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Showing posts from May, 2017

Boxed Mac and Cheese with Guac

I was in the mood for some mac and cheese. I haven't had any in a really long time. I had a couple boxes of the Aldi brand box style in the cabinet. So I set about preparing one of those. After the macaroni is cooked I usually add 1 tbl of butter, a 1/4 cup of almond milk and a 1/4 cup of water to the cheese packet powder to make the sauce. I didn't want to use butter today and I happened to have some homemade guacamole. So I thought to myself, avocado is fatty like butter, what if I try that. I used two small spoonfuls of the guac because that was all that was left and a 1/4 cup of almond milk, but no water was necessary. It created a velvety smooth cheese sauce that was much better than any I'd ever made before with a boxed product. It was really good. I also threw in some crushed red pepper flakes for a tiny kick of heat. Best boxed mac and cheese I've ever had. And it was still a beautiful bright yellow/orange cheese sauce. It didn't turn it a weird color at

Sweet Corn and Pepper Puree

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1/2 lb fire roasted red and orange sweet peppers 1/2 broiled sweet corn 2 cloves roughly chopped garlic 1/2 tsp habernero 1 tbl olive oil 1/4 cup white vinegar 1 tsp parsley flakes 1/2 tsp cayenne powder 1 tsp each salt and black pepper Roast peppers over an open flame until charred. Broil corn on the cob under a high broiler until soft and slightly charred. Peppers can be roasted over a grill or directly over the burners on the stove top. Loosely chop peppers and remove corn from the cob. Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Let rest in the fridge at least 2 hours.

Sweet and Spicy Baby Pepper and Coconut Curry

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1/2 lb fire roasted red, orange, yellow baby bell peppers, diced 1 lb broiled roma tomatoes, peeled 3 broiled sweet corn cobs 1/3 cup sauvigion blanc 2 tbl olive oil 1/2 can coconut milk 3 cloves sliced garlic 1 tbl diced jalapeno/serrano mix 3 chili de arbol, seeds discarded, broken up into small pieces Water 1/2 cup dry white rice 1 can pinto beans 1 tsp each turmeric, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, crushed pepper flakes, salt, black pepper 1/4 tsp cinnamon Move an oven rack to a slot two below the closest to the top of the oven. Add tomatoes to a sheet pan. Put shucked corn directly on oven rack. Roast tomatoes and corn at 400 F for 10 minutes. Switch to low broil and let cook 5 more minutes. Remove tomatoes from oven. Switch to high broil and continue cooking corn another 10 minutes. Peel tomatoes skins with a tongs. The skin should come away easily. Reserve. Roast peppers directly over the flame of one of your stove top burners. I removed the grill and rested

Vegan Italian Stew

I love roma tomatoes. When you roast them in the oven they provide such great sweetness and acidity. They are the foundation for my ultimate Italian vegan stew. Ingredients 5 oven roasted roma tomatoes, chunked 5 cloves roasted garlic, chunked 1/4 cup diced celery, mostly leaves 1/4 cup red onion, spanish onion or roasted leeks, diced 2 ribs from jalapeno, 1 from habernero 2 tbls jalapeno/serrano/habernero mince 1/2 can black olives, including liquid 1 can black beans, thoroughly rinsed 1/2 cup dry white rice 1/3 cup red wine 1 tbl olive oil water rosemary, thyme, basil, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, paprika, salt, pepper Begin by heating oven to 425 F and roasting tomatoes and garlic on a baking sheet for 12 minutes. Turning once in the middle. Too a large sauce pot add celery, onion, pepper ribs and flesh, oil, wine. Add water to cover by 2 inches. Add a generous helping of salt and pepper. When tomatoes and garlic have finished roasting in the oven lightly