravioli". All in all, these guys are quite tasty and very healthy, so give 'em a shot!

Carrot Harvest Solution: Crispy Curried Carrot Fritters

So this summer I planted a HUGE bed of carrots, not really thinking about the fact that I'd have around 50+ of them at once when it came time to harvest. I kind of forgot about this fact through the end of summer and beginning of fall, but the other day I wanted to plant garlic for next year in the same, sunny bed as I planted the carrots this year, result being a crap load of carrots I gotta use up (with pleasure, of course). I pictured a few examples of my carrots below, a few different varieties to keep life interesting. I think my favorite was the "purple haze" which is the one furthest to the right. They all taste amazing, though. Not even close to the hard, dried out giants you find in the grocery store. Carrots fresh out of the ground taste incredibly sweet and fresh, and have a gentle crunch to them, not like their grocery store counterparts that take a good bit of gnawing to get through. So, though I was enjoying these carrots immensely simply dipped in hummus, I had (and still have so many) that I wanted a way to incorporate a huge amount of them into a meal, something more interesting than roasting or steaming. Result: crispy curried carrot fritters!

I used a similar recipe over the summer when my zucchini plants were fruiting in overdrive, trying a few variations such as mexican and italian. The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can tweak the herbs and spices to what you like. For some reason, I really like the sweetness of carrots with the spiciness of curry, so I decided to throw in some curry powder and accompanying spices and fried em' up. Not only is this recipe incredibly delicious, but with so many incredibly immune boosting veggies and spices (tumeric in particular!) it is a perfect way to enter into the increasingly cold winter months. Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash, Apple & Wild Rice Salad on a bed of Warm Kale

I found myself in an odd position today, craving both salad but also something that would stick to my ribs a little but more than some lettuce and raw veggies. After a little bit of imagining, I came up with this yummy dish. This is another addition to my "fall line" of dishes I suppose..a delicious warm and autumnal salad.  A lot of these ingredients actually came right from our garden (well...at least the kale and the butternut squash, and we handpicked the apples at a local farm..props to fall in new england!) which makes it even more special. This combines the sweetness of apple, the roasty, spicy goodness of cinnamon spiced butternut squash, the delicate pungency of shallot, the nuttiness of wild rice, and the earthiness of sage. The combination is amazing, especially on a nice big bed of warm, lightly steamed kale. This, being an experiment, came out wayyy better than I intended it to on the first shot, and I don't think this recipe really needs many tweaks. I really like it because I didn't want anything too heavy, but it did feel like it would be unsatisfying and unatural to eat a big green salad as it is starting to get much cooler out. This is a perfect solution if you're sharing the same problem (or simply want to eat a super delicious and nutritious plate of fall produce). 

Sage Scented Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprout Hash

Fall is my favorite. I absolutely love the changing leaves, the sweater and  leggings weather, pumpkins, apple picking, and other things of the like. But one of my most favorite things about fall is the amazing tastes it brings about. It is around this time that our bodies start craving the foods that grow naturally in the cooler months--sweeter root veggies, heartier greens, and earthy herbs, all of which prepare us for a healthy and happy winter. Sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts and sage is a perfect example of this. All of these are hearty through the winter and start flourishing during the fall. It's no coincidence that they taste amazing together. So, in the end Fall was the inspiration for this amazing hash. It is absolutely delicious, and also healthy due to the nutrient dense veggies, herbs and spices. I also tried to channel a little bit of a smoky bacon taste (though not overwhelming by any means) as a little bit of an homage to the classic potato hash. You can totally choose to omit those ingredients if they don't appeal to you though. Try this for breakfast, lunch or dinner, with eggs, without eggs, whatever you like...get creative and most of all, enjoy!

BBQ Cheese Shroom Burgers with spinach, the *perfect* vegetarian barbecue

It feels like Spring is here...which means Summer is on its way!

There's something about barbecue that seems so summery and enjoyable, but its classically just...so full of meat. But just because some of us can't partake in the meat-eating part of this american warm weather tradition doesn't mean that we can't enjoy it too. In fact, i've discovered some of my favorite barbecue dishes  after I went veg. One of my all time favorite recipes is this burger, and that's why on this beautiful warm day I decided to whip up a batch of these little guys while my boyfriend made his own meal.

 I find that a portobello mushroom cap makes a much heartier and more delicious burger than store bought frozen veggie burgers. Its more natural and more wholesome as well, you never know what kind of weird flavorings or chemicals are present in brands such as morningstar or bocaburger. I also LOVE barbecue sauce, and there's no reason vegetarians can't enjoy it too! So here's my favorite recipe for a filling and yummy grilled burger. Invited to a barbecue? Bring some of these puppies and I'm sure that you'll have veg heads and meat eaters alike wolfing them down.

Moroccan Lentil Tagine Stuffed Peppers

I don't know about you, but there's something about stuffed peppers to me that screams out "Moroccan food!". I'm guessing that it was probably the fact that the first stuffed pepper recipe that I ever had was made by my father and did have a Moroccan flare to it...but I think that this little creation I made tonight takes it to the next level. This combination, though very classical, is absolutely delicious! And I made sure to incorporate one of my latest herbal obsessions--cilantro-- into the recipe. The health benefits of this wonderful, fresh tasting herb are simply incredible. For example, the heavy metal detoxing properties are rarely found outside of sea vegetables (sea weed), which are definitely harder to obtain than hopping over to your local grocery store. (see the health benefits section for a more in depth list of the wonders of cilantro) And there is a huge amount of nutrients, vitamins, and minerals to boot. I think that if everyone had a little more cilantro in their lives, we would definitely be a healthier species as a whole. BUT that is beyond the point. This dish is wonderfully spicy, with the sweetness of the raisins and the spiciness of the tumeric and paprika all tied together by the warmth of the cinnamon. Give this a shot, its definitely a show-stopper (and, not to brag, but even my meat eating boy friend and his friend thoroughly enjoyed this one!)

Slow Roasted Grape Tomatoes

I don't think I've ever met anyone who doesn't like sundried tomatoes. We recently bought a huge bunch of grape tomatoes, so I figured I'd make an in-home version of sundried tomatoes. These little beauties are so good. They're so sweet they're almost like candy. They'd make a great addition to practically any dish..pastas, salads, sandwiches, pizzas (see next post...hint hint) and I think are just great to have on hand!

Sauteed Portobello with Romano Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

So obviously for Christmas dinner I, and my other vegetarian counterparts, are not enjoying the show-stopping roast. Instead of this, I decided to make a nice, meaty and filling portobello mushroom cap. In order to jazz it up a little, I decided to roast up a red pepper (see below post) and make a nice pureed pepper and romano sauce. The sweetness and saltiness of the sauce really play well on the earthiness of the mushroom. So, here it is, the main course of my Christmas dinner. Yum Yum!

Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted red peppers are one of those foods that go great in so many dishes. In sandwiches, pastas, soups, sauces, salads, with cheeses, and so many other things. They are also deceptively easy to make. Instead of paying $5 for a little jar in the store, whip up a bunch and store them immersed  by olive oil in a mason jar in the fridge to have on hand.

The Roasting of the Pumpkin!

When I went apple picking this year (as every respectable New Englander should), I also got a tiny little pumpkin, thinking how much fun it would be to roast it up and make pies and breads and pastas and..well pretty much everything pumpkin. But it wound up sitting on my table, through Columbus day, through Halloween, through (can I admit it?) Thanksgiving. But FINALLY I carried out my 2 month old plan. I finally sat down and performed the roasting of the pumpkin!

Two Bean Roast

Our farm share has just ended and I've had to start veggie shopping for myself again, which has been both a very saddening but also a good thing. While I absolutely loved the farm-fresh veggies and the challenge of figuring out what to do with them, it is also kind of fun to have the freedom to buy what I want. This week I decided to get a few handfuls of green beans at the store. Now I'm usually not a huge green bean fan (I think I was scarred at a younger age by the canned stuff...) but this recipe is incredible. Today I kind of experimented with it..I usually make this as a sautee but I sort of just felt like roasting stuff up tonight (being lazy during a school hell week). But it actually turned out better than the sautee version, in my opinion. So I think I'll be rewriting this recipe...permanently.

Roasted Cabbage Steaks With Goat Cheese & Rosemary Potatoes

Today was a longgggg day. I didn't get home until about 10pm, so obviously I wanted to spend more time eating than I did cooking. I went to the fridge and noticed a bunch more leftover red cabbage, possibly on the verge of going bad. In my continual effort to figure out what the hell one does with red cabbage to make it delicious, I decided to try out this recipe. And, it definitely worked. Deeeelicious. Since I was already roasting cabbage, I decided why not throw in some potatoes as well? Easy..one pan, one meal, hardly any clean up! So here it is, my 2 simple and amazing recipes for an epic meal time. (PS this was an individual serving, so adjust if you want to make more!)

Sweet Potato and Kidney Bean Curry

I think i was stuck on a desert island and had to pick one type of world cuisine to eat everyday for the rest of my life, it would be Indian. There is literally no curry that has passed my lips that I haven't loved. But, alas, all you can eat Indian lunch buffets and the occasional dinner out can get quite expensive. Here's my cheap, and just as delicious, alternative to eating out. The sauce can be made separately and stored in the fridge in a mason jar so you can use it on whatever you want, or make impromptu curries whenever you want. Try it out!

Butternut Roasted Vegetable Stew

Today was one of those days where I could feel my body feinding for nutrition. Having not eaten too particularly well over the past few days (happens to the best of us) I could feel my body needed a big fat dosage of vegetables- stat! So I thought that a nice, hearty and filling veggie stew would be perfect. After a quite indecisive trip to the store, I came home with a plethora of vegetables. But, better to eat your rainbow than stick to one color! So here it is, my recipe for (rainbow) butternut and roasted veggie stew. 

Improv Night (Cont): Red Cabbage, Chickpea and Parsnip Soup

I don't know if this sounds appealing to you all or not, but, trust me..its DELICIOUS! Today was the first snow of the year, and I felt I needed a warm, hearty stew-like dinner. The red cabbage in this recipe almost gives it a sort of meaty texture which I never would have thought possible, while the slightly pureed chickpeas give it a hearty, creamy texture. So much goodness for the taste buds and the body! Ya just gotta try it. (If you like hot foods add some hot sauce, gives the perfect kick to it)

Improv Night: Edamame Spinach Pesto!

So tonight was one of those nights where I felt like making something, came home and found out that I was missing a few key ingredients...kind of a bummer. But luckily there's usually a fridge (and freezer) full of veggies to play with, so options are always available. We had a whole bunch of red cabbage, and parsnips from the farm share this week so I decided to use those up in a soup. And unfortunately it seems like my basil plant is on its way out, so I thought I'd whip up some kale-basil pesto as well. But alas, no kale this week! I then looked in the freezer and found frozen spinach and frozen edamame, and thought that'd all be good together..why not? Spinach, edamame, and basil pesto. Cool, and surprisingly absolutely delicious (with an extra protein kick). See the next post for soup recipe.

Smoky Parsnip & White Bean Potage

I'm all about potages. Come fall and winter, there is nothing heartier and more nutritious than a huge bowl of pureed vegetables. This week in our farm share, we got a huge supply of parsnips. With their delicate sweet flavor and pale yellow color, I thought white beans would compliment them well. To jazz up the mild flavor, I added a hint of spice and smokiness. I ate this with some baguette and smoked gouda cheese on the side...went so well together!

Kale Basil Pesto

We've been getting so much kale in out farm share recently, if you're in the same predicament or just feel like improving the health benefits of your normal pesto without sacrificing flavor, try this out. Its great on pasta, in sandwiches or paninis...pretty much on anything!

Kale Basil Pesto

-2 Cups Curly Kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
-1 Cup fresh basil
-1/2 Cup pine nuts (or shelled sunflower seeds for a nutless version)
-2 Cloves of Garlic
-Olive Oil
-Salt
-Pepper

Directions: 
1. Place curly kale, fresh basil, pine nuts/ sunflower seeds, and garlic in a food processor. Process a few times until everything is roughly chopped up.
2. Drizzle in olive oil while blending until the basil is smooth
3. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Health Benefits!
Kale- High in antioxidants to help prevent cancer and heart disease. High in calcium to encourage strong, healthy bones and prevent osteoporosis and other bone-related conditions. High in vitamin C, Folic Acid, Vitamin B6, manganese, and potassium. 
Basil-  having a highly disinfecting property, basil can help reduce the symptom of fever, can give digestion relief due to certain components in the essential oil, boosts the immune system, and much more
Garlic- Contains allicin, an incredibly medicinal component, especially in raw garlic (like in this recipe!) Allicin can help prevent high blood pressure, aid in digestion, aid in inflammation reduction, help prevent and cure cold, and much much more!
Sunflower seeds- Sunflower seeds improve digestion, brain power and cardiovascular system; it is rich in magnesium, potassium, selenium, zinc and iron.

sources:
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-holy-basil-tulsi.html
http://home.howstuffworks.com/kale3.htm
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/health-benefits-of-garlic.html
http://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/seed-and-nut/health-benefits-of-sunflower.html