Peach Salsa

So, every post I've done this month is about peaches. Peach season is just about over on Long Island, so this may be the last one. I'm sad to see them go, but you can expect apple posts in the near future as apple season has already arrived! And maybe I'll actually start cooking again, instead of spending all my time in the kitchen making desserts. Maybe.

Normally I'm a fan of spicy food, but I knew Logan would be eating this with me so I kept it mild. Add more jalapeños for an extra kick!

Peach Salsa

Serves 4

• 2 large white peaches, peeled and diced
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup chopped sweet pepper. Any variety of sweet pepper, like bell, will work.
• 1 small jalapeño, seeded and diced
• Juice from 1/2 a lime
• 1 Tbsp. cilantro

1. Combine all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Let the salsa chill in the fridge for an hour or so before serving. 

Gazpacho

I'm so lucky to have so many amazing, passionate and supportive people in my life. Just about everyone who is an active part of my life has something positive and motivating to contribute. I don't think too many people can say they are surrounded by such genuine people who have nothing but love and support to offer, so I consider myself very blessed. 

There are dozens of people to which that last paragraph pertains to, but this blog post will be dedicated to a certain one. My best friend Hope's mom, Joann (or Mama Jo, as Logan calls her, and what she will be referred to as from now on), has a passion for life that so many people lose along the way. Her passion for food is inspiring as well. She knows where all the best bakeries are, which restaurants have the most delicious dishes, and I know I can rely on her to know which specialty stores carry the obscure ingredients I may need. Mama Jo has always been supportive and excited about Resolution Kitchen from the beginning. She's been an inspiration for a couple recipes in here, like the roasted yellow pepper soup. She taught me how to make pesto (which I modified to this recipe), and has been fueling my sweet tooth and love for baking since she was the class mother in second grade. 

As a token of support, love and inspiration, Mama Jo recently bought me my first food processor- a Kitchen Aid in buttercup yellow (she knows me so well). I absolutely love every feature of the product, and have been using it every day. Mama Jo had one request- gazpacho. She had a delicious bowl of the cold soup at Michael Anthony's, one of her favorite restaurants in Wading River. I set to work, using fresh tomatoes and herbs from my garden, and turned out a huge batch of gazpacho. Thanks Mama Jo!!

Ready to chop my fresh garden herbs.

My new, oh so fancy food processor

Gazpacho

Serves about 8

• 8 roma/plum tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 green bell pepper
• 1 cucumber
• 2 scallions
• Juice from one lemon
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup fresh basil
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley
• 4 cups tomato juice

1. Remove the skins from the tomatoes: Throw them in a pot of boiling water for one minute. Remove from the boiling water and into a bowl with ice water immediately. After a couple minutes the skin will peel right off.
2. Sautee the garlic.
3. Roughly chop the onion, pepper, cucumber, tomatoes, scallions and garlic. If you want to keep the recipe raw, skip the first two steps and start here. 
4. Add them to a food processor and pulse until just combined.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients and process until combined but still a little chunky.
6. Refrigerate before serving. Serve cold.

I made this batch of gazpacho with my home grown roma tomatoes.
Does it get any fresher?

Vegan Penne A La Vodka

He's obsessed with wearing glasses.

Penne a la vodka is one of my absolute favorite meals, and is one of my go to comfort foods. It was also one of the first meals I learned to make. It was the beginning of my kitchen adventures, transitioning me from someone who hated cooking, to someone who realized how fun and satisfying it could be.

I've often shelved my craving for the pasta dish because I didn't want to make a separate meal for my son with the dairy allergy. While strolling down the beach recently, thinking about food (shocking), I had a stroke of culinary genius. I've used coconut milk in place of heavy cream before, like in chocolate mousse and whipped cream, so why not use it in penne a la vodka? The dish came out wonderful. I served it to Logan, Andrew, and my brother who was here for dinner. They said they could barely tell the heavy cream was missing, and they all loved it. I also added nutritional yeast and arrowroot powder to thicken the sauce and make a creamy texture.

I never realized how essential coconut milk is in vegan cooking. Using it has allowed me to make things that I thought would have to be given up in a dairy free diet. My favorite brand is the Thai Kitchen, but it's not available at my local supermarket, so Goya is the next best. But seriously, go stock up on cans of this stuff. They'll come in handy. I promise.

Vegan Penne A La Vodka

Serves 6

• One 24oz. jar of marinara sauce or canned tomatoes.
• One 13.5oz. can of full fat coconut milk.
• 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast.
• 3 Tbsp. arrowroot powder.
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced.
• 1 garlic clove, minced.
• 1 Tbsp. each of dried or fresh basil, oregano and parsley.

1. Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan.
2. Simmer over a low flame for about 30 minutes, or until onions are soft and the sauce is warmed.
3. Serve immediately over whole wheat pasta.

I also roasted squash from my garden to serve with the penne. It made for a quick and delicious side dish. Just cut in half, rub with oil, salt and pepper, and roast in 400º oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork.

Eggplant Bruschetta

I make a killer eggplant parm. Other than that I haven't had any luck with eggplant. My attempts at baba ganoush, eggplant "meat"balls and eggplant fritters have all ended in mush. Still, I have about 5 or 6 eggplant seedlings growing in the garden, so I've had plans to come up with new eggplant dishes. This "bruschetta", if you want to call it that, is one of those dishes. It's a combination of two recipes that I found online, using ingredients that I already had in the garden and kitchen. I usually don't "drain" the eggplant, which may be why I kept ending up with mush, but it seemed to make all the difference in this dish. This can be served as an entree for a light meal, or as an appetizer to a feast. Either way, it's delicious!

Eggplant Bruschetta

Makes about 2 dozen

• I eggplant, sliced
• Salt
• 4 plum tomatoes, sliced
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 loose handful of basil, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Lay the eggplant slices on a paper towel, covered with a sprinkling of salt, to drain for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 400.
3. One the eggplant has drained, brush off the salt and excess water with a paper towel.
4. Lay the eggplant slices in a single layer on an oiled baking sheet, and roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. While the eggplant is roasting, combine the onion, basil, oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
6. When the eggplant is done roasting, flip the slices over.
7. Top each slice with a tomato, followed by a scoop of the onion mixture.
8. Return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes. 
9. Serve immediately.

Quinoa Pizza Casserole

I'm getting desperate for quick, easy weekday meals. I absolutely love my job (how could you not with views like these?),

but it's exhausting! Fresh air and being physically active has never killed anyone, but it sure takes a lot out of you. At the end of the day I'm so tired all I want to do is crash, but I REFUSE to be lured by take out and fast food (not every night at least). If anyone has any ideas for simple, healthy, vegan meals, send them my way. In the meantime, here's one for you that I adapted from an online recipe. It can even be made ahead of time and baked before dinner.

Quinoa Pizza Casserole

Serves 4 generously

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 6 oz. can of tomato paste
• 3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 1/2 tsp. each of oregano, basil and parsley
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Combine the quinoa and water in a saucepan.
2. Cook over a medium flame until it begins to boil.
3. Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to cook for 10 minutes, or until the water is absorbed.
4. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a large casserole dish.
5. When the quinoa is cooked, add it to the casserole dish, and mix thoroughly with the other ingredients.
6. Bake covered in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until thoroughly heated.

Salsa

This salsa and I, it's love.

I found a salsa on Pinterest that used fire roasted tomatoes. How delicious does that sound? If I had more ambition/time/hands I would have roasted my own tomatoes, but I found a can at Pathmark, and it did the trick. The Pinterest recipe called other assortments of cans and jars, but I found fresh substitutes that worked, too. I found fun little peppers at a great little produce place in my neighborhood. I'm not sure what kind they are, the sign just said "mixed peppers", but they were a great addition to the salsa. They look like jalapenos, but are red, yellow and orange, and they're sweet. I guess any kind of sweet pepper would work here, so if you want to reproduce this recipe and can't find them, a bell pepper would do the trick. The great part about salsa is how versatile it is. You can add more of what you like, leave out what you don't, and experiment with different ingredients. I've tried other salsas before, but this one is my best to date. I've made it catered to my taste (more jalapeno and cilantro please!), and it's totally me.

Salsa

Makes 3 cups-ish

• 14.5 oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 2 tomatoes on the vine, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• Juice of one lime
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup red onion, diced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 5 small mixed peppers (or 1 red bell pepper), seeded and diced
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. salt

1. Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until you've reached the desired consistency. 

The makings of a perfect salsa.

This jalapeno seeder was perfect for this recipe, and it's fun to use!

Blurry picture, but I liked the way everything looked layered in here. 

Vegan Tian

Yellow, green, potato, tomato. Yellow, green, potato, tomato. Yellow, green, potato, tomato.

That's what I was saying over and over in my head as I assembled this dish. The inspiration for this recipe came from pinterest. I swapped russet potatoes for sweet potatoes, omitted some animal ingredients, and ended up with a delicious vegan tian.

Thank goodness for the slice-o-matic. It cut perfectly even slices in seconds. Prep time was no more than 20 minutes. I can't wait until squash and tomatoes are in season this summer. I'm sure this will taste even better when I use veggies grown in my own backyard!

Vegan Tian

Serves 4 

• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 small sweet potatoes, sliced
• 1 yellow squash, sliced
• 1 green squash, sliced
• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced
• Fresh or dried thyme

1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Sauté the opinions and garlic in the oil until the onions become soft, about 10 minutes.
3. Spread the sautéed onions and garlic in the bottom of a pie dish.
4. Working in a spiral pattern, layer the veggies on top of the onions.
5. Sprinkle and garnish with thyme.
6. Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.
7. Serve warm.

Saute the onions until they are soft
 and just beginning to brown.

Start layering.

Pizza Hummus

I saw a recipe for pizza hummus on Pinterest. Thinking it too good to be true, I had to try it right away. I didn't have some of the ingredients, so I improvised. Now that I look back at the original recipe here, I improvised a lot. It still tasted like pizza though! Ok maybe it doesn't taste like you're biting into a slice of delicious NY pizza, but you still get a pizza like taste without all the calories. Besides, it's hummus.. hummus is always good. This was good eaten with carrots, celery, and pita bread. I bet it would be really good with pretzels, too. 

Pizza Hummus

• 1 15 oz can of chick peas, drained
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 1/2 tsp. dried basil

1. Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. 
2. Blend until smooth.
3. Chill in the fridge before serving.

Crock Pot Chili

This recipe is one of my favorites for several reasons. First, it's a filling, hearty, vegan meal. The ingredients are very basic and the prepping is minimal. It makes so many leftovers that I usually end up freezing a Pyrex container full to thaw when I'm sick and have no interest in cooking. Best of all, it's made in the crock pot. I love having the sense that dinner is "done" when it's not even noon yet.

I made the chili this weekend when Andrew and I had friends over. The kitchen turned into a disaster area pretty quickly. Andrew was brewing two batches of beer and I was teaching Yvonne how to make blue moon orange cupcakes. After an hour or so it was hard to believe there was countertops and a table underneath all the mess, so I was especially relieved that dinner was already made and the crock pot was already cooking.

The ingredients of this chili change every time I make it. It's a versatile recipe, so I basically use what I have available. This particular batch came out great, probably the best it's ever been, so I better write this down before I forget. Andrew agrees, he said this was the most "amazing" it's ever tasted. Derek said it tasted just like the one he makes, which has meat, and Yvonne said she didn't even notice that meat was missing. I guess this is a good recipe to make for meat lovers and animal lovers alike.

Crock Pot Chili

Serves at least 8

• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 medium sized yellow onions, diced
• 4 garlic cloves
• 10 oz. frozen spinach
• 1 15 oz can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 15 oz can of chick peas, drained and rinsed
• 2 yellow squash, diced
• 30 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 2 6 oz. cans of tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 6 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 Tbsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. oregano
• 1 Tbsp. parsley
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper

1. Saute the oil, peppers, onions and garlic in a pan until the peppers start to soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the spinach and saute until mostly thawed, just another 2 or 3 minutes.
3. Add to the crock pot along with the rest of the ingredients. 
4. Cook on a low setting for a minimum of 4 to 5 hours.

If you plan on serving this to kids who don't like or can't handle "spicy", mix everything in the crock pot except the chili powder and cumin. Transfer some to a pot and cook slowly on the stove top. Add the chili powder and cumin to the crock pot and continue cooking. This isn't very spicy to begin with, but my toddler cried for about an hour after he ate it the first time he tried it. I felt so terrible!

Sticking with a southwestern theme for the day, I also made guacamole. I came to love the stuff in college when my mom always sent me back to school with a batch after coming home for the weekend. In a college dorm it was pretty hard to come by fresh tomatoes, garlic, onions, peppers, etc.. so I improvised and used salsa. Some people, especially you die hard guac fans, would think this is cheating, but it works. It's my go-to recipe for a quick easy snack or for last minute company. 

Easy Peasy Quacamole

Serves 4

• 2 avocados
• Juice from 1 lime
• 2 Tbsp. salsa

1. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. 
2. Scrape out the flesh into a bowl.
3. Add the lime juice and mash to the desired consistency using a potato masher or a fork.
4. Stir in the salsa.
5. Serve with tortilla chips.

Mom's Veggie Stew

I can't take credit for this one since I've never made it myself, but my mom has on several occasions. Last night being the most recent. For years now the family has been gathering for dinner almost every Friday night. Mom usually does the cooking for my dad, three brothers, Grandpa, Uncle Mark and cousin Liam. It's always a vegetarian dish since Grandpa is a vegetarian, and has been since he boycotted the meat market in the 70's. This particular Friday night she made a vegan dish to accommodate Logan, and to support my dietary changes. She's always been a very obliging chef, especially during my vegetarian phase that lasted three years.

This vegetable stew recipe came from a cook book that my mom has had since the 70's. It's called Vegetarian Gothic, and is full of meat free recipes and sayings about peace, love and all that other cliche hippie stuff.
 

It's been so used that the cover is missing, it's torn into two sections, and the pages are splotched with mystery food stains, but it's still a great cook book. The page displaying the veggie stew recipe is discolored and so with so many stains, adding even more character to the book.

Like me, mom never follows recipes exactly. She used oil instead of butter to make it vegan. The rosemary was omitted. I'm all for rosemary, but there's a time and a place for everything, and that herb does not have a place in this stew. Tamari was replaced with soy sauce, it's less viscous and more salty cousin. The dish came out perfect. It was thick, hearty and had a creamy texture. I can't think of a better meal for a chilly, windy night. This will definitely be made again in my own kitchen. I borrowed the cook book, so you can look forward to other recipe inspirations from it. So for our sisters and brothers, we wish you much joy (with this recipe).

Mom's Veggie Stew

Serves 12

• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 green peppers, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 4 tomatoes, diced
• 1 sweet potato, cubed
• 2 yellow squash, chopped
• 2 cups brown rice
• 1 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 4 cups water

Saute the onions and green pepper in oil in a large dutch oven until tender.

Add the rest of the ingredients and cover.

Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes, until everything is tender.