The Bored Vegetarian

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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Open-Faced Egg Sandwich inspired by the “Tomato Burger” from Blue Hill (via NYT’s Recipe)

As some of you may know, my day/night/weekend job is as an event planner for a catering company here in Brooklyn.  Part of what I do is discussing menu ideas with couples/clients and discussing how to bring their backgrounds, family recipes and inspiration from their favorite restaurants into their menu.  Recently a couple had mentioned how much they love Blue Hill Farm’s “tomato burger,” so I had our chefs do a take on it for their tasting.  I got to sample it myself and was so obsessed with the balance of sweetness from the “bun,” the savory tomato and the creamy goat cheese, I made a mental note to try it at home.  As someone who loves savory and sweet breakfast foods together (“don’t judge me!” I exclaimed as I dumped syrup all over my eggs and potatoes the other morning), I thought this would be perfect with a delicious sunny side up egg on top.  

Serves 4

For the “bread”

1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp Almond Flour
1/3 cup + 1 Tbsp All-Purpose Flour
3/4 cup Powdered Sugar
2/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (honestly, I would recommend using less than their recommendation - it turned out a lot heavier and greasier than I would have liked.  Might reduce as much as half next time.) 
1/2 tsp Salt
4 large Egg Whites, lightly beaten 

Preheat oven to 325.  Coat a 9x9 baking pan with cooking spray.  In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  Pour in egg whites and whisk with dry ingredients until combined.  Continue to whisk and slowly add olive oil in a stream.  Pour into baking pan and bake on middle rack for 20-25 minutes or until golden yellow.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Tomato Filling:

2 pounds ripe Tomatoes
1 cup Sundried Tomatoes in oil, drained and finely chopped
1/4 Tbsp Shallots, finely chopped
1/2 Balsamic Vinegar

Cut a shallow x in the bottom of the tomatoes.  Blanch in boiling water for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and run under cold water.  Skins should easily slip off.  Remove seeds and chop into a small dice.  In a bowl, toss together diced tomato, sundried tomato, shallots, balsamic vinegar and season with salt and pepper.  

Goat Cheese Filling:

2/3 Goat Cheese, room temperature
6 Tbsp Mascarpone Cheese, room temperature 
2 Tbsp chopped Chives
pinch of salt

Stir together all of the ingredients and set aside.

Egg:

4 Eggs
2 Tbsp
Salt & Pepper to taste

Fresh basil

Melt butter in a pan.  Crack eggs into pan and cook on low/medium heat until whites begin to firm up.  Cover with lid until whites are about done.  Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble:

Cut a four rounds out of the “bread.”  Layer each with some of the goat cheese, a generous amount of the tomato filling, fresh basil and top with an egg.  Serve hot.  

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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.  

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!

I’ll be selling jars of my homemade “Nutella” at the Greenpointers Valentine’s Day Market next Saturday!  I’ll have Original, Bourbon and Spicy for $7 for a 4oz jar.  Come by and pick up something sweet for your sweetie (or for yourself)!

Greenpointers Valentine’s Day Market
Saturday, February 9th, 2013
From The Source 
69 West St., Greenpoint Brooklyn
Noon-6pm
 

The Breakfast Club

Egg-In-A-Hole with Sauteed Kale, Sundried Tomatoes & Goat Cheese
 
There are a few different name variations for “egg-in-a-hole” : Egg in a basket; Bird’s Nest; Frog in a Hole; Moon Eggs; Gas House Eggs.. the list goes on.  What did you call it growing up? 

1 slice good Bread
1 Egg
1/4 cup Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
3 cups fresh Kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
Juice from 1/2 Lemon
2 Tbsp Crumbled Goat Cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter 

In a sautee pan, heat olive oil.  Add kale and toss.  Salt & pepper to taste.  As you continue to cook the kale on low/medium heat, melt butter in another sautee pan.  Cut a round circle in your slice of bread and add to the pan.  As it’s browning, crack an egg into the “hole” in the middle.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Add sundried tomatoes to the sauteed kale and toss.  After a minute or to (or whenever the egg starts to firm) gently flip the egg-in-a-hole to cook the other side.  The goal is not to break the yoke, so take your time.   Let the other side of the egg firm up a little before removing from heat.  Place on a plate, with the yolk side up.   Squeeze lemon juice onto kale & tomato mixture and make sure it’s seasoned to your liking with salt & pepper.  Spoon kale mixture onto the egg-in-a-hole and sprinkle with goat cheese.  Serve hot.  

I’m headed out to LA on Wednesday to visit some friends for a few days and though we have some plans already (Disneyland!!), I would love any advice on where to eat, drink and explore.  I haven’t been to that area since I was a kid, so I have zero idea of what to expect… perhaps I can recreate this 20 years later:

If you have advice, please send me a tumblr message or email theboredvegetarian@gmail.com. 

Kate Lebo of Pie School flew into New York yesterday and her and I were in The Drink’s kitchen prepping pie dough for Gala Gala Hey! until the wee hours of the morning.  

Here are the apple pies that Kate will be offering today:

Cheddar-Crusted Apple Pie
Whiskey Crumble Apple Pie
Honey-Ginger Apple Pie
Brandied-Apple Cardamom Pie
Old Fashioned Plain Apple Pie 

WE ARE SO EXCITED. 
Hope to see you in a few hours xoxo 

Gala Gala Hey! made it onto the New York Times Dining Calendar!

We are super excited about Sunday and I hope to see some of you there! Working on a vegan apple jello shot recipe and my apple costume came in the mail a few days ago…

It’s not too late to order a whole pie from Kate. Just email kate@pie-school.com