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Posts tagged ‘vegetarian’

Apr 12

Roasted wild mushroom pizza

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There was only a short period of my childhood where we had a structured weekly meal plan – tacos on Tuesdays, Hamburger Helper on Wednesdays, and so forth – but as life gets a little more hectic these days and we’re committed to our weekly meal plans, I see the allure! It would certainly be easy to slot in variations on our favorite meal categories on a weekly basis, which I can verify in part because we fit in a pizza night every week. I’d say 1/3 of the time we order a basic, conventional pizza, 1/3 of the time it’s from one of the fancier places in town (like Pizza Brutta, Sal’s, or Ian’s), and 1/3 of the time we make our own, which provides some nice variety even though it’s still pizza, week after week. It’s comforting, to know that every week one evening of meal planning is known and set, and all three of us love that there’s usually pizza leftovers for lunch the next day.

This is one of the best ones we’ve made recently, and a particularly good one considering all the amazing mushrooms that will be springing up (pun intended) in the farmers’ markets as they open again in the coming weeks. It’s packed with mushrooms both above and below the cheese, since in lieu of a basic tomato-based sauce it uses a puree of the intensely-flavored roasted mushrooms that top the pizza, using the liquid that comes off the mushrooms during roasting to help hold the sauce together (plus a little cream, should you be into that sort of thing).

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Oct 9

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Spicy black bean burgers (All Whisked Up swap)

We’re six weeks into this crazy adventure with little Aldo and have yet to do much in the way of real cooking (or, to be honest, it’s me who has yet to be cooking much – Brett’s doing a great job of keeping me fed!). So I’m glad I decided to participate in Whisk‘s first recipe swap, which encouraged me to pick out and make something new from one of our other member sites. It’s particularly good I picked the recipe I did, since a bit of a rough patch for baby means I’m on a partial elimination diet while we figure out what’s causing his problems, and this one worked for my current dietary restrictions (no dairy, avoiding soy).

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I was matched to Whisk member Tattooed Foodie, a site out of Eau Claire by “moderately tattooed food enthusiast” Kyle Lato. She has a great selection of straightforward comfort food – like spicy turkey beer chili, one pan chicken and couscous, skillet breakfast pizza (such a great idea), and caramel apple cheesecake bars (which is initially what I picked but it’s good I switched to these excellent black bean burgers, since I unexpectedly had to cut out dairy). I chose to make Kylie’s spicy black bean burgers, which made two great weeknight dinners for us. I’ve been looking for a good vegetarian burger patty for a long time, as well as something else to do with the big pots of beans we regularly make (this is actually a huge benefit – we often make large quantities of beans, but pairing them with rice or simply eating them with bread and salad can get a little boring). It’s a particularly good recipe to tweak with whatever spices, herbs, and other flavoring elements you might have around the house, especially if you cook the beans from dried (more on that in the recipe below). Read more

Dec 29

Killer spinach risotto with nutmeg and lemon

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Me from five years ago would be skeptical to see me here talking about risotto, since it was only a few years back I took any interest in it at all, and even more wary to see me recommending something with spinach, since even just a couple of weeks ago I wouldn’t have believed I could do such a thing. But here I am, heartily recommending both, and hoping this ends up on your table either for New Years or some time early in the new year. Read more

May 22

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Best-ever basic lentils (plus feta, caramelized fennel, mushrooms, and tomatoes)

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One of our favorite activities in Vienna is to pass the afternoon in various cafés and coffee houses. Vienna is famous for them, I suppose as many European cities area, and most still exude the same old-school style that they have 50 years (or more – one of our favorites looks almost the same as it did circa 1900). Waiters in tuxedo-like uniforms, chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, and glass cases packed with frilly strudels and dense cakes and other confections. Coffee drinks and towering ice cream sundaes arrive on tiny metal trays, each accompanied by the traditional small side glass of water (I’ve heard many reasons for why, all logical but completely different, so I still don’t know the answer). You can generally also order fancy wine spritzers, coffee with Gran Marnier and whipped cream, a sip of brandy, or a variety of other beverages destined to make your day feel a little more elegant.

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