Recipe! Corn Risotto

Farm fresh corn is plentiful here in the summer.  We have a farm just up the street that grows the best sweet corn I've ever had.  I freeze it and put it into different recipes but mostly enjoy it straight from the cob.  Tonight I made one of our favorite recipes, Corn Risotto.

Our local paper featured a recipe for corn risotto a couple of years ago when we were enjoying our first summer back in Traverse City.  I modified it slightly to take down the oil content and make it vegan (only needing to cut out the parmesan cheese and replace chicken stock with vegetable broth).  The original recipe calls for sauteing green onions first before adding the rice but I have a few in my house who scoff at onions.  I tell them of their greatness but they don't believe me yet.  They will soon!  So tonight, in order to please everyone, I omitted the green onion (gasp!) but toasted the rice first in olive oil in hopes of adding more flavor.  It worked!  The result was deliciousness without complaining!  I can't complain about that.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do.

Corn Risotto

Ingredients:

1 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
6 cups vegetable broth
3 large ears of corn, kernels removed

Method:

In a large saucepan warm the vegetable broth.  In a large non-stick skillet on medium heat add the oil.  Once warmed, add the rice stirring to coat.  Toast the rice until fragrant and slightly toasted, approximately 7 minutes.  Add the warmed broth half a cup at a time, stirring the rice with each addition.  Stir until most of the broth as been incorporated into the rice.  Keep adding the broth in half cup increments, continuing to stir with each addition.  This will take approximately 30 minutes.  It can be tedious but the end result will be worth it!  Once all of the broth has been added add the corn.  Stir to warm and incorporate.  Serve!

Since the original recipe suggested to serve with parmesan I decided that a great substitute was Dreena Burton's Brazil Nut Parmesan.  This recipe comes from her most recent cookbook Let Them Eat Vegan!  Now, most of my relatives and close friends already have a copy of the book so no excuses (!!!) for not trying this one!  It's a very simple recipe and really dresses up pasta, salads, soups, risotto, nearly everywhere you can put parmesan.  Simply delicious.

salads and baking

It's been a busy first couple weeks of summer vacation.  I have watched my niece for most of those two weeks which has been fun.  But having to adjust to preparing 5 lunches instead of two meant that my lunch salads had to go by the wayside.  They usually aren't that time consuming to prepare, but when you have 4 hungry kiddos who are ready for seconds before I have had the chance to begin preparing my lunch, re-heated leftovers from the night before turns out to be much faster than spinning some greens, chopping veggies, and adding whatever else looks good from the night before.  Today I had the extra time (plus some pre-spun greens from last nights dinner...did you happen to see my Vegan Chopped entry?).  While I was slicing the grapes and getting the salad assembled (and getting seconds for my boys' lunches) I toasted a few almonds.  I also had a little bit of an oil-free dressing that I've been loving, that I used.  And voila!  Lunch is ready!

 ****************

When cooking or baking I tend to go all out.  When it's baking day, I'm known for baking 3 different things right after another.  Maybe a batch of muffins, some cookies, and then some granola.  It's easier for me.  I have all of the ingredients out on my counter, my measuring cups and spoons are there, I just wash out my mixing bowl and spoon in between.  Why mess up the kitchen three times when I can really mess it up just once? 

 

 

Today I only had 2 things on my list to bake:  granola and brownies.  

 The cashews were soaking, the wet and dry ingredients for the granola were ready to be combined.  While the granola was baking, I assembled the brownies.  The oven temps were different, but I just bumped it up a bit and it was ready when the brownies were ready to go in.  Easy peasy.

The best part is being able to take the day off tomorrow.

Chopped - Vegan!

Isa Moskowitz cookbook author (Vegan with a Vengeance, Vegonomicon, Appetite for Reduction, Vegan Pie in the Sky, etc,) and of Post Punk Kitchen fame announced on Facebook last week a vegan version of the popular Food Network show, Chopped.  You know the show...four contestants compete preparing first an appetizer, then an entree, and finally a dessert.  Secret ingredients are revealed before each round and one person is eliminated after each round, leaving a victor at the end of the dessert round.  It's a fun show to watch, however the gross meat that they have is really gross.  Sadly, I'd had enough of the gross meat and had to stop watching.

But Chopped vegan-style?  Right up my alley!  It's odd that it is right up my alley actually.  I follow recipes to a T.  I'm not creative in my life at all and that goes for my cooking in the kitchen too.  But I love the idea behind the show.  The food is judged by how well you incorporate the ingredients, presentation, and taste.

So the challenge for us was to create an entree using the following secret ingredients:

The secret ingredients are blackberries, black eyed peas, fresh mint, and bittersweet chocolate.  I had a bit of trouble locating bittersweet chocolate without milk fat.  I finally found this Ghiradelli that didn't have any milk fat in it.

Before sharing my recipe I must begin my saying that I used Dreena Burton's Moroccan-Infused Vegetable Phyllo Rolls as a source of inspiration.  Her Balsamic Maple sauce was an inspiration as well for my sauce that I made.  Many contestants on Chopped use recipes familiar to them while on the show and I felt inspired by Dreena's recipe and thought the ingredients would go well together in this way.

Now, without further hesitation....let me introduce to you my very first recipe I have ever created...

Drum roll please...

Black Eyed Pea Phyllo Rolls with a Blackberry Balsamic Sauce with Chocolate and Mint.  I served it with a garden salad.

Here is the recipe:

For the rolls:
1 can of black eyed peas
1 medium-sized zucchini, chopped
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 peppers, seeded and chopped (I used one red, one yellow)
4 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
6 sheets of phyllo dough
3 TBS olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp marjoram
1/4 tsp sage
salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:
1/2 cup frozen blackberries
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 TBS maple syrup
4 fresh mint leaves
1 square Ghiradelli chocolate
1/4 tsp salt

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a large sauce pan over medium high heat combine 1 TBS olive oil, onion, and potato.  Cook until onion is caramelized and  potato begins to brown, about 8 minutes.  Add zucchini, thyme, tarragon, oregano, marjoram, sage, salt and pepper (to taste) and cook until soft, about another 5 minutes.  Add peppers and cook for an additional 4 to 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute or until soft.

 

 

 

Prepare the phyllo by unwrapping from the packaging and placing a damp towel over the top of the phyllo to prevent it from drying out.  Carefully take one sheet of dough (remember to replace the wet towel on top of the other sheets so they don't dry out) and spread a small amount of the oil (use a pastry brush) over the entire surface of the sheet.  Place another sheet directly on top of the first sheet and spread this with oil too.  Place a third sheet on top of the second but do not spread with oil.  Spread half of the black eyed pea and vegetable mixture, lengthwise on the phyllo dough and carefully roll up.  Yours may burst out, as mine did...no worries.

 

Carefully transfer the roll to a baking dish.  You may need to curve yours around to fit the dish, like I did for mine.  Repeat the process using the second half of the bean and vegetable mixture.  Brush the tops of both rolls with a little bit of oil.  Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden.

 

While the rolls are baking you can prepare the sauce.  Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pot over medium low heat.  Stir frequently to prevent the chocolate from scorching.  I used a small whisk and broke up my blackberries and crushed the mint a bit to get it incorporated.  Once the berries are thawed and the chocolate is melted, pass the mixture through a sieve to remove the berry seeds and the mint leaves.  Serve on top or as a dipping sauce with your rolls.

  

derby cars and birthday cakes

It's been a busy several days.  My youngest had a birthday, we had a scouting event that went way later than I expected, a birthday boy who is choosing not to nap every day and go to sleep when he wants to at night, and some others who are sick.  My time has been spent cooking, baking, celebrating, snuggling, cheering and reading when I can grab a spare moment.

Hands on hips...his signature stance at the moment.
 

Normally, socks off in a public place would wig me out...but any chance I can see those baby feet now, I  jump at the chance.  No too worry, once he got up to go play again, I made him put his socks back on.

There it is again, the birthday boy with his hands on his hips...adorable!

 I am no master cake decorator, by any stretch of the imagination.  But, he wanted a fire truck-train cake with kitty cats.  And that's what he got.  Cake recipe courtesy of Dreena Burton...chocolate "cream" cake.  Would it be anyone else??

A very happy birthday to my big baby boy.

pie and salad

Yesterday was Valentines Day.  Chris and I had a school event to attend, so I didn't have time to blog after we got home.  However I made this pie yesterday in celebration of the holiday and my sister was wanting me to talk about it, so here we are!  Say hello to Three's Company Pie.

It's a lovely thick, rich, smooth pie with chocolate, banana, and peanut butter.  There is no soy or sugar added, sweetened with only a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup.  You might think it would be lacking in sweetness...not the case.  It's rich, chocolatey and delicious with just enough sweetness.  And my toughest critics were able to have a piece tonight.  Approved by all boys, even the pickiest of boys ate his right up...after removing the slice of banana from the top...silly boy.

You may guess that this is a recipe courtesy of Miss Dreena Burton.  And you are correct!  It is from her new cookbook Let Them Eat Vegan that is coming out March 13.  She was generous to share the recipe early with us and you can find it here.  Another thing I loved about this recipe is that I had all the ingredients in my pantry and freezer.  I just happened to have some whole wheat, vegan pie crusts in my freezer because they were on sale a while back.

Today my favorite almost-3-year-old and I had breakfast with a friend.  It's been a social week for me having had coffee (tea for me actually) yesterday morning, a wine-tasting even last night, and breakfast with another friend this morning.  It's been a nice change from my normal "Groundhog Day" type of days where each day seems to be a copy of the next.  Anyway, since we had a big breakfast this morning I felt like I just wanted a salad for lunch.  I made a simple salad of romaine, spinach, carrot, cherry tomato, avacado, and walnuts.  I made a quick batch of Dreena's Living Cesar Salad Dressing.  It's creamy, tangy and was really yummy on this salad.  It's just what I needed for a light lunch.

The cold seems to be working its way through the boys.  The cough lingers the longest and the littlest boy finally slept through the night last night.  I was very happy and ready and raring to go this morning.

Wishing everyone a good evening.

playtime and stew

I love days when we get to spend most of our time at home.

Puzzles,

making a "zip line" with cones, 

climbing on Mom.

He saw me making the boy's lunches last night and wanted me to make one for him too.  He brought it with us when we took the boys to school this morning and was very excited to eat it when lunch came around.

We had another sunny day today.  Reading pre-naptime books in the sunshine was lovely.

Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel by Virginia Lee Barton

 I did a first today...I made my own vegan sausages.  I was apprehensive, very apprehensive.  I became vegetarian because I didn't like meat.  So, making a meat substitute was not something I was interested in eating.  But others in my house would be interested in eating something like this.  So, I gave it a shot. 

Stew with homemade vegan sausage.

They were a little spicy but the stew was delicious.  It gave me a good excuse to open up a bottle of red wine.  And I'm a potato girl and the potatoes were fabulous.  I may have to find a milder sausage recipe, but this stew recipe is a keeper.

I'm looking forward to having coffee (tea) with some friends tomorrow morning.  Have a good night.

in my kitchen

Today in my kitchen I have:

     ::  a boy who wasn't feeling well, who turned into a boy who was really not feeling well...sparing the details, he's the latest victim of the flu in our house

     ::  a lot of cooking happened - cookies, bread, soup - all making for a delicious dinner

     ::  Laurie Berkner serenading us as we had our lunch today

     ::  a lot of cleaning happened - I managed to clean my floors while Nickel napped, and promptly had to clean them again after his nap (I spared you that photo...right, I didn't even take one)

     ::  dishes done before dinner...the best!


I have a feeling tonight will be not very restful for at least two of us.  I'm heading to bed.  Wish us luck.

a good site, a bad site and some cookies

A beautiful site:

A not so beautiful site:

Somehow I overlooked a pen that was in Chris' pants and it exploded in our dryer.  I say "overlooked" but in actuality, I haven't been checking pants pockets...I guess I've gotten lazy.

I finished off Chris' bottle of Goof Off trying to remove the ink from the inside of the dryer drum.  It looked to be about 15 years old and it did a fair job at removing a lot of the ink...but not all.  I think I have to change my ways and start checking pants pockets again.

Another beautiful site:  oatmeal raisin cookies. 

I spent Nickel's naptime baking and speaking with a nice man from India about my Snapfish order.  I had ordered some home decor items and a they didn't quite turn out as I expected.  He was very helpful (even if it took 55 minutes) and I'm looking forward to hanging up some pictures of my cute boys.

A long phone call meant no time to make my soup that I was planning on making.  Nor did I have time to do my yoga class. 

My middle son is the one with the sickies now and I felt a little run down this morning.  I'm hoping I can fight it off with my ginger green tea and some immunity yoga...and a good night's sleep.

Until tomorrow...

waffles, snow, and one lazy saturday

I found a vegan waffle recipe that everyone eats, even my toughest critic (my family members will know which boy I'm talking about).  And I can throw them together really fast, along with a blueberry or raspberry sauce that I can no longer live without.  My oldest prefers the blueberry version and I the raspberry.  My youngest will eat both, and did so today.

 

I awoke this morning to beautiful snow flakes adding to our carpet of snow already on the ground.  It was a welcome site since we hadn't gotten much all week.  And what snow we had melted and become my least favorite part of winter...dirty brown snow. Another 4 inches fell last night and this morning.

My oldest is a little under the weather.  He must have caught the bug that I heard was making it's way through school.  It's a lazy Saturday.   Time to take advantage of that myself.