Hungarian Woulash

Sep 1, 2019 • food

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 3-4 tomatoes (diced)
• 1-2 bell peppers (diced)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 hungarian wax pepper (finely chopped, with seeds)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• liberal use of crushed peppercorn
• 1/2 cup textured-vegetable-protein (dry) [optional]
• 1 15oz can red beans (drained)

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat oil on medium-high. When warm, add onions, garlic, oregano, and basil. Sauté for 3-4 minutes.
2. Add the tomatoes, bell peppers, soy sauce, paste, and hungarian wax pepper. Cook for an additional 10 minutes.
3. Add broth, salt, peppercorn, textured-vegetable-protein (tvp) and beans. Bring to a boil, then low heat for an additional 10 minutes.
4. Serve, if you are lucky, this will be rather spicy!

Inspired by

I was looking for a goulash and stumbled upon this recipe. However, once again I have not followed it too closely!

Closing

I was craving a goulash recipe, something my grandma used to make, comfort food I guess! I think the irony is, I did not find a Hungarian Goulash recipe, but rather an "American" goulash recipe, but used a Hungarian Wax Pepper (from the garden)! I left out the macaroni and cheese (the former a primary ingredient for a goulash). This tasted more like a chilli, but it did not use any chillies! In the end this was more of a soup. I was feeling a little under the weather, and this most definitely cleared the sinuses!

Because it's not a goulash, and since it uses a Hungarian Wax Pepper, I will name it, Hungarian Woulash, fine, it sounds corny, but I am cool with that.

The next time, I will not likely add the TVP, I do not feel it added much to the experience, and the beans did a really good job. However, maybe I will add barley instead (I thought about it instead of macaroni).

Enjoy this steaming pot of spice!

Cashew Chickpea and Vegetable Stir-fry

Aug 25, 2019 • food

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 2 cups brown rice (cooked)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup broccoli florets (chopped)
• 2-3 carrots (diced)
• a bunch of green beans (ends clipped)
• 1/2 small onion (chopped)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 15oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
• 3/4 cup cashews (roasted and unsalted)

Sauce

• 2 teaspoons ginger (grated/finely chopped)
• 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
• 2/3 cup vegetable broth
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• [optional] 1/4 teaspoons red pepper flakes (or a different pepper)

Instructions

1. Prepare the rice (1 cup dry).
2. Prepare all the vegetables, including those for the sauce. When it comes to a stir-fry, getting everything done up front is the key!
3. Combine all Sauce ingredients together in a bowl.
4. Combine cornstarch and water in a small bowl and mix until no clumps are present.
5. In a wok or large fry-pan add oil on medium-high. When warm, add broccoli, carrots, green beans, most of the onions (set remainder to the side for garnish). Cook for 3-5 minutes until broccoli is cooked (the others do not take as long).
6. Add sauce, chickpeas and cashews, and cook for a minute, or until it starts to simmer.
7. Add cornstarch mixture and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes until sauce thickens.
8. Place into serving dish, garnish with the remaining onions!

Inspired by

I started with this recipe, however aside from the sauce I deviated pretty heavily.

Closing

I have had a wok for years, but rarely used it, until recently. My last couple stir-fries I decided to break it out. It's relatively large and makes it hard to shake, so I have to stir the vegetables instead.

I have been wanting a good vegetarian cashew chicken recipe for a while, and I feel chickpeas are the way to go! The key is the sauce, naturally. I did not have fresh broccoli, and used frozen, but everything else was fresh. I am really happy with how this turned out, and it felt like bought it from a restaurant, but with less grease! I did not add the red pepper to the sauce, however, I did chop up a jalapeño and garnished with the spare onion. Aside from the cashew, I think the broccoli makes it work because it just soaks in the flavours.

Give this a go, you will not be disappointed!

Zucchini and Carrot Rice Pilaf

May 19, 2019 • food

Ingredients

• 2 cups brown rice (cooked)
• 1/2 zucchini (grated)
• 1 large carrot (grated)
• 2 tablespoon butter
• 1 15oz can red beans (rinsed and drained)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• some salt
• liberal use of fresh crushed pepper
• 1 teaspooon parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon basil

Instructions

1. Prepare the rice (1 cup dry). You could cook it with the other ingredients, just make sure to add the water/broth needed to cook rice, with an additional 1/2 cup of broth stated in the recipe.
2. In a medium sauce pan, on medium-high, add butter. When warm, add zucchini and carrot. Cook for 3 minutes.
3. Add beans cook for additional minute.
4. Add rice, broth, salt pepper, parsley and basil. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until broth is predominately absorbed.
5. Serve!

Inspired by

Followed the 'simple veggie rice,' recipe. I have a rice cooker, so I cooked the rice to my preferred texture and it takes less time cooking brown rice that way. Also, I added beans, because I wanted to make a meal out of this instead of a side dish.

Closing

I was looking for something new to try out with rice this evening. This one came up, and I realized I had zucchini in the fridge, so I gave it a go. It turned out really nicely. I am low on olive oil so I opted with butter. Honestly, it gave it a much richer flavour and I might make it this way the next time, again. However, if I was to make any modifications, I would likely add some broccoli. I liked the colours going on with this meal.

Not much to say, other than this was pretty quick to whip up on a short notice!

Easy Dill Pickles

May 5, 2019 • food

Ingredients

• 4 cups water
• 2 cups white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 1/2 cucumbers (halved then sliced into spears)
• fresh dill
• 4-5 cloves of garlic (crushed)
• 10 peppercorn kernels

Instructions

1. In a medium pot, on high, combine water, vinegar, salt and sugar-- dissolve. Bring the brine to a boil, then set aside and let cool to room temperature.
2. In a canning jar, add brine, dill, garlic and peppercorn along with sliced cucumbers then seal.
3. Place in fridge for a week.
4. With patience you will be able to enjoy for up to 5-6 weeks in the fridge (if they can make it that long)!

Inspired by

This was a really simple recipe to follow. The original recipe used baby canning cucumbers, where I used fully grown cucumbers. Also, my peppercorns were quite old, so I added nearly doubled the amount.

Closing

I never pickled before, and this was a rather leisurely recipe. Well, any pickling, I suppose is leisurely, after it's prepared at least! It was fun to do, and they tasted great! Another added bonus, that most people do not realize, is that food colouring is added to store bought most often. This recipe, does not have any unnecessary food additives!

Originally, I was trying to use baby cucumbers, but each time I either ate them all or misread the expiration label and they went bad before I could make it. Or the dill went bad, sheesh, I was quite unorganized by this recipe. So when the last batch of baby cucumbers went bad, I just picked up a couple fully grown cucumbers and they worked quite well cut into spears.

I would like to change it up in the future, such as making it more sweet or moving away from dill and garlic and adding different vegetables to the brine.

What will you decide to pickle?

Lentil Protein Patties

Apr 7, 2019 • food

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown rice (cooked)
• 1/2 cup green lentils (dry)
• 1/2 cup red lentils (dry)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup TVP (dry)
• 1/4 cup milled chickpeas
• 1/4 cup milled flaxseed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• liberal use of crushed peppercorn
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• olive oil to grease pan
• optionally add some cayenne pepper

Instructions

1. Cook lentils [red and green together], add a tablespoon of olive oil while cooking. 15-20 minutes into cooking, add dry TVP.

• If rice is not already prepared, do that too!

2. When lentils/TVP are cooked, remove from heat. Mix in all remaining ingredients into pot, (including additional 2 tablespoons olive oil).
3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit.
4. On a jelly roll pan, spread the additional olive oil until it is greased.
5. Using a spoon, scoop out lentil mixture into 8-9 flattened balls on the pan.
6. Bake in oven for 20 minutes, flip each patty then bake for additional 20 minutes.

Inspired by

The patties were based off this recipe. Somethings were changed, particularly with the addition of rice (first time making this I used leftover rice), and olive oil. Also, I did not use bread crumbs to thicken the mixture.

Closing

This it the "follow-up" post regarding the lentil patties. These go really well with the homemade sandwich buns. You do not need to add buns, but it's a nice touch. In the past, I have even made spicier versions with some cayenne pepper. Feel free to add other ingredients as well, maybe even a fresh pepper, or fresh garlic and onion!

Welcome the warm months with this more summer meal!