Vegetarian

Roasted Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onions, Gruyere, and Sage

November 24, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Butternut squash for me is a staple during the fall and winter, especially during holidays like Thanksgiving. I decided to try this recipe for butternut squash over Thanksgiving and I was not disappointed. The squash is roasted and tossed with caramelized onions, sage, and melted gruyere cheese. The squash added a nice pop of color on the plate and the melted gruyere was delicious with the sage and butternut squash. It takes a long time for the squash to roast in the oven but it ended up being well worth it.

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French Onion Soup

November 20, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

French onion is a classic soup which I now consider to be one of my favorite soups. The recipe is fairly simple but it takes a fair amount of time and effort to create the perfect french onion soup. It consists of caramelized onions in a beef and red wine flavored broth topped with a slice of toasted bread and melted gruyere cheese. A delicious soup for cold, winter evenings! The key to making a good french onion is the length of time used to melt the onions. I like taking several hours to caramelize the onion until it is melt-in-your-mouth tender and golden brown. The one challenge I discovered early on was chopping 8 lbs of onions–I was crying the whole time! Apparently there is an enzyme in onions that creates an acidic gas when cut and gets in the eyes. I was grateful that this soup turned out to be more than worth the tears and hours it took to create it.

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Red Cabbage and Jicama Slaw

November 5, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

This slaw was a great accompaniment to the Cuban pulled pork tacos. The slaw was sweet and a little spicy which worked well with the sweet and spicy flavors of the pulled pork. Jicama has the same texture and similar taste to watercress but has an earthier flavor to it. Since I had only eaten jicama in restaurants and ignored it in the grocery aisle, it was fun to test out a new item in the kitchen. The slaw was tasty and easy to throw together since all it takes is grating the ingredients in a bowl and adding a little juice and spices.

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Chipotle Lentil and Bean Chili

October 30, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

October and November, in my opinion, are the best months for soups and chilis. I can’t really get enough of a warm bowl of something tasty during these months. Since I had quite a few leftover ingredients from other meals (e.g. lentils, beans, tomato sauce, cilantro, etc) I figured I should try creating a chili out of what I had sitting around. I kept looking around for more things to throw in and noticed I had some frozen green peppers and jalapenos, so I cut them up and threw them in too. I was very happy with how the chili turned out! This chili does not need an ounce of meat as it is packed with protein from the lentils, kidney beans, and pinto beans. The ground chipotle chilis were great and gave it a more smoky, aromatic flavor. I garnished the chili with sour cream and cilantro, but yogurt would be a good substitute for the sour cream.

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Roasted Moroccan Potatoes

October 23, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Since I already tried Moroccan couscous I thought it would be nice to try something different. I decided on roasted potatoes and they turned out very nicely. They went great with the Roasted Moroccan chicken and had very good flavor. The honey mellows and contrasts with the spicy harissa and lemon juice. The honey also caramelizes the potatoes and the result is a crispy, golden outside. The only downside is that honey has the tendency of sticking to the pan so use a generous amount of olive oil and turn the potatoes every 12-15 minutes or so. To get the potatoes extra crispy on the outside I sometimes turn the oven to the broil setting the last 3 minutes of baking.

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Spinach Pesto

October 14, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

I was craving penne pasta the other night but I wanted to do something different than a tomato or cream sauce. I decided to go with a pesto sauce and I was not disappointed with the results! This pesto recipe has a light creaminess with just a hint of mint and walnuts. I threw in a little crumbled feta for extra creaminess. It was great on pasta and I would imagine it would be tasty on panini sandwiches as well. Since I don’t have a food processor I used a standard blender which worked fine.

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Baingan Bharta (Eggplant Curry)

October 12, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Baingan Bharta is a traditional Indian dish that is made with mashed eggplant, aromatic spices, and simmered in a tomato based curry. Traditional eggplant curry calls for charcoal roasted and mashed eggplant. I diverged a bit from the traditional framework but I was very happy with the results. The creamy tomato curry tasted great with the flavors of the braised eggplant. The eggplant simmers in the sauce until it is melt in your mouth tender. It was really tasty with fresh baked naan and chopped cilantro on top.

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Naan

October 8, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Naan is an Indian flat bread baked in a Tandoor oven at high temperatures. I consider naan to be one of the best ways to get that last bit of curry sauce in a bowl eaten. It is similar to pita bread, though it is much lighter with lots of air pockets in the center. For a yeast based bread, Naan is pretty easy to make. As with any yeast bread, It’s just more time consuming since the yeast has to rise for several hours. I had a little trouble getting the naan as flat and thin as I wanted but in the end I would deem this recipe a success. I salted the dough just before baking in the oven and I thought this improved the flavor quite a bit. Naan can be served as a side dish with gee (clarified butter) or used for dipping in most kinds of Indian curry.

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Roasted Sesame and Ginger Coleslaw

September 1, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

A great addition to the Korean BBQ Pork Sandwich was this sesame and ginger coleslaw. A standard pulled pork recipe just has to have a side of coleslaw either in or outside the bun! Coleslaw can get really heavy if you add too much mayo and sour cream, so I only add a little to give it just a mild creaminess while staying light. Since the pork was flavored with Korean sauces, I flavored the coleslaw with similar ingredients. The coleslaw turned out really nicely and provided a good balance against the spicy pulled pork.

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Pierogi with Crispy Fried Onions

August 1, 2011 by The Partial Ingredients

Pierogi are classic Polish dumplings that are boiled or fried and stuffed with mashed potatoes and melted cheese. Making pierogi is pretty involved and takes 2-3 hours to prep and cook. It’s worth the extra time to make it yourself since these turned out great. I was really happy with the flavor of the filling and the dough. The crispy, sauteed onions, chives and sour cream were a nice topping that worked well with the pierogi.

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