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I made my first Bored Vegetarian post on May 3rd, 2010, a little over a three years ago! Without getting too cheeseball (mmm cheeseball), I can’t thank you enough for reading and cooking along with me. Can’t wait to see where this goes over the next few years…
love, Bethany
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Roasted Cauliflower & Steamed Kale Salad
1 small head of Cauliflower, broken into florets
3 cups raw Kale, large stems removes, leaves chopped small
2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Juice from half of a Lemon
Salt & Pepper to taste
Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional)
Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet, toss florets in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until cauliflower is soft and begins to brown (toss about halfway through to brown on different sides). Fill a soup pot or large sauce pan with an inch or two of water and place over medium/high heat. Place a vegetable steamer in the pot and add the kale. Steam the kale until tender. Remove cauliflower from oven and let cool until you can handle it. Chop up cauliflower into very small pieces. In a bowl, toss with steamed kale and season with salt and pepper. Add to a serving bowl and squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Can be served warm or room temperature.
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Sunny Side Up Egg with Quinoa, Sauteed Kale, Tomato and Basil & Scallion Puree
It’s a slow rainy Saturday in New York.
1 egg
1/2 cup dry Quinoa
1 cup Low Sodium Vegetable Stock
1 cup chopped Kale, large stems removed
1/4 cup Baby Heirloom Tomatoes
2 generous handfuls of fresh Basil
1/2 cup chopped Scallions
1 clove Garlic
4-5 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/4 cup White Wine Vinegar
1 Tbsp Butter
Salt & Pepper to taste
In a saucepan 1/2 cup of water and 1 cup Vegetable Broth to a boil. Add quinoa and season with a bit of salt. Cover and bring down to a simmer until the liquid cooks off (about 15 minutes). In a saute pan, saute minced garlic in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add the cooked quinoa and toss. Cook on low heat, continuing to cook off any remaining liquid in the quinoa. In a blender, liquify basil, scallion and a 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil. With the blender going, slowly stream in the white wine vinegar, which will thicken the puree. In a saute pan, saute the kale and tomato in a bit of olive oil until soft. Add to quinoa and toss. Season with salt & pepper. In a saute pan, melt butter over low-medium heat. Crack the egg into the pan and season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid until the whites have firmed up. Serve quinoa in a bowl, top with the sunny side up egg and spoon some of the basil & scallion puree over the top. Serve immediately.
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Cauliflower Soup with a Parmesan Crisp and Truffle Oil
When I’m feeling a little uninspired in the kitchen, sometimes all it takes is a visit to an amazing restaurant or two to get the wheels turning again. Usually it’s because I’ve had a new combination of ingredients or take that I hadn’t considered, but sometimes I get inspired to recreate a dish that isn’t as good as I think it could have been. Case in point the cauliflower soup I had a place in Bushwick recently. While it wasn’t terrible, I thought it was missing the rich silkiness (ew, that word) that cauliflower can create. I decided I should try my hand at it at home to see if I could make a version that captured the comforting and warm feeling that soup should give in the deep hellish depths of winter (also known as February in New York.)
1 head Cauliflower, trimmed of stalk and leaves
1 cup chopped Onion
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 cups Vegetable Stock
1 cup Half & Half
Salt and Pepper to taste
Truffle Oil (optional)
In a large pot, saute chopped onion and garlic on low/medium heat until translucent. Chop cauliflower into small, manageable pieces. Add to pot and cover with vegetable stock. Turn heat to medium/high until cauliflower is very soft, about 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. Using an immersion blender, blend the stock and vegetables until smooth. Add half & half and continue to blend. Salt and pepper to taste. If soup is too thick, you can add a little water or more half and half. If it’s too thin, continue to cook until to desired thickness. Serve hot in a bowl with a drizzle of truffle oil and a parmesan crisp
For the Parmesan Crisp
1 cup shredded Parmesan Cheese
(for those asking, BelGioioso makes a rennet-free parm)
Preheat oven broil. Cover a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spread cheese in an even layer so that you can’t see the area of paper, about 4-5 inches around. Broil in oven until cheese melts and begins to crisp and brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Break into pieces and serve with soup.
Thanks to Mardi of Sprout & Pea for coming over for dinner and to share an amazing bottle of First Fruit from Shinn Vineyard on Long Island that I’ve been holding onto for far too long. It’s time I made a trip back there…
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Roasted Cauliflower Steak with Whipped Feta and Scallions
1 large Cauliflower head, trimmed
1/4 pound Feta Cheese
2 ounces Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp fresh Lemon Juice
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Scallions for garnish
Salt & Pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 375. Place flat side of cauliflower on cutting board and cut 3/4 inch “steaks” from the middle of the head. In a pan, heat olive oil and sear each side of the cauliflower, flipping to brown each side. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and roast on a cookie sheet on the lowest rack of the oven until tender. In a food processor, blend feta, cream cheese, cream cheese and lemon juice until smooth. Spoon whipped feta onto plate with a cauliflower steak. Garnish with scallion.
Last week’s Valentine’s Market was a great time, even with the blizzard. Thank you to everyone who stopped by our table and sampled or bought a jar of nutella. Markets of New York did a nice post about our wares. Check it out!
Butternut Squash & Gorgonzola Galette with Caramelized Onion and Crispy Sage Galette
I’ve been laying out my goals for 2013 and I must say I’m pretty excited about what’s to come for The Bored Veg in the next several months. Some things are already in motion, some I’m still working on (hey, it’s only January 2nd). One area I want to focus on is incorporating more baking into the blog. It sounds silly, but baking has always intimidated me. It’s so exact and… scientific. So much of what makes a delicious baked good is ingredients reacting with one another, temperature etc. Not to mention the fact that my convection oven is a giant POS and it’s difficult to evenly cook anything. Anyway, my point is that 2013 will be the year of baking. Or slightly more baking. This galette was the perfect way to get things started.
Dough (recipe from Smitten Kitchen)
1 1/4 cups Flour, chilled in freezer for 30 minutes
1/4 tsp Salt
8 Tbsp (1 stick) cold Unsalted Butter, cut into pieces and chilled again
1/4 cup Sour Cream
2 tsp fresh Lemon Juice
1/4 cup Ice Water
Crust Glaze
1 Egg Yolk beaten with 1 tsp Water
Whisk together flour and salt in a bowl. Add chopped butter and use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the flour until the butter pieces are no bigger than a pea. The flour should be a meal consistency. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, ice water and sour cream. Add to the flour & butter mixture and mix together with your hands until the dough forms into large lumps. Pat the dough into a ball, being careful not to overwork. Wrap in plastic and chill for an hour in the refrigerator.
Filling
1 small Butternut Squash, peeled and slice thin (about 1/4 inch thick)
1 small Red Onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup Gorgonzola, crumbled
15-20 fresh Sage Leaves
3 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Canola Oil for frying
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Preheat oven to 350. Toss butternut squash with olive oil and spread on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and roast in the oven, turning occasionally until the squash is cooked through. In a saute pan, heat 1 1/2 Tbsp of olive oil. Add onion and toss in olive oil. Saute over low/medium heat for a few minutes and then sprinkle onions with salt. Continue to cook over low/medium heat until onions caramelize (up to 30 mins). In a saute pan, add a couple of inches of canola oil and heat over medium heat for about a minute. Test a sage leave - it should crisp up in about five seconds. Be careful not to brown the leaves. Fry all sage leaves and drain.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Remove dough from the fridge and roll out into a 12-inch circle on a well floured work surface. Transfer onto an ungreased baking sheet. Leaving about 2 inches around the edge, layer the butternut squash in a spiral towards the center. Spread the caramelized onions over the top. Fold over the edges of the dough, pinching together where needed so that it partially covers the filling. Brush the crust with the egg yolk mixture. Bake in the oven about 30 to 40 minutes until the crust is a golden brown. Turn off the oven, pull the galette partially out and sprinkle with cheese and sage. Return to the oven until the cheese melts slightly. Remove from oven and transfer to serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve.
Why You’d Want to Live Here
LA and I have had somewhat of a contemptuous relationship since it stole away two of my closest friends a few months ago and have yet to return to them to Brooklyn, but as it was one of the cities I had yet to explore in my adulthood, it was time to go. The weather didn’t quite behave (those who say it never rains in California lied…) but we got to explore tons of neighborhoods and most importantly, eat a lot of delicious food. I came back feeling pretty inspired foodwise, which is one of the best things one can ask for.
Nickel Diner (Downtown) : Try the strawberry donut.
Little Dom’s (Griffith Park/Los Feliz) : Eggs Fungi Poached with Roasted Mushrooms, Grilled Bread, Fennel Pollen Hollandaise; Fried Potatoes
Cafe Gratitude (Venice, thanks for the recommendation, Nicole!) : Warning - their way of ordering (I AM ____________, to which the waitperson replies YOU ARE _________________) is a bit pretentious and off-putting, but it’s the most delicious vegan food I’ve ever had.
I AM VIVACIOUS: Live marinated Kale Chips with Hempseed Ranch
I AM HUMBLE: Indian Curried Lentils over Quinoa with Sauteed Seasonal Vegetable, Sweet Potato and Spinach, drizzled with Spicy Mint Chutney & Sweet Tamarind Sauce
Huckleberry Bakery & Cafe (Santa Monica) : Quinoa, Butternut Squash, Rutiz Kale with Sunny-Side Up Eggs (pictured above); All of the baked goods (we had blueberry ciabatta and roasted fig flatbread)
Jitlada (Hollywood) : Tom Kha Soup; Freshy Rolls; Native Fruit Green Curry with Coconut and Tofu
Wurstkuche (Downtown/Arts District) : Vegetarian Smoked Apple Sage (apples, yukon potatoes & rubbed sage)
The Pie Hole (Downtown/Arts District) : I forget which we had, but it was tasty!
Other highlights:
The Varnish (in the back of Cole’s, Downtown) : Delicious cocktails
Cosmos (Little Tokyo, Downtown) : Karaoke with a 2 drink min., tiny stage and rules like “no jumping, no gum.”
Point Dume : Beautiful state beach (pictured above)
Disneyland : Weird, nostalgic feeling (and a Dole whip)
(special thank you thank you to Brooke, Mads, Mei and Joel for showing me a good time)
Where do I go next? I’d like to plan a trip abroad and at least one in the US for 2013… advice?
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Kale & Goat Cheese Mashed Potatoes
2 lbs Potatoes, skin on (optional)
5 ounces Goat Cheese
2 cups Kale, raw, stems removed, leaves chopped thin
3 Tbsp Butter
1 1/2 Milk
4 cloves Roasted Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
Cut potatoes into 1-2 inch pieces and put in a large pot. Cover with water and add a few pinches of salt. Bring to a boil and cook potatoes until very soft. Drain and put back into the pot. Add 1 cup milk and 2 Tbsp butter and mash with a potato masher. As the potatoes start to get smoother, add goat cheese, garlic, remaining milk and butter. Mix in chopped kale. Warm on low heat until kale wilts. Seasonal with salt and pepper. Serve hot.
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It’s The Bored Vegetarian’s 2 year anniversary! My friend Emma sent me a blog birthday card. Aw. Thanks for reading! I think I should make a cake this weekend…
