Thai Cucumber Soup

Hello, fellow herbivores. Long time, no blog.

At some point in time, I'll probably write a rambling muse on the therapy of cooking here in this journal--because, quite frankly, cooking is one of the few activities that I've found that truly relax me and can help cure a bad mood.

And I've had a lot of those lately--bad moods, that is. To sum it up, less than four months ago, I escaped nearly three years of an abusive relationship. And upon being on my own, I found myself more concerned with my favorite alcoholic recipes and constantly being around other people, rather than the joys of cooking for myself. So, several weeks, countless hangovers, and about ten added pounds of body weight later, I gave myself a kick in the ass. Well, a very gentle one--more like a pat. Simply put, I decided to stay in one night and cook for myself. After relishing in a capri salad and cheese ravioli, I remembered the peacefulness in cooking. The quietness of the kitchen, the ability to be alone but not left with thoughts of stress, just thoughts of...flavor. Relishing. As I'm writing this, two pop culture images come to mind. One, the 1999 romantic comedy Simply Irresistible and one of my favorite newer works of fiction, Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. In both, the female protagonist eventually realizes that whatever emotion she is experiencing ends up being "tastable" in her cooking product. In Simply Irresistible, the chef cries a tear and her customers all cry tears of joy when they eat her entree; in Lemon Cake, the main character has a repulsion to eating because she always experiences the emotions of the chef, until she learns to cathartically release her own troubles by becoming a chef herself. Indeed, just as artists experience emotion in their creativity, so does a chef, even an amateur like myself. There is an enjoyable solitude, a creative outlet, and a sense of playful fun in preparing food for myself--all feelings I have not been able to find, in any other activity, in the midst of my personal troubles.

So through the past couple of weeks, I have played with new recipes (which I will soon be sharing) and old favorites, modifying even standards like vegetarian chili. Also, yesterday I decided to take my health into better concern. For several weeks, I have been toying with the idea of leading a more vegan lifestyle. I'm sure I will post more on this in coming weeks. I don't have, necessarily, a more opposition to dairy or egg products, but I do wish to cut out as many unnecessary animal products in my life, such as gelatin. As I've mentioned this to my friends, I've been continuously cautioned about the health risks in becoming 100% vegan, which I don't think is ever going to be my goal. I see myself being halfway between vegetarian and vegan, hopefully, at some point. Still, it has made me reflect on my health. While in the cycle of an abusive relationship, my weight fluctuated from quite slender to quite plump--up fifteen pounds, down fifteen pounds, repeatedly. As my emotions plummeted when my self-rescue didn't prove to be quite as revolutionary as it could have been, my weight seemed to maintain at, well, plump. Not fat, but not in shape, not fit. I lived on greasy bar food like onion rings and jumbo pretzels, Taco Bell, delivery pizzas, and these irresistible walnut brownies I kept finding at the E.W. James bakery. So don't be surprised if you start seeing calorie-conscious entries in this blog, which formerly was focused on fattening comfort foods and sinful desserts!

So, now, let me share with you what I'm actually eating now while I'm writing this blog, because it's pretty damn tasty. Whoever said that vegetarian food is bland has evidently never tried any variation of Thai cucumber soup, because this is one of the most overwhelmingly flavorful dishes I've ever prepared. (Or is it just all of that emotion I'm finally allowing myself to experience, pouring itself out into the pot around the flakes of parsley?)

I grew my own tomatoes and cucumbers this year, a venture that has been overwhelming. Who could've guessed the amount of produce five vegetable plants would provide? Overloaded with cucumbers, I went to the trusty All Recipes looking for something besides a salad or hors d'oeuvre to create with them, and stumbled onto this tasty dish.

As always, I tweaked the original recipe somewhat. Rather than using two tablespoons of sliced green onion, I added a half of white onion (chopped) and one stalk of celery (chopped), which I think was a good decision--it added quite a bit of zest. I also added in chopped red peppers to add some sweetness, which is quite appropriate for a Thai-inspired soup. I more than doubled the amount of parsley, because it tends to balance out an extra-spicy dish. The biggest change I made to the recipe is that, before adding the sour cream, I put the entire mix into a food processor, just to make the chopped veggies a little less prominent, and the soup smoother. I didn't completely puree it, though, wanting to keep a little chunkiness to it. I added more sour cream than the recipe asked for, then let the soup thicken for about fifteen minutes before pouring my first bowl.

The chile peppers I used, by the way, were also homegrown, given to me by a favorite customer of mine from bartending. If you ever have a chance to grow your own vegetables, do so; it's quite rewarding and relaxing, much like cooking. If you just don't have the time or capability, at least seek out fresh produce from friends who garden, or at the very least, a farmer's market. Without any additives, fruits and vegetables have more flavor. And honestly, there's few things in life that smell quite as wonderful as a fresh tomato, just picked off the vine. My homegrown cucumbers made this recipe.

While certainly hot, this isn't an overwhelmingly spicy dish, although you could certainly make it so. You could also tone it down, as I did with the added red peppers and parsley. This is an excellent soup to whip up for a seasoned vegetarian, who's sure to appreciate the flavor, or to shut up a mouthy meat-eater who likes to complain that vegetarian food is gross and bland.

Asparagus & Basil Spaghetti

Any amateur chef teaching herself is bound to make a few errors, which this blog has certainly spotlighted from time to time. However, I always try to look on the bright side of my errors, even when I can't creatively save my dishes. Today, though, I had a difficult time saving an easy-to-make, hard-to-enjoy veggie meal.

My boyfriend gave me a cookbook, Pasta, and I was eager to try a new recipe out for us on my day off. Most vegetarians learn quickly that the majority of our population has a very narrow view of meatless food, believing it all to be boring salads, which is, of course, one thing I am trying to disprove with this blog. However, Pasta's very limited vegetarian section mostly featured recipes I didn't have the exact ingredients for, so I chose "Spaghetti with Charred Asparagus, Lemon, and Basil." Just by looking at the recipe, I thought it sounded rather bland--obviously written by someone with a limited scope of vegetarian cuisine--and I wondered if I was going to be able to impress my omnivore boyfriend at all with this meat-free, and seemingly tasteless, meal.

More often than one would think, it's actually very feasible to substitute frozen or canned vegetables in recipes that ask for fresh produce. However, I committed a huge lapse in judgment using canned asparagus spears today, and, irritatingly, now that I reflect on today's meal, I knew deep down--even before I started cooking--that it would be a bad idea not to use fresh asparagus. Alas, I was so anxious to try something from this new cookbook without having to visit the grocery store, and the recipe did not specify if the spears needed to be fresh, canned, or frozen. Here is the problem with using canned asparagus. It's already cooked, and it's packed with preserving juices, so it's already tender. So broiling it until it's "charred and tender," as the book instructed, was an impossible task, and the extra virgin olive oil I used in this feat just made the asparagus soggy. You can't "char" canned asparagus--you can just, well, ruin it, which is basically what I did. By the time I stirred it in with the cheese, pasta, and seasoning, it just kind of crumbled soggily to the point where it looked like additional seasoning instead of the fresh, straight, well-cooked spears that would have saved this dish.

To try to repair the blandness of this recipe, I upped the basil, pepper, and garlic, and also added in oregano, Italian seasoning, and just a hint of paprika. I also stirred in sliced mozzarella (in addition to the Parmesan) at the very end, to prevent the cheese from getting overcooked. (Doing an internet search later, I found that many similar asparagus/spaghetti recipes use mozzarella in place of Parmesan.)

The results of this recipe were not completely disastrous, apart from, of course, the lack of visible asparagus, or asparagus that you can actually taste. I added in some cold chunks of fresh tomato to liven it up, which was an excellent decision. Apart from the tomatoes, though, this literally was like eating creamy spaghetti (with some very well-done seasoning, though, I must add). I couldn't taste or see the asparagus, so DO NOT USE ANYTHING BUT FRESH GREEN PRODUCE IF YOU MAKE THIS!! The recipe actually says you can substitute the asparagus with broccoli florets, which I think, with the heavy amount of basil it calls for, would not be a good idea. Asparagus and basil go together much better.

Would I make this again? Well, put it this way: I need to have the memory of that soggy asparagus completely leave my mind first! Hey, every cook makes a faux pas here and there, and, usually, our mistakes are repairable, or at least, cover-up-able! However, this mistake-in-a-can was just beyond saving, although I certainly tried. I actually tried eating this with spaghetti sauce, too, and, astonishingly, doing so made me realize my spaghetti dish actually could get worse! This is truly an example when spaghetti and spaghetti sauce are not a match made in heaven.

The reheat value on this recipe, by the way, is nonexistent. Fresh from the stovetop, it was tolerable; six hours later later and a minute and a half in the microwave, it was definitely not.

This isn't to knock Pasta, though. The cookbook is a great little manual and contains a variety of ways to prepare different grain-based meals, but this dish suffered from two big errors: (1.) The generally bland nature of vegetarian recipes in omnivore cookbooks, and (2.) My use of canned asparagus. However, there are nearly twenty recipes in the vegetarian section of Pasta, and many in the meat-based sections are easily adaptable to a vegan diet (we often use Morning Star Farms's soy ground beef for cooking). I'll just have to remember to make a more comprehensive grocery list next time I visit the produce section--and keep the pantry door closed.

Newbies' Hummus

Tis the season to party, and continuing with this blog's recent theme of party foods, I'd like to include everyone's favorite dip--hummus.

Anyone who has ever made hummus will tell you the same two things: 1.) It's much easier than you would think, and 2.) There are only about 3,000,000,000 ways to make hummus! Most hummus includes tahini, a ground sesame seed mixture you can find at any grocery store in the world foods aisle, but you can make hummus without that, as demonstrated in these three variations featured on Buzzle, which are similar to the tahini-free hummus I make. Some tasty types of hummus you may want to try are roasted red pepper hummus, cucumber hummus, and jalapeno hummus--or you can just try the easy Buzzle suggestions, which are good starting points for curious first-timers.

Although nearly every hummus recipe you can find on the Internet recommends using canned chickpeas, I actually used a bag of garbanzo beans, which I crushed in the blender. And I used way, way more than the recommended amount of garlic, which was much appreciated by the meat-eating friends who consumed my first batch of hummus. (A general rule of thumb when you're making appetizers: it's nearly impossible to have "too much" garlic.) Hummus is most commonly served with pita bread, but we actually used ours to dip raw veggies in. It's also often served as a scrumptious sandwich spread.

The first time I made this, I served it a small group of friends, who devoured the entire bowl before I had a chance to enjoy my own cooking! And, my boyfriend actually said it was his favorite thing I had made for him. I loved having my friends and boyfriend impressed with my cooking, but, honestly, there was no "cooking" involved. Hummus truly is just made by combining a bunch of ingredients in a blender. But, shhh! Don't tell anybody that. Let them think you're a supreme chef of Middle Eastern food!

Squash & Carrot Casserole

So, am I in violation of any copyright laws if I tell you this dish is really, really, really fricking "mmmm mmmm good"?

Same old story: I had some produce--squash, in this case--that needed to be thrown into a pot and cooked; I did an Internet search and found a recipe that would suffice on About.com's "Southern Food" section. Suffice? Suffice? How about completely exceed my taste buds' expectations?

Seriously. The recipe I found was called "Summer Squash Casserole." If the title reminds you of my recent blogs' discussion of summer dishes versus winter dishes, keep in mind it's only called a "summer" casserole because the yellow squash it uses traditionally could not be stored until winter. In actuality, it's a very warm casserole that I think would best be served during a Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.

I only had two crookneck squash ready to cook, so I actually abridged all the ingredient amounts and made a "mini"-casserole, which I put in a 9" pie pan. I replaced the recipe's call for cream of chicken soup with a can of cream of celery soup, and added in 1/4 cup of sliced mushrooms. I actually upped the amount of butter and onion, and seasoned the filling with Italian seasoning, pepper, and a hint of garlic powder. The recipe also calls for just one half of a stuffing mix, but I used a whole box of Kraft's "Savory Herbs" Stovetop stuffing mix, and in my pie pan, it was a good amount. Also, I feel that any casserole is just naked without cheese, so I sprinkled sliced mozzarella on top of the last layer and then added grated Parmesan.

So after altering the recipe so drastically, did I regret it? Not at all. In fact, I can honestly say I wouldn't change a thing. I was curious as to what the uncooked stuffing mix would be like, and it was the perfect seasoned crust to a soft, gooey, warm casserole filling. I definitely almost ate half of this sweet dish in one sitting, after questioning if I'd even like it!

This is also, by the way, my favorite squash recipe to date. If I had to choose between this and the stuffed squash previously featured in this blog, I would hands-down choose squash and carrot casserole.

When making this, be generous with your seasoning, your grated carrots (seriously, they get muffled in the sauce), and add that cheese!! Mushrooms optional--I thought they tasted great, but, after looking on the Internet, I didn't find any other squash/carrot combo that featured mushrooms, so maybe those are just my own weird tastebuds...

Also, my apologies for how blurry the picture is. I took it on my phone, and didn't realize until after the casserole was 75% devoured that the camera hadn't been still enough to get a good shot! Guess it smelled too good for me to pause...

Cinnamon Turnips

Although serving a chilled vegetable dish, as described in my last blog "Spicy Tomato and Corn Salad," in the wintertime is a chef's faux pas, serving warm vegetables, especially those seasoned with a good wintry spice like nutmeg or cinnamon, is a definite do. And this recipe for Turnip Casserole will definitely help complete any winter meal you're serving to guests, family, or just yourself.

I had found a recipe in a vegetarian cookbook, given to me by my mother, for a winter vegetable cobbler that just sounded too good to be true, but the grocery stores here in Richmond, Ky., weren't exactly catering to my recipe's needs. I needed rutabaga, and Wal-Mart, Kroger, Save-a-Lot, and Meijer all did not offer rutabaga. After reading about rutabaga substitutes on the Internet, I purchased four turnips at Meijer. However, I had a trouble keeping all the ingredients I needed for my cobbler--I kept using them all for smaller recipes. Finally, worrying that my turnips were aging too much, I did an Internet search for a recipe that would use them, and came across the "turnip casserole" recipe I hyperlinked above.

Not to knock the author, but I was a little aggravated that this was called a "casserole." There's nothing "casserole"-y about it--it's just freaking seasoned turnips. So I Googled "turnip casserole," and to my surprise found the same picture, and I think the same recipe author, on another website; this time, though, she had added in bread crumbs, apples, and nutmeg, which I guess is closer to satisfying the necessities of a "casserole." Having just made apple dumplings, I was fresh out of apples, though, so I went back to the very naked recipe I'd originally found, though, thinking to myself, "Why not? I don't even think I like turnips."

Yes, I wasn't sure if I liked turnips before--but I definitely know I do now. Turnips, whether mashed or cubed for a casserole, with cinnamon is an excellent combination, like eggplant and mozzarella or tomato and cucumber. It's so delicious. I made this with a broccoli cheese casserole and stuffed celery for dinner one night, and it was the most delightful, flavorful dinner I'd had in ages. It was very warm, very soft, and very tasty--and it's now a permanent wintertime staple in my kitchen.

Unique Veggie Casserole

It was a mistake. Well, lots of mistakes. But all good ones.

I had about an hour of free time this morning--only an hour. This week has been consistently tiring and fast-paced, and my cooking time has suffered because of my busy holiday schedule. So after I had to throw away a whole package of neglected baby bella mushrooms, I looked at the amount of produce in the refrigerator and said, "Sunday morning, I have to wake up early and use some of this, before it's all wasted."

I had two large eggplants and four squash begging to be cooked, so I used AllRecipes's ingredient search and found Easy Eggplant Dish, which could definitely be prepared and cooked in an hour. Glancing over it, I thought I had all the ingredients and set about dicing the eggplants and squash. To my fellow vegan cooks, a piece of advice about dicing and cubing vegetables. There are some, such as zucchini and leek, that need to be diced into bigger portions to maintain the taste; others, like eggplant squash, can be chopped into miniscule bits and still suffice for a recipe.

To clear out my refrigerator, I had decided to double the ingredients, and, to my dismay, I realized I had only half a cup of sliced mozzarella cheese, which is what the recipe initially called for, but I thought that since I was doubling the ingredients, I ought to double the cheesy topping, too. We had four other kinds of cheese--American slices, shredded Swiss, grated Parmesan, and blocks of cream cheese--so I crumbled two slices of American cheese and filled the rest of the desired one cup portion with Swiss and Parmesan. My bartending personality came out a bit--I shook the different cheeses in a cup to mix them well, the same as one would do with a cocktail shaker. The result was very pleasing! I had worried the Swiss might overwhelm the recipe, but the four-cheese mix just tasted excellent, with no particular flavor distinguishing itself from the other cheeses. I do think mozzarella alone would have been satisfying, and I would recommend using more cheese than the recipe calls for. After all, who ever heard of having too much cheese?

I also discovered that I only had one onion in the pantry, where I needed at least two in order to double the ingredients. However, I had a lone red bell pepper in the refrigerator, waiting to be used, and decided, "Why not compensate for the lack of onion by adding another uniquely tasting ingredient?" I actually think a yellow bell pepper would have complemented the recipe better, but as it was, the red made it just pop deliciously. (A side note...why is it that those pesky, meat-eating, live-in boyfriends can't ever use groceries you don't use in 99% of your recipes, i.e., onions and mozzarella cheese?! Why don't they take some of the damned crookneck squash off your hands ever?!) Another side note: I made few other adjustments to the recipe--I used bread crumbs with Italian seasoning, added in oregano and salt, and instead of buttery crackers, I crumbled up Toppers Garlic & Herb crackers.

So, how did this messy recreation of "Easy Eggplant Dish" turn out? Very un-eggplanty, which might make it more appetizing for omnivore company, who for some reason often seem to think eating eggplant is the same as swallowing rat poison. With the green chiles, the recipe was certainly spicy and did not need any pepper added. I would describe it as seasoned, spicy, and filling, and, thanks to the crumbs, textured. However, I felt that the presence of the bread crumbs and the crackers was almost overwhelming--the next time I make this dish, and I can see myself making it again, I will use smaller portions. I feel like this could easily be turned into a nice casserole, maybe by using cream of mushroom soup. The bell pepper was an excellent addition, and I actually think that adding a chopped leek and a chopped carrot would also be enjoyable. My biggest regret about the recipe is not cooking it with minced garlic; although the recipe didn't make the suggestion, I believe that's the ingredient this dish is really missing.

A suggestion: make this dish as a side for dinner some night. Soup, green beans, and carrots would all accompany this well and make for a very filling and interesting meal--with a casserole-like dish that's very, yes, unique.

Stuffed Squash

So small, and yet so filling, and so delicious. Stuffed squash is another recipe I found from AllRecipes. About a month ago, I found this recipe and thought to myself, "Do I even like squash?" Although growing up with nightly homemade meals straight from my parents' vegetable gardens, I couldn't remember ever eating squash. I'm sure that, like asparagus, it was one other food item I turned down, having never tried, only to discover in adulthood how delicious it really is.

When first trying the recipe out, I bought two typical yellow crooked neck summer squash, although if you do an Internet search for stuffed squash recipes, you'll find that acorn, pattypan, and spaghetti squash are all commonly substituted. And instead of ricotta cheese, I used mozzarella. On neither occasion have I used the "optional" jar of spaghetti sauce the recipe recommends, but I have to say, it would complement this dish awesomely, as it is a very pasta-tasting meal.

The recipe is extremely easy to make; neither time preparing it have I had any issues except I do up the seasoning quite a bit. Even after it's been cooked, I sprinkle more ground pepper on for flavor. After all, you're eating squash and spinach, here, folks...hell, give it a little spice! I'll never forget my first time trying this. I was sitting in the kitchen alone, cautiously raising the fork to my knife, afraid to offer my boyfriend a piece of this dish because I didn't know what squash tasted like and was afraid he'd hate it. And then...mmmmmmmmmmm! I couldn't believe how delicious it was--and how guilty I felt when I realized I was going to devour all of the squash before I could offer him some. So, last night was his first sampling of the stuffed squash, and he, too, became a fan. We finished off the rest of it today. A word of wisdom for anyone cooking this--play around with AllRecipes serving adjuster. It says it makes eight servings (really more like 16), so if you're just making it for two people, cut that way down. This dish is extremely hearty and filling, and believe it or not, you won't need any appetizers or sides.

Having mentioned my boyfriend, with whom I not only live, but often share my tribulations in vegetarian cooking, I'd like to introduce him formally to this blog. His name is Ty, and unlike me, Ty eats meat. Like many meat-eaters, he sees vegetarian cuisine as bland, flavorless, and unfilling--or just plain nasty. He has grown to love some of my recipes--a veggie medley on garlic bread, a New Orleans style rice dish, a cauliflower bake, and my cheesecake. But like most meat-eaters, it's hard to get him to try something that has soy products (imitation meat) or tofu in it. And sometimes I just offer him the wrong damn recipes; for example, one of my earliest feats was a baked eggplant dish. Ty tasted it and immediately crinkled his face. Apparently, he's not the biggest fan of eggplant.

So in writing "Herbivores Anonymous," I promise you, I will occasionally mention some recipes that are OMNIVORE-FRIENDLY. Stuffed squash may not satisfy the taste buds of someone who likes, say, sloppy Joes and Big Macs. But for anyone health-conscious, this is will be a delight. Also, any meat-eaters who have a refined palette or enjoy some good hearty vegetables will enjoy this, though they may want to cut their serving in half and put it next to a meat dish.

Which reminds me, when are they going to make a good meatless country ham? I've tried the sliced soy ham you can find next to the tofu in the produce section, and I'm unsatisfied...