Saturday, October 20, 2007

Vietnamese Pho Soup

I can't find veg Pho anywhere in Orlando and I've been craving it for years(!), so I finally cooked up my own:




Broth ingredients:

2-3 cinnamon sticks
4 cloves
2 pods of star anise
1 medium size onion cut into several large chunks
8 cloves of garlic, halved
1 inch piece of ginger, coarsely sliced
8 cups vegetable broth (I use Vegebase and water)
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
salt to taste


Soup ingredients:

1 package of cooked rice noodles
8 oz package of seitan, cut into slices
a few scallions, finely chopped
2 cups of bean sprouts
one bunch of cilantro, coarsely chopped
1 lime, cut into wedges
hoisin sauce



Put the cinnamon, cloves, star anise, onion, garlic and ginger in a large sauce pan and cook over medium heat until everything is slightly charred. Now and the broth and soy sauce and bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain the broth into another dish with a fine mesh sieve and dispose of the cooked spices/veggies.

Put some cooked rice noodles in a large bowl and top with some seitan. Ladle broth on top and add desired amount of sprouts, chopped cilantro, and if you'd like, a little fresh lime, hoison sauce, and/or crushed peanuts.

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Veggie, lime, & cilantro soup




3 TBS of oil
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped,
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 TBS of garlic powder
1 1/2 TBS of chili pepper

5 cups of vegetable broth
1/2 bag of frozen corn
1/2 bag of frozen peas
2 cans of Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed


Heat the oil in a pan then add in the carrots, onion and celery along with the garlic powder and chili pepper and saute for 5 minutes. Add the broth, corn, peas, and beans and let simmer for 20 minutes. Squeeze juice from one fresh lime and stir in a generous handful of fresh chopped cilantro. Now eat it up!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Caponata




Ingredients:

1 medium size eggplant, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 plum tomatoes, quartered
1 yellow pepper. seeded and sliced
1 medium zucchini, sliced
4 ounces of black olives
15 fresh basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 ounces olive oil
1 tsp black pepper



Directions:

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook for about 30 minutes on medium/low heat, stirring occasionally.

Once it has cooked down, take off heat and spoon on toasted bread and top with whatever veg cheese you'd like. Eat. And then eat some more. :)


(Variations: Can serve over pasta, or if you'd like it more as a stew, add some vegetable broth and veggie sausage)