Quick stir fry

I've forgotten how easy it is to make veggie stir fry. It's so easy there isn't much to say about it...

Red yellow orange peppers
Zucchini
Onion
Szichuan Spicy Noodle Paste by Lee Kum Kee

Only tip is to sautee in the order of whatever takes the longest to cook to your liking.

Yam Latkes and Egg with Tomato Salad

Sorry the lighting wasn't very good on this one. I saw something about sweet potato latkes in a magazine somewhere so I thought I'd give it a try. SUPER DELICIOUS...especially with a fried egg on top and when the yolk oozes over the crispy yam latke!!

Latke:
Shredded yellow yam
Eggs
Flour
Cumin
Paprika
Curry powder

Tomato Salad:
Regular tomatoes on the vine
Some kind of darker heirloom tomatoes
Yellow bell pepper
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Dried herbs
S&P to taste

Bean Patties

Yup still going strong on the vegetarian kick. I still really love a good marbled piece of rib eye steak, med rare with a nice sear...but a much smaller piece now. Less is more! Anyways, as summer is swinging in, visions of bbq's and grills and burgers and wings start to float in. I realize the picture is of patties in a frying pan, but that's really only because we hadn't filled up our propane tank for the bbq yet.

So, patties...I've tried veggie burgers and I really don't like the ones that imitate beef patties. If I wanted beef patties, I'll eat beef patties. In this case, I wanted to try making bean patties....see if it can taste good. And also because that huge tub of nine-bean mix I bought at Costco isn't being used up fast enough.



I kinda followed this recipe for a Black Bean Veggie burger. I used a nine bean mix instead of just black beans. Sriracha instead of chili powder. Added paprika to the mix. And used flour instead of bread crumbs...because I didn't have any and didn't want to waste my bread to make some.

Everything was mashed/mixed by hand because we don't have a food processor. And maybe it could'e used more flour (or bread crumbs) because it wasn't holding together very well. The cooked result was quite crumbly too so it's a good thing I didn't put it on the grill. BUT, it was very tasty indeed. Yay!

Saucy Veggie Omlette...not really

I don't know what this is called....when you crack eggs into sautéed veggies. It's not a fritata, it's not a Spanish omlette, it's not really an omlette either....meh. It was tasty! And an easy way to use up various veggies in the fridge. I served it with some garlic naan to soak up some of the sauce.



I sautéed everything until it was nearly done, made four "wells" that I cracked the eggs into. Covered it for a few minutes then served it.

Button mushrooms
Yellow Pepper
Broccoli
Onion
Eggs
Cumin
Paprika
Sugar
Basil flakes
Garlic
S&P
 

Roasted Veggie Pasta

Sorry for the poor lighting on this one....but it was Meatless Monday again...and I was low on vegetables so I went the easier route with pasta. Actually I take this easier pasta route a lot.

I oven roasted zucchini and red/yellow peppers. (Tossed them in olive oil and some dried herbs.)

And then opened a bottle of vodka rose pasta sauce I wanted to try from Costco. Tossed it all together with some parm, chili flakes and voila! Delicious!

On a non-meatless meal day I would love to try this again with smoke salmon or italian sausage. =)

(Yes, you do see penne and spiraled tube pasta - I forgot the name - all mixed together. I had two unfinished boxes of pasta leftover but neither was enough for one meal so I just mixed it....goes down the same.)

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I was venturing into making my own pizzas from scratch. It seemed so easy whenever I watch it on TV. Or even when I watch people make it from scratch at restaurants. Restaurants charge some $17 for a simple thin crust pizza and I'm SURE the raw supplies cost $4 tops. Anyways...so this is my first attempt:



I mixed BBQ sauce, ketchup and sriracha for my base sauce. Topped it with sauteed chicken slices, mushrooms, peppers, sauteed onions and some smokey gouda. (I would've used mozzarella but I didn't plan ahead and again, didn't have any.)



End result was really tasty actually! THOUGH....you know how I don't like baking? Well the dough for the crust (I don't remember which site I got the recipe from...I just ran a search for "thin crust pizza dough") didn't turn out as well as I'd like. I think I killed the yeast mixture or maybe I didn't pour it into the flour right. It's just not my thing. The dough didn't bubble and was pretty hard. Almost like a soft cracker. BUT, it still tasted really good!

Tomato Soup

 

I've been making a lot of tomato soup of late. It's actually pretty easy...and you can adjust the flavors however you like. The first time I made it, it was too "carroty" said my husband. I was lacking chicken or vegetable broth and used some carrot juice instead. I thought the soup tasted fine. But whatever....

 

Tomatoes

Peppers (red, orange or yellow)

Onion

Broth (I made turkey broth from leftover bones...yum!)

White wine

Baby carrots

S&P

Thyme

Basil

Marble Cheese (I remember recipes asking for heavy cream which I didn't have, so thought cheese will do.)

 

What's also really nice is a pinch of chili powder for some kick.

I also have to say, immersion blenders are the bomb.