cooking

Recipe: Vegetarian Cassoulet

by

Cassoulet is a classic french dish of beans, spices, and meats baked slowly.  It’s a real source of pride in France.  The best way I can find to describe it is somewhere between baked beans, chili, and a casserole.

  • 2 Tablespoon Olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp chopped garlic (about 4 cloves)
  • 2 Parsnips peeled, diced.
  • 1 sweet potato, peeled, diced
  • 1 medium onion, diced.
  • About 2 cups water.
  • 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp ground mustard
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3 cups cooked white beans (about 2 14 oz cans)
  • Parsley or scallions to garnish, optional

 

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. In a shallow pan, sautee parsnips, sweet potato, onion, and garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes.
  3. Mix mustard, vinegar, and a little water into a paste.
  4. Take casserole pan, and add 1 cup of water, mustard mix and spices, blend thoroughly.
  5. Add vegetables and beans to mixture in casserole pan.  Stir thoroughly to mix.
  6. Add remaining water until the mix is just barely covered.
  7. Cover pan in foil.
  8. Bake for 45 minutes.
  9. Uncover pan, bake for 15 minutes.
  10. Stir before serving.  Add parsley or scallions when serving if you wish.

How does it look?  Actually very appealing.

And the result?

Read more

Potato and Garlic Soup

by

A little variant of a recipe I got out of a Mediterranean cookbook.

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, sliced thin
  • 2 Tbsp crushed garlic (about 4 cloves)
  • 1 large potato, sliced thin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 14 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained (about 1 1/2 cups tomatoes)
  • 1 tap dried basil
  • 3 cups low-sodium vegetable stock
  • salt and pepper to taste

1) Put onions, garlic, potatoes, paprika and oil into pot.  Sautee until the onions begin to soften.  Don’t overheat.
3) Add tomatoes, basil, vegetable stock.   Simmer for 20-30 minutes until potatoes are very soft.
4) With a spatula or large spoon, break potatoes up, thickening the broth.
5) Serve with salt and paper.

The result?

Read more

Quest for Curry: Cinnamon This Time

by

I’ve been trying to find a “just right for me” curry for awhile.  This is a variant of a variant of another recipe I’ve been tweaking, trying to find just the right “edge.”  Last time it was oregano, this time cinnamon.

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/4 cups light coconut milk (one 14 oz can)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp red pepper powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder
3 tbsp dried basil (should be 1/2 cup chopped fresh)

1) Shake can of coconut milk. Mix sugar, soy sauce, coconut milk.
2) Place the olive oil, red pepper, lemon juice, garlic, curry powder in a wok/pan.  Sautee on high until fragrant (once it starts sizzling this is only about 10-30 seconds).
3) Add milk mixture to the pan/wok.  Add basil if dried.  Add cinnamon  Bring to boil then simmer.  Simmer until it thickents, about 3-5 minutes.
4) If using fresh basil, stir in now and serve.

OK so my quest . . . continues.  I get heat but not enough flavor.  The cinnamon is better than oregano and adds a nice kick (it may in fact be too much) but it’s still a bit high on heat over flavor.  Not quite sure where to go – tempted to just get rid of the red pepper powder.

Served over peas and brown rice, 1 cup each.  Nice meal.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.