A few weeks ago, I bought a bunch of dill to make a potato gallette I saw in a magazine. But then I had leftover dill. So I made orzo with cherry tomatoes, feta and dill (which I found on my epicurious app) which left me with extra feta, dill and a lemon. The lemon and dill went into an arugula salad with herbs, roasted asparagus and eggs (from an old Vegetarian Times), which left me with extra arugula that went into an arugula edamame dip (another epicuriuos recipe). And so on and so forth until Saturday afternoon. I found myself with some orzo, which I cooked al dente adding some spinach in the last few minutes. I also had some lemon and dill, which were mixed together with some olive oil, oregano and garlic, and some feta. I mixed the dressing, put the feta on top and added the hot pasta to melt it all. Absolutely delicious.
So I thought I had this Greek thing down. Some lemon, some garlic, a little feta and you're golden. Maybe some olives, because whats Greeker than that? I may have been a bit over confident.
Tonight I decided to make a Greek inspired pesto. It had green olives, lemon, capers, walnuts (that's Greek, right?) and garlic mixed in with flat leaf parsley and enough olive oil to make it saucy. I'm not saying it was bad (Mike and I really enjoyed it) but I'm missing the mark on the flavor profile.
Not Quite Greek Pesto
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (I think if you took it up to 1/4-1/3 cup it might help)
6 large green olives (again, more of this might up the missing Greek Factor)
1-2 tablespoons of capers (and the juice that fell in while I added them)
1-2 cloves of garlic (my olives also had garlic centers so I only needed one)
1/2 cup of walnuts
Enough oil to make it a creamy saucy consistency (I'd guess 1/3-1/2 cup)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Process everything but the oil in a food processor until everything looks as small as you'd see it in a pesto (super helpful, I know), then slowly stream in enough olive oil to make it creamy and the saucy consistency you're looking for.
I poured mine over some fresh pasta and added a bunch of feta.
And then I ate it while watching Greek.
I guess that's as Greek as I'm getting for now.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Monday, September 7, 2009
Finally...
We've been eating a lot of fake meat over the last few months. Fake burgers are a no brainer and they seem to please my meat eating boy, but at five bucks a pop (yeah, prices in Seattle are nuts) they were getting kinda expensive.
But after making the awesome chickpea cutlets from the Veganomicon last week, I've been thinking that there's a better, cheaper option.
I should also mention at this point that I received the awesome gift of a green apple colored KitchenAid mixer for my birthday, complete with several attachments to play with. I've been staring at the grinder attachment (pictured with chunks of raw meat hanging out of the top) trying to think of a use for it that didn't involve weird meat chunks hanging out of it.
So today I made my first attempt of cheapy fake meat. Ground "beef". I made it with wheat gluten (pretty cheap and available in bulk) and a couple of pantry staples, cooked it, ground it and browned it. I ended up making sloppy joes, but I think it would work in tacos or maybe a meat sauce. I'm pretty happy with it.
My next project: burgers.
Ground "Beef"
2/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
a shake or two of cayenne pepper (more if you're feeling daring)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce (very important for color & umami)
1/2 cup vegetable broth (plus a little more if its looking dry)
Mix together all the dry ingredients. Add the wet all at once. Mix with a spoon until combined and then start kneading together (this stuff feels really cool while you're mixing, kinda rubbery). After it starts sticking together into a rubbery ball thing, start pulling it into a log shape.
At this point, I rolled it in foil that I sprayed with oil and then placed the roll seam side up into a pan with some water at the bottom and baked it at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. I think you could probably bake it without the water or boil it in some water.
Run it through your handy dandy grinder and brown the grounds in some olive oil and use as you would ground beef...or at least the fake kind.
But after making the awesome chickpea cutlets from the Veganomicon last week, I've been thinking that there's a better, cheaper option.
I should also mention at this point that I received the awesome gift of a green apple colored KitchenAid mixer for my birthday, complete with several attachments to play with. I've been staring at the grinder attachment (pictured with chunks of raw meat hanging out of the top) trying to think of a use for it that didn't involve weird meat chunks hanging out of it.
So today I made my first attempt of cheapy fake meat. Ground "beef". I made it with wheat gluten (pretty cheap and available in bulk) and a couple of pantry staples, cooked it, ground it and browned it. I ended up making sloppy joes, but I think it would work in tacos or maybe a meat sauce. I'm pretty happy with it.
My next project: burgers.
Ground "Beef"
2/3 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
a shake or two of cayenne pepper (more if you're feeling daring)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce (very important for color & umami)
1/2 cup vegetable broth (plus a little more if its looking dry)
Mix together all the dry ingredients. Add the wet all at once. Mix with a spoon until combined and then start kneading together (this stuff feels really cool while you're mixing, kinda rubbery). After it starts sticking together into a rubbery ball thing, start pulling it into a log shape.
At this point, I rolled it in foil that I sprayed with oil and then placed the roll seam side up into a pan with some water at the bottom and baked it at 350 degrees for twenty minutes. I think you could probably bake it without the water or boil it in some water.
Run it through your handy dandy grinder and brown the grounds in some olive oil and use as you would ground beef...or at least the fake kind.
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