Vegan Cole Slaw

1/4 cup peeled and julienned Bosch pear
1/2 teaspoon Caraway seeds
1/2 bag of shredded cabbage and carrots (see attached photo - this mix doesn't have any additives)
1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise (see attached photo)
1 tablespoon of distilled white vinegar


Mix all of these ingredients in a large bowl.

Add salt and pepper according to your tastes.

Excellent Curry

I made this curry and it was excellent!

Basic Curry Sauce

Korean Style Portobello Mushrooms

Prep time: 2 -3 hours (mostly for marinating)
Cooking time: 30 minutes


Ingredients:

6 portobello mushroom caps sliced into 1 inch thick pieces

For the marinade -
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 shallot finely sliced
1/2 cup tamari (what's the difference between soy sauce and tamari?) 
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons of organic coconut sugar (regular brown sugar is a fine substitute)
1 teaspoon of gochugaru (Korean red chili pepper flakes)



Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a shallow, oven-safe vessel.  I used a rectangular pyrex container.  Once the mixture looks uniform, place the mushrooms in the container.  Make sure that each slice is coated with the marinade.  Rearrange the mushrooms every 30 minutes, to make sure each one is properly marinated.  Allow the mushrooms to marinate for at least two hours.

Time to cook:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Cover the dish with aluminum foil.  Place your dish on a baking tray, for easy retrieval, and put it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Once the mushrooms have finished cooking, transfer the mushrooms and the marinade into a serving dish.  Enjoy this over white rice.

(Note for TM, you are the only one reading this blog.  We have plenty of Gochugaru and will happily bring it to you)

August 10 VIP dinner

I love cooking for family and friends.  Last night, we prepared a gluten-free and vegetarian meal for two of our favorite people.

Here's the menu:

Gazpacho served with chopped cucumber garnish
Recipe to follow in a future post

Crunchy blue and green salad
Fennel, celery, endive, pear, and macadamia nuts served with blue cheese on the side.  The dressing was simple, aged balsamic vinegar and Greek olive oil.

Korean style Mushrooms served over rice
Portobello mushrooms braised in tamari, white rice vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, and coconut sugar marinade.

Italian style mushrooms served with mashed potatoes
White button mushrooms (chopped) and oyster mushrooms (sliced) sauteed in olive oil with capers, Celtic sea salt, onions, with a splash of chardonnay

Asparagus
Bases trimmed, tossed in olive oil and minced garlic, broiled in the oven for a few minutes

Roasted Cauliflower
Tossed in olive oil and Celtic sea salt, baked for 350 minutes on a baking tray, broiled for 5 minutes on low to achieve Maillard reaction

Desserts - fresh figs (provided by our guests), ice cream, and organic chocolate

Wine - Rose from Kenzo estates

Blue and Green salad

This is a simple, yet satisfying salad.  Blue refers to the blue cheese and of course, green is from the arugula and mini cucumbers.

Ingredients:

3 fist fulls of arugula (roughly 4 cups)
2 mini cucumbers sliced
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon aged balsamic vinegar

Combine all ingredients, toss well, serve immediately, and enjoy.

Vegan and Gluten-free tacos

This was the delicious result of me being lazy and not wanting to go grocery shopping.

Ingredients:

Tortilla
1 wedge of cabbage
(For this meal, I used a red cabbage)

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.  Place the wedge of cabbage into boiling water and lower the temperature.  Let the cabbage wedge simmer for 8 minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Remove cabbage from the water and allow to drain in a colander.  Once the cabbage is cool enough to handle, dismantle the cabbage and lay out the cabbage leaves until you are ready to fill your tacos.

Pico de Gallo
2 roma tomatoes
1 tablespoon of freshly chopped cilantro
1 shallot
1 lime
1 pinch of salt

Chop the tomatoes and shallot into similarly sized pieces.  In a small bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, shallot, cilantro, the fresh juice of half of the lime, and salt.  Toss and set aside.  This is your garnish.

Filling

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot
1 cup petite peas or regular green peas
1 medium sized zucchini, diced
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

In a large skillet, toss all of the filling ingredients with olive oil and salt.  Turn the oven on a low broil, place the skillet in the oven, and allow to cook until slightly crispy - anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes.  If you get impatient, turn the broiler on high heat.  Just keep an eye on the filling.

Once the filling looks crispy on the edges, remove it from the oven.

Now assemble your tacos, top off with pico de gallo, and a dab of your favorite hot sauce.

Enjoy!

Salmon Glaze

If you don't traditionally like salmon, this glaze may change your mind.  As with all other fish, freshness is key and DO NOT overcook.

This is not a marinade.  The glaze is simply spooned on top of the fish seconds before you cook it.

Here's what you need:

Non-stick skillet that can be used in an oven (I used a Scanpan CTQ)
Oven with broiler feature

Center cut salmon with skin on, sliced into individual portions (from Whole Foods)

2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (we prefer Greek Olive oil)
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
1 pinch of Celtic sea salt

This glaze can cover up to 4 pounds of salmon, reduce the recipe if you don't plan on cooking this much fish.

(combine these ingredients in a bowl and stir with a fork or whisk)

Procedure:

Heat the pan (Medium High Heat)
Turn on your oven broiler (High)
Spoon the glaze over the individual cuts of salmon

Place salmon on the pan and cook for 2 - 3 minutes.  When the flesh closest to the skin starts to turn light pink, place the pan in the oven and STAY VIGILANT!  DO NOT TEXT, DO NOT WALK AWAY, DO NOT GET DISTRACTED.  WATCH YOUR FISH LIKE A HAWK!    As soon as all of the pieces turn light pink, take the entire pan out of the oven, turn off your oven, and immediately pull the fish off the pan and onto your serving plate.

Serve and enjoy.

If you like a crisp crust on your salmon, you can leave it in the oven for one or two more minutes - to caramelize the maple syrup in the glaze.  ***Caution***Just know that this could possibly cause overcooking.

Gluten Free Almond Butter Cookies

These are crumbly and delicious in all the right ways.  You won't even think of them as being gluten-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar
1 stick of butter at room temperature

Cream these two ingredients together.

Once the sugar and butter are thoroughly mixed together, add:

1 cup of almond butter (I used creamy almond butter)

mix this thoroughly and add:

1 beaten egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Combine all of these ingredients, then add:

1/2 cup white rice flour
1 cup of all-purpose gluten-free flour

1 dash of cinnamon

Thoroughly combine all of the ingredients.

This dough will be very sticky.

Use two teaspoons to scoop out small balls of dough.

Arrange the dough at least one inch apart on a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 12 - 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Sesame Salad dressing

If you love the salads served at Korean restaurants, you'll love this dressing:

Sesame Dressing