Friday, April 13, 2012

The Vegetarian Cookbook


As part of my Great Recipe Challenge of 2012, I've so far only blogged about recipes I found online during my search for a potluck contribution. However, what originally got me into the idea of doing a recipe challenge was my friend's suggestion to watch Julie & Julia, a movie about a food blogger who tried every single recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook. My friend suggested I go in a similar vein for my own food blog, since I'm generally pretty sporadic about trying new stuff and posting about it. However, since I'm so picky with my food choices, going through a single cookbook didn't make sense for me, since most things wouldn't fit under my nutritional preferences!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Emma's Salad


I'm not even sure if I should include this "recipe" in my Great Recipe Challenge of 2012! This is a pretty simple salad that my mom calls "Emma's Salad" because my friend Emma brought it to her house once for dinner. It's fairly generic, but I'll give Emma the credit since it is frequently her contribution to dinner parties and potlucks. In any case, I'm blogging about it now, since we brought not one, but two versions of it at Easter this year. My mom couldn't decide if she wanted feta or mozzarella, so we did both and had two separate salads!

Monday, April 9, 2012

Sausage & Summer Vegetable Casserole w/Cheesy Polenta Crust


The next entry in my Great Recipe Challenge of 2012 is another recipe I had considered trying for my potluck the other week (see original version of the recipe here). Even though I didn't end up picking it, I think it actually ended up tasting much better than the recipe I went with! I brought it to my family Easter party this weekend, and received several compliments on the dish! This is definitely a winner, and I have to put a star on this recipe as one that will make it on my rotating list of regular meals.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Black Bean Lasagna


Next up on my Recipe Challenge and Pantry Raid projects is a Black Bean Lasagna I stumbled across while looking for my potluck contribution that originally inspired these challenges! Though this recipe didn't make the original cut for the potluck, I did keep it in the back of my head as something I wanted to try out!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Operation: Pantry Raid


Looking through my cupboards, I decided the Great Recipe Challenge would also be a great time to do a PANTRY RAID project.

Yes. I said Pantry Raid.

The idea here would be empty out my pantry. I'm sure I'm not the only one who happens to collect various items in my pantry that should probably be used as they're only sitting there getting older! Things in my pantry collecting dust include:

Monday, April 2, 2012

Giada's Frittata

Another entry for my Great Recipe Challenge of 2012! This time, as my title alludes, I tried Giada de Laurentiis' Frittata with Asparagus, Tomato, and Fontina recipe.

Mornings are usually pretty hectic for me, especially in the summers when I often do morning workouts. Making an omelet or frittata early in the week and eating the leftovers for a few days is a great way to save time on such occasions. Since I generally make the same omelet all the time, I figured I should try branching out!

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Polenta Casserole

For my first entry in my Great Recipe Challenge of 2012, I tried out a Polenta Casserole with Fontina and Tomato Sauce recipe I found online. I served this dish at the foodie potluck dinner that inspired this challenge. I'm happy to say, in a room full of meat-eaters, this recipe got the thumbs up!

Friday, March 23, 2012

More on the Recipe Challenge of 2012!

I was mulling over my last post regarding the Great Recipe Challenge of 2012, and thinking about where exactly I want to go with this challenge. So, being me, I started doing some goal setting.

So here are my current objectives with this challenge:
  • Expand my daily eating repertoire
  • Expand my potluck/ party recipe repertoire
  • Explore new ways to cook and new cuisines
  • Maintain a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet that optimizes my body composition, supports my training schedule, and enhances my race performance.
Whew! Looks like I want everything! Eat a variety of new and delicious foods that I can feed myself and my friends while still supporting my athletic lifestyle!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Great Recipe Challenge of 2012

One thing I'm totally guilty of (which is a reason why my blogging on here has been so sporadic) is always eating the same foods all the time.

I was recently invited to a Foodie Potluck. My friend invited all her foodie friends to bring a dish to share for dinner this Sunday. Of course, the first thing I did upon receiving the invite was to come here on my blog and look over my favorite old recipes.

While there's something to be said about bringing an old favorite that you know is delicious to this type of event, I began to think I was missing the point. I think she had wanted to invite us over so that we can test out new recipes to share with the group.

So off I went searching online and my cookbooks.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Moroccan-Spiced Vegetarian Chili


Ok, I'm dusting my blog off once again to post a recipe I tried a while back (February 2009) that I'd never gotten around to blogging about! In fact, I had thought I'd published this post already, but a quick search revealed I hadn't! We originally got the recipe from Williams-Sonoma.

In any case, the reason for the search is that I'm contemplating entering a chili cook-off next weekend, and I remember this being a very good recipe! Let's hope my memory serves me correctly and that I'm able to convince the judges as well!

Moroccan-Spiced Vegetarian Chili
4 large ancho chilies (this is a dried poblano pepper)
3 cups water
4 large whole garlic cloves, plus 6 large cloves sliced
1 yellow onion, chopped
1.5 tsp ground turmeric
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp ground coriander
1 can (28oz) chopped tomatoes
1.25 lb butternut squash, 1/2 in cubes
2 cans (15ox each) chickpeas
2 zucchini, 1/2 in dice
1/3 cup sliced dried apricots
1/3 cup sliced dried prunes
1 package (8oz) Upton's Naturals chorizo-style seitan, crumbled tempeh, or similar vegetarian protein source

Comine chilies and water in saucepan and bring to boil, remove from heat. Cover and let stand 14 minutes. Transfer chilies to work surface, reserve liquid. Discard stems and seeds.

In food processor or blender, combine chilies with the whole garlic cloves and 1/2 cup of the liquid. Process until smooth, set aside.

Heat a heavy pot over medium heat. Coat the pot with nonstick cooking spray. Add the onion, sliced garlic, turmeric, cinnamon, cumin and coriander. Saute until onion and garlic have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and their juices, butternut squash and the chili puree. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is just tender, about 25 minutes.

Stir in the chickpeas and their liquid, the zucchini, dired apricot and prunes, and the seitan (crumbled). Simmer, uncovered, until all of the squashes are tender, about 15 minutes more.