Creamy Eggplant, Mushrooms, and Leek Pasta

Posted on September 16, 2013 by petitebeet

The fall weather was definitely here today. It was the first day I felt a little chilly walking around- probably because I’m in denial summer is over and still dressing for 80 degree weather. When I got home I decided to make some nice warm pasta for dinner. I made this delicious eggplant and mushroom dish that took no more than 30 minutes max. I will definitely be making this again! I think it might even be good with a little pancetta added next time.

Ingredients: (from Petite Kitchen)
2 tablespoons butter
1 leek, sliced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
5 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped
4 small Japanese eggplants, cubed
Juice and zest from 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup cream
1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper
Angel hair pasta

(makes about 2-3 servings)

Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the leeks. Let cook for a minute until they break down a little. Add the garlic, mushrooms, eggplant, lemon zest, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Continue cooking vegetables for another 3 minutes or so. Add the chicken stock and Dijon mustard then turn down the heat to low and let simmer for another 5 minutes. In the meantime, boil some water and cook the pasta. Turn off the heat and add the cream and lemon juice to the vegetables, stir well then pour over the pasta. Top with Parmesan cheese and a little fresh cracked pepper.

Kale Salad with Peaches, Tomato, and Goat Cheese

Posted on August 19, 2013 by petitebeet

This was one of the best kale salads I ever made! I was inspired when my sister made a peach and tomato salad over the weekend, it was perfect for summer and absolutely delicious. I had some fresh kale, tomatoes, and peaches, so all I had to pick up was the goat cheese. It took about 15 minutes to make and was the perfect mix of sweet and sour.

Ingredients: (makes 2 small salads)
2 large kale leaves, stems removed and julienned
1 large peach, chopped
1/2 large tomato, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
Goat cheese
Salt and pepper

Start by removing the thick stems from the center of the kale. Lay the leaves on top of each other, roll it up, and cut thin slices. Add to a large bowl and set aside. Next make the dressing- add the olive oil, cider vinegar, and maple syrup to a small bowl and whisk well. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour the dressing over the kale and massage it into the kale with your hands for a minute or so- this will help the dressing to soak into the kale and also break down the kale a little so it’s not as tough. Chop the peaches and tomatoes, add it to the bowl of kale, and set aside for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, cut a few slices of goat cheese and add it to a pan over medium heat. You’ll know it’s done when the bottom of the cheese starts getting a little golden brown (about 3 minutes.) Also chop a small handful of almonds and toast those in a separate pan until golden as well. To serve, place kale in a dish and top with the warm goat cheese and toasted almonds!

Eggplant and Mushroom Meatballs

Posted on August 5, 2013 by petitebeet

I had a huge eggplant on hand and decided to give these “meatballs” a shot. They were so easy to make and delicious! I love regular meatballs, with actual meat, but these were really flavorful and had a nice texture to them as well. So whether you’re a meat lover or a veggie lover, you’ll like these! I ate mine on their own with a little sauce, but they would be great with pasta, over some polenta, or with some melted cheese on a sub!

Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, peeled and chopped
5 baby bella mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 shallot, chopped
1 cup bread crumbs (I used Italian)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil, about 5 large leaves finely chopped
1 teaspoon fennel seeds, roughly chopped
1 large egg
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel and chop the eggplant and add it to a large skillet over medium heat with about 3 tablespoons olive oil. Cook until the eggplant becomes soft, adding more olive oil and a little splash of water at times if it becomes too dry. Remove from heat and set aside in a large mixing bowl. Next add the shallot and cook until translucent, followed by the mushrooms until soft and cooked down.

Smash the eggplant with a wooden spoon a little to break down the pieces. Add the mushrooms, shallots, breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, fennel seeds, basil and egg. Mix well with your hands until fully incorporated. Roll two inch balls of the mixture and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, flipping half way through, until golden brown. Serve with sauce and more grated cheese!

Sage Pesto, Ricotta, and Cherry Crostini

Posted on July 22, 2013 by petitebeet

Today I got an amazing bag of summer cherries as well as some fresh sage. I wouldn’t have thought to pair these two, but I came across a recipe on “Not Without Salt” and decided to try it. I also got some (huge!) garlic and had a little mint leftover from last week, so there was even less to go out and buy at the store, which I love. The sage pesto is great because you can use it in a few different ways- she recommends whisking in some champagne vinegar to create a dressing, which sounds great. I think tossing it into some pasta with fresh veggies and little Parmesan cheese would be delicious, too!

Ingredients: (adapted from Not Without Salt)
1/4 cup fresh parsley
1/4 cup fresh mint
1/2 cup sage
1 garlic clove, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Fresh cherries, pitted and chopped
Ricotta cheese
Fresh baguette, sliced
salt and pepper

Wash and roughly chop up the three herbs and add to a food processor- followed by the garlic, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese. Blend until well incorporated. Add the lemon zest and juice and stream in the olive oil while the food processor is running. Salt and pepper to taste, and that’s it! Toast the baguette slices and top with a dollop of ricotta, sage pesto, and chopped cherries.

Mushroom Pizza with Swiss Chard and Potato

Posted on April 27, 2013 by petitebeet

Pizza is one of my favorite things to make. There are just so many options when it comes to toppings. I had a bunch of Swiss chard and mushrooms this week, so I picked up some pre-made dough at Trader Joe’s to make a pizza. If you can’t find dough in your grocery store and don’t have the time to make it, run to your local pizza place and they will usually sell you a big ball of it for a dollar or two, which is awesome!

Ingredients:
Pizza dough
All-purpose flour
1 bunch of red Swiss chard
1 small shallot, chopped
White button mushrooms (though any mushroom will work well)
1 Yukon gold potato, peeled and thinly sliced
3/4 cup smoked mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
Black truffle oil, for drizzling
Fresh cracked pepper

Separate the leaves and stems of the chard. Chop the stems into 1 inch pieces, and roughly chop the leaves as well. Also cut up your mushrooms and shallot, and slice up the potato. Add your olive oil to a pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and chard stems and saute for about 3-4 minutes. You do the stems first as they take longer to cook down. Next add the chard leaves and cook until wilted, about another 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook until they give off some liquid.

While that cooks, flour a clean surface as well as your rolling pin, and begin to roll out the pizza dough in all directions. Make sure to keep your dough in the fridge until you need it so that it doesn’t get sticky, and continue to sprinkle flour while rolling it out. Place the dough on a baking sheet and add the tomato sauce, followed by the shredded cheese, thinly sliced potato, and mushroom mixture. Drizzle with the truffle oil and throw in the oven for 25 minutes, or until the bottom has a nice golden brown crust and the top is bubbly! Let cool for 5 minutes, then eat the entire thing.

Jalapeño and Lemon Hummus

Posted on March 27, 2013 by petitebeet

I’ve been on a huge hummus kick lately, eating it at least 2-3 days a week for lunch. Chickpeas contain a lot of fiber and protein, so not only are they delicious, but they’re good for you too! I’ve never actually made hummus myself, but it couldn’t have been any easier. The longest part was soaking my dried chickpeas then boiling them before actually making the hummus. A can of chickpeas would have worked, but I had some dried ones I wanted to use up. In the end it came out great! I ate it with some pita bread and kalamata olives. My favorite.

Ingredients:
2 cups chickpeas, dry (soaked/boiled) or canned
1/3 cup tahini
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons water
Jalapeños, as many as you can handle!
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Paprika for topping

If you are using dried chickpeas, you’ll need to soak them for at least 12hrs, then boil them for about 45mins (depending on how soft you like them). I soaked mine overnight then boiled them the next day when I got home from work.

Start by adding your chickpeas to the food processor. Next add the garlic, tahini, salt, lemon juice, water, and jalapeños. For the jalapeños I just used jarred ones this time and started with a small handful. I tasted it as I went and added a few more more later until it had a good amount of heat. If you’re using fresh jalapeños I would start with even less to begin with.
Process everything until the ingredients are pureed together. Half way through, I drizzled the 2 tbsp of olive oil in the top to help smooth it out. Put your hummus into a bowl and top with a little more olive oil and paprika. Serve with whatever your little heart desires!

Thai Red Curry with Squash and Peppers

Posted on March 8, 2013 by petitebeet

There are a few recipes I want to try before Spring sneaks up on me, and curry was one of them. I’ve never made it before, but I absolutely love it so I wanted to give it a try. I also had a kabocha squash on hand, so it was a good time to make this recipe. It came out great and was a good starting point for me. To make things even easier, I had some of my favorite organic brown rice from Trader Joe’s- only 3 minutes to make!

Ingredients: (adapted from Chow)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 peppers (I did 1 red and 1 green), cut into 1 inch chunks
1 medium kabucha squash, seeded, peeled, and cut into 1 inch 1-1/2 pieces
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 can regular unsweetened coconut milk
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lime juice
Chopped cilantro for topping
Steamed rice for serving

Start off by chopping everything up and having it all ready to go. Heat the oil over medium heat and add your onions and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, peppers, and ginger and cook another minute or so.
Continue adding the red curry paste, covering the onions and peppers. Next throw in your coconut milk, water, soy sauce, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt (which I forgot). Simmer for 25 minutes or until squash is fork tender. Remove from heat, add the lime juice, and serve over warm rice with chopped cilantro.

Vegetable Summer Rolls

Posted on February 20, 2013 by petitebeet

Summer rolls are one of my favorite things, I love everything about them- the vegetables, the thin noodles, the texture of the rice paper…and to be honest I could probably drink a glass of the dipping sauce that is usually served with them. I get an intense craving for them every once and a while and today was one of those days. I also happen to have the dipping sauce from Trader Joe’s that I love, so it was good timing to make them. Summer rolls are pretty easy when it comes to the ingredients because you can really use a lot of different vegetables, I usually try to get a few different colors so they look pretty when wrapped up together. I also love tossing in fresh basil or mint!

Ingredients:
1 seedless cucumber, cut into thin matchsticks
1 carrot, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
1 ripe avocado, cut into thin slices
Fresh basil or mint leaves
Package of spring roll skin (the larger sized ones)
1 box rice noodles

For the sauce: I LOVE Trader Joe’s sweet chili dipping sauce, so this is what I used. It is delicious. But you can also make you own version at home if you’d like.

Start by chopping all of your vegetables into thin pieces. Next, get a pot of water boiling then remove it from the heat. Add your rice noodles and let sit in the water for about 8-10 minutes. Drain and run under cold water until the noodles are cold. Set aside. I only usually cook 1/4 of the package at a time because it makes a lot of noodles! Next, fill a shallow dish with lukewarm water (I always use a pie dish) and add one of your spring roll skins making sure to get it completely submerged underwater for about 15-20 seconds. You want it to feel like it is about to get “noodley” but still has some firmness to it. Reason being, once you remove it from the water, you’ll see that it still continues to loosen up a bit. Place the sheet on a flat clean surface. Add your noodles along with you other ingredients. Place them a little under the center line though so when you roll you’re able to get it tight. Try to work fast before the wrapping starts to get stuck to the surface (if it does just keep dipping your fingers in water as you’re rolling it, this helps a lot). Start by folding up the bottom and tucking it under the ingredients, next fold in the sides, then roll it up! It’s just like rolling a burrito really. Cut in a diagonal in half and serve with dipping sauce!

Butternut Squash Soup With Turnips and Apples

Posted on February 1, 2013 by petitebeet

Butternut squash soup. It’s so great in the winter, warm and filling. Exactly what I wanted after a week of freezing cold weather here in the city. I also was excited to try out my new immersion blender that I got for Christmas, so this was perfect. I had a turnip and some apples on hand, so I added those for some extra flavor. This soup was delicious! And incredibly fast and easy for a homemade soup…

Ingredients:
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen- serves about 8)
1 large butternut squash, peeled and cubed
1 large turnip, peeled and cubed
2 apples, peeled and cubed
1 large onion, chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 32-ounce box of vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
1/4 cup unsalted butter (1/2 a stick)
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh minced thyme
1 1/4 teaspoons fresh minced sage
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 cup cream

Croutons:
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 inch thick baguette bread slices (however many you’d like!)
grated Gruyere cheese
fresh minced thyme
fresh minced sage

Melt 1/4 butter in a large soup pot, add the garlic and cook for a minute followed by the onion. Cook for about 10 minutes until translucent. Add the broth, squash, turnips, apples, and fresh herbs. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let everything simmer for about 20 minutes, or until you are able to pierce the squash with a knife.

At this point you can either blend it in batches in the blender until smooth, then return it to the pot, or you can use an immersion blender right in the pot (just turn of the heat first). I went for the immersion blender! Once smooth, stir in the ginger, cumin, and cream.

Now for the croutons! Get your broiler going. Butter one side of the bread slices and place them on a baking sheet. Place them in the oven under the broiler until golden. Flip them over and add the cheese and fresh herbs, place back under the broiler until the cheese is melted and the edges get a little crispy. By flipping it, you are able to get both sides toasty and crunchy. Ladle some soup into the bowls, and top with the crouton. Enjoy!

Roasted Vegetables with Lentils

Posted on January 19, 2013 by petitebeet

As I’m sure you have noticed, a lot of my recipes are the result of whatever items I am surprised with in my CSA bag each week. This week I got a bunch of nice roasting vegetables as well as lentils, so when I came across this recipe on Whole Living, it was meant to be! And very delicious. The great thing about roasting a ton of vegetables together is that you can use them in different ways for your other meals over the next few days. I ended up making parmesan polenta topped with my leftover vegetables and a poached egg the next night. Can’t go wrong!

Ingredients:
1 red onion (or two small), cut into quarters
1 small shallot, halved
3 carrots and/or parsnips, halved lengthwise
1 acorn squash, halved, seeds removed and cut into 1/2 inch slices
Brussel sprouts (about 10-15)
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1/2 cup dried green lentils, rinsed
4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Course salt and pepper

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Cut up the vegetables and place on a baking sheet (everything but the celery) and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bake in oven for 30 minutes, turning once half way through.

Next, rinse the lentils well then add them along with the shallot to a pot of water, covering everything by two inches or so. Bring to a boil then simmer, covered, until the lentils become tender, about 20 minutes. In the meantime, mix your vinegar and mustard in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil. When your lentils are ready, drain and toss the shallots. In a medium bowl, mix together the lentils, celery, and dressing. Salt and pepper to taste.