Category: Recipes

Mediterranean Pantry Skillet Meal

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The Mediterranean flavors in this skillet recipe are traditional and the combination is comforting. The creaminess of the beans marries with the tang of the artichokes and tomatoes, and bursts of bitter from the olives and herbs, all make it a completely satisfying bite. This Mediterranean pantry recipe comes together with items you likely have on hand. I typically keep beans, tomatoes, and artichokes in my cupboard for several easy throw together recipes. If you batch-cook beans and have frozen cooked beans, pull them out for this recipe. If not, canned beans work great.

If you want an easy midweek meal, here it is, because it doesn’t take more than 30 minutes to get it on the table. It just takes a quick saute of the onions, garlic, mushrooms and zucchini, then you add the pantry and canned ingredients and let it cook for a few minutes to blend the flavors. You may want to double he recipe and have it for lunch a couple days during the week. I enjoy it with a slice or two of crusty bread, toasted and drizzled with olive oil and garlic powder.

In the summer when the tomatoes are booming and plentiful, replacing the canned tomatoes in this recipe with slow roasted tomatoes, the flavors will be more intense.

While we are hunkered down during the quarantine, this Mediterranean meal is comfort food and so satisfying. I hope you’ll find it easy and delicious. Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

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Mediterranean Skillet

quick pantry recipe with 5 star flavor.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: artichokes, kalamata olives, mushrooms, pantry, tomatoes, white beans, zucchini
Author: Chef Kim

Ingredients

  • 1.5 cups white beans or 1 can drained
  • 1 cup artichokes, canned drained and pressed to release water
  • 1 cup zucchini chopped
  • 1 cup mushrooms sliced
  • 1/2 cup onion chopped
  • 1 garlic clove minced
  • 1.5 cup tomatoes, canned or roasted diced
  • 1/3 cup Kalamata olives sliced
  • 1 lemon, squeezed or 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp rosemary
  • 1 tsp thyme

Instructions

  • Prepare the vegetables.
  • In a large skillet, saute the onion in a little oil until soft, then add the garlic, zucchini and mushrooms, stir and cook for 5 minutes until mushrooms have softened.
  • Add the beans, artichokes, tomatoes and herbs. Stir to combine and cook for about 10 minutes until heated through completely. Add the olives.
  • Whisk the lemon juice and olive oil together and pour over the skillet mixture, tossing to coat.
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with a crusty bread and fresh green salad. Enjoy!

Slow Roasted Tomatoes

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Have you ever tried slow roasted tomatoes? Do you know how easy it is to do yourself?  I tried it for the first time in 2014 and now will roast tomatoes whenever I find an abundance of vine ripened tomatoes during the summer. However, this technique will also bring out flavor that is often lacking in tomatoes during the winter months and makes a big difference if using tomatoes in the off season.

I’m not a huge fresh tomato fan, would never eat them as a child, and now put them sparingly on salads. My husband will eat them like an apple and loves tomato sandwiches. However, I LOVE dehydrated tomatoes and roasted tomatoes. The slow roasting and drying really brings out the sweetness of the tomatoes and reduces the gel like texture of the seeds. Raw tomatoes are quite acidic but the roasting process, concentrates the natural sugars and reduces that acidic quality. bringing a depth of flavor and umami to your dishes.

For roasting tomatoes, pick tomatoes that are more fleshy like the Romas, Plumb or San Marzano. Once you have your tomatoes, wash and dry them and cut each tomato in half lengthwise. On a baking sheet, place the tomato halves, cut side facing up. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt, died thyme and oregano.

Then place the pan in a 300 degree oven on the middle rack. Bake for 90 minutes. If you’d like to continue cooking to dry out the tomatoes even more, turn down the heat to 250 degrees and cook for another hour. Roasted tomatoes will last for a week refrigerated or can be frozen and used later in soups, sauces and sautes for added flavor and umami.

Get creative and serve in various ways: on sandwiches or toast; in Eggless Quiche; chopped and stirred into hummus; sauteed with onion, garlic and peppers and added to pasta, as a topping for flatbread pizza or just as they are. I will often grab one as a snack right out of the fridge.

I hope you try it and let me know how you use them. It’s definitely a favorite when the tomatoes are abundant in summer.

2 Weeks of Meals under $99

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After writing the meal planning post earlier this month, the c-virus ramped-up and the closings, cancellations and run on toilet paper are now in full swing. As everyone is getting creative while in quarantine, with kids who are now off from school for at least a month, and adjusting to the different work environment, I thought I’d share some recipes you might like to add to your list of creative activities because you’ll actually be home and have a little more time to cook. These recipes really don’t take much time, just a little planning.

I planned a two week menu. I chose 8 meals because I like flexibility and sometimes just having a salad is enough and allowing for a take out meal to support the local restaurants is important to me. I did have a couple things in my pantry or freezer already, but most of the ingredients were purchased for a total of less than $70. That’s pretty good for 8 dinner meals and some leftovers for lunch. I typically cook for two people now, but most of these recipes are for four servings, some serving six.  Follow the links to the actual recipes.

BBQ Shrimp & Tahini Greens is a quick meal that comes together in under 30 minutes, if your shrimp is thawed.  (I eat an occasional meal with clean/wild caught animal protein, maybe once or twice a month.)

Chickpea Hot Pot and the Ginger Carrot Soup are recipes that are quick to put together because everything can go into one pot and allow time to cook. These two recipes hold well when frozen and can be made in larger batches to have one for the week and another to freeze for a later time.

Peanut Soba & Broccoli and Pad Thai take a bit of chopping and preparing vegetables, but once that’s done the cook time is minimal.

Veggie Enchilada Bake, Curry Red Lentils and Walnut Falafels take a little time but not difficult and definitely worth the time. These are great dishes to make a head and freeze as well, or double the recipes and make one meal for you and another to bless a neighbor.

If you want to limit your trips to the store during this time, pick up enough greens and salad veggies that you can eat in a week, kale lasts for more than a week if wrapped well and kept cold. Then rely on frozen vegetables: chopped spinach and kale, broccoli and cauliflower for sauteed sides or in the above recipes. Root vegetables and cabbage will last well and can be made into soups, roasted and served over boiled grains. Think about having canned tomatoes and beans on hand as well as dried lentils, rice and quinoa. Those things could carry you for two weeks at least, before having to shop again.

For breakfast, having oats and fruit combined with plant milk is delicious, or freeze or buy frozen berries and spinach to make green smoothies. If green is a turnoff, be sure to blend any greens with blueberries or cherries, for a beautiful purple shake. Check out the recipe page for more ideas.

For lunches, eat any leftovers from dinner, try different kinds of toasts, salads or even smoothies.

I know you don’t want to be spending more time in the kitchen than you need to. But I hope while you have some extra time at home, you’ll take a look at the recipes and try a few. They don’t take long, just a little planning. If you want more info about meal planning, check out THIS post.

Let me know how you like the recipes!

 

 

Pad Thai

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This recipe is a variation of one I learned in Thailand at a cooking class in Bangkok.

The tangy sauce is lovely and fresh with a squeeze of lime. I’ve substituted the fish sauce in the original recipe with coconut aminos, so there is a bit of taste difference from original Thai, but I like the flavor of both.  Using more or less variety of vegetables is totally okay. Go with what you have in the fridge.

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Pad Thai

vegan version, super tasty!
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Course: Main Course
Keyword: bean sprouts, carrots, ginger, onion, peppers, plant-based, radish, rice noodles, tofu
Servings: 4
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

  • Wok or large skillet
  • knife

Ingredients

  • 2 Tbsp coconut aminos or tamari soy sauce
  • 1 Tbsp coconut sugar
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 1/2 tsp chili flakes
  • 1 package rice noodles
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1 Tbsp ginger minced
  • 1 carrot julienne or shred
  • 1 bell pepper julienne
  • 1/4 cup red onion sliced
  • 4 oz mushrooms, crimini or shiitake sliced
  • 1 cup snap peas or bean sprouts optional or both
  • 4 oz firm tofu, press between towels and dice sub egg if you want
  • 1 Tbsp tamarind paste or fresh lime juice

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, combine the coconut aminos, sugar, tomato paste, water and chili flakes. Set a side.
  • Follow package directions for soaking the rice noodles.
  • Prepare the ingredients and have them all minced, sliced, julienned or chopped. If using egg instead of tofu, mix it together with 2 Tbsp of water in a small bowl.
  • Heat a wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Drizzle one teaspoon of sesame oil over the pan, swirl and add the egg or tofu. Scramble or sear the tofu lightly, tossing to brown the sides. remove from pan and set aside.
  • Return pan to heat, drizzle with remaining teaspoon of oil, and add the garlic and ginger. Stir and cook for 1 minute until fragrant, but not browned.
  • Add the vegetables and the aminos mixture. toss well and cook until warmed through and vegetables are still crispy. Add the tamarind or lime juice, tofu or egg and the softened rice noodles at this time and toss well. Heat thoroughly and serve immediately.

Notes

Adjust the vegetables to your liking and the amounts. You can definitely add more or less and even omit the noodles and just have a veggie filled stir fry. I hope you enjoy it.
The picture for this recipe was taken of the original shrimp pad Thai we made in the Bangkok cooking class. 
carrot soup

Ginger Carrot Soup

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This creamy satisfying soup is really easy to pull together.

Cook everything in one pot, when the carrots are nice and soft, blend using an immersion blender or transfer the soup in batches to a blender. To get a super smooth soup, you need to blend a little longer than you think, usually a full minute, scrape the container sides and another 30 seconds of blending. Using the immersion blender does not get as smooth a texture as a blender. Just FYI.

To change the flavor a little, sometimes I’ll add a sweet potato and/or a cup of orange juice or both. But it’s delicious without!

carrot soup
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Ginger Carrot Soup

Creamy with a little kick!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Soup
Cuisine: American
Keyword: carrot, ginger, plant-based, vegan
Servings: 6
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

  • dutch oven
  • knife
  • blender or immersion stick blender

Ingredients

  • 1 cup onion chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 T fresh ginger diced (adjust to liking)
  • 2 pounds carrots sliced
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 can full fat coconut milk

Instructions

  • Dry sauté or use a little oil to sauté onions until soft but not brown.
  • Add garlic and ginger and cook stirring for 1 minute.
  • Add carrots and just enough broth to cover the vegetables.
  • Bring to a boil and then turn down heat to simmer for 20-30 minutes, until carrots are tender.
  • Add the coconut milk and stir to incorporate.
  • In batches, transfer the soup to a blender and blend until completely smooth. If desired, add more broth to reach consistency you like. Or use an immersion blender in the pot.
  • Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Veggie Enchilada Bake

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Ooh the flavors that pop in this dish are soo good!

I love the combination of sweet potatoes, black beans and spinach. If I don’t have time do this this whole recipe, I just make quesadillas in my skillet with seasoned sweet potatoes, black beans and spinach and serve with guacamole.  If I do have time to put the enchiladas together, I go for it!

You can roll or you can stack layers. the layers are faster, the rolls are traditional.

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Veggie Enchilada Bake

Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: back beans, red sauce, spinach, sweet potato, tomato, tortillas
Servings: 6
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

  • knife
  • skillet
  • baking dish

Ingredients

  • 1 large onion chopped
  • 2 bell peppers chopped
  • 2 cups sweet potato bite size
  • 3 cups baby spinach
  • 2 cans black beans or three bean blend rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
  • 8-12 tortillas organic corn or flour

Red Sauce

  • 1 15oz can tomato puree or crushed
  • 11/2 cup water
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp flour or GF flour
  • 1 Tbsp cumin
  • 1 Tbsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne

Instructions

Prepare the sauce:

  • In a small pot, heat the oil over medium and add the flour, stirring into a paste.
  • Add the spices and stir to combine. Then add the water and whisk until smooth.
  • Add the tomato puree and stir to combine well. Allow to cook for 10 minutes at a simmer until thickened. Turn off the heat and set aside.

Prepare Enchiladas:

  • Saute onion until softened, then add the chopped sweet potato with a 1/4 cup of water and cover the pan to cook the potatoes. Cook for 15 minutes.
  • When potato is fork tender, add the peppers and beans. If your skillet is not large enough for all ingredients, transfer the potatoes and onions to a bowl, then continue to saute the peppers and beans.
  • Add the spinach in batches, stirring until it wilts, adding more as the spinach cooks.
  • Add 1/2 cup of the red sauce to the bean mixture and combine with the sweet potatoes and onion. Stir in the cilantro.
  • Preheat oven to 350. Lightly oil the baking pan you're going to use. Add 1/3 cup of the red sauce in the bottom of the pan and spread evenly.
  • For traditional rolls: Add 1/3 cup of the vegetable mixture to a tortilla, roll and place seam side down. Repeat this until your pan is full. Cover with red sauce.
  • To make a layered bake: overlap tortillas slightly to line the bottom of the pan. Scoop half of the vegetable mixture over the tortillas, cover with another layer of tortillas and half of the red sauce. Repeat with the remaining vegetable mixture, layer with tortillas and remaining red sauce. You will likely need more tortillas for this method.
  • Bake 20-30 minutes at 350.
  • Serve with non dairy sour cream and / or guacamole

Peanut Soba with Broccoli

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These noodles have a creamy nutty sauce that coats the noodles perfectly. This recipe is great warm or cold. I recommend buckwheat soba noodles, but you can use regular spaghetti noodles or Asian rice noodles.

In the recipe I list certain vegetables, but you can substitute almost anything, I like the texture of shredded or julienned root veggies and  purple cabbage. Try different combinations. I hope you like it.

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Peanut Soba with Broccoli

Creamy noodles with crunchy vegetables.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Chinese
Keyword: almond, broccoli, cabbage, carrot, cashew, peanut, soba
Servings: 4
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

  • Whisk
  • box shredder or food processor
  • Blender (optional)
  • pot
  • knife
  • Cutting board

Ingredients

  • 1 package Soba Noodles substitute spaghetti or rice noodles
  • 2 carrots julienned or shredded
  • 1 turnip or kohlrabi julienned or shredded
  • 1 cup purple cabbage thinly sliced or shredded
  • 1 head broccoli florets and stem peeled and shredded
  • 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
  • 1/2 cup chopped peanuts or almonds

Sauce

  • 1/2 cup hot water
  • 1/3 cup tamari, soy sauce substitute coconut aminos
  • 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 2 Tbsp ginger minced
  • 1 garlic minced
  • 1 Tbsp honey
  • 1 cup peanut or almond butter sub sunflower or cashew butter
  • 1/2 tsp hot sauce (optional)

Instructions

  • Cook noodles according to package directions. Add broccoli florets to the noodle cooking water in the last two minutes of cooking, drain and keep hot or rinse with cold water based on preference.
  • Shred or julienne the remaining vegetables and place in a large mixing bowl.
  • Combine the sauce ingredients in a blender or whisk well in a bowl to incorporate everything into a creamy sauce.
  • If you want to serve this warm, toss the noodles and sauce together in the cooking pot over medium low temperature adding vegetables and tossing well until heated through.
    To serve this room temp or chilled, toss everything together in the mixing bowl to coat, serve or chill.

 

Walnut Falafels

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I LOVE these falafels even though they take a few more minutes to put together than some of my other recipes.

Everything is pulsed in a food processor to bring the mixture together. I use a mini ice cream scoop to portion and place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet and then bake.

I serve these on a romaine leaf or piece of Naan bread with a cucumber, tomato, parsley salad and garnish with a little garlic tahini dressing.

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Walnut Falafels

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keyword: chickpea, cilantro, parsley, walnuts
Servings: 4
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1 cup walnuts
  • 3 cups chickpeas 2 cans, rinsed, drained
  • 1/4 cup onion
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup parsley chopped
  • 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper
  • Add walnuts to the food processor and pulse for 30 seconds to break them down into a meal.
  • Add remaining ingredients and pulse, stopping to scrape the sides of container, until it forms a chunky dough.
  • Use a mini scoop, or roll two tablespoons between palms to form into balls. flatten slightly on the pan.
  • Brush the top of each one with a little olive oil or use an olive oil spray. Bake for 10 minutes. Use a spatula to flip over and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until evenly browned.
  • Serve with Mediterranean salad, hummus and drizzle of garlic tahini sauce, see notes.

Notes

For the Tahini sauce: combine 1/4 cup each of tahini and water, 3 Tbsp of lemon juice and 1 minced clove of garlic and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper. 
For Mediterranean salad: combine chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, garlic and a little olive oil and salt. toss and add to the Naan or Romaine along with the falafels.

Chickpea Hot Pot

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This is a one pot meal, easy prep and then just wait for it to cook. The cook time will depend on the grain you use. Quinoa is quick cooking in about 15 minutes total, whereas, brown rice and farro will take about 30-40 minutes.

The picture is of the dish made with farro grain. Farro is an ancient Emmer wheat, so it does have gluten; however, it  has not been hybridized like traditional wheat is. Some people with sensitivities can tolerate the ancient grains with gluten (farro, spelt, einkorn) but have trouble with the traditional wheat. It is not suitable for those who have Crohn’s or a true allergy to gluten or wheat.

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Chickpea Hot Pot

Easy one pot meal. This is delicious hot or cold.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: cauliflower, chickpea, farro, grain, kale, one-pot meal, quinoa, rice
Servings: 4
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

  • knife
  • dutch oven

Ingredients

  • 1 onion chopped
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2/3 c uncooked quinoa farro, or brown rice
  • 1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
  • 4 c vegetables broth
  • ½ c orange juice
  • 1 ½ c cauliflower small florets
  • 2 c kale chopped
  • Pinch salt

Instructions

  • If you use quinoa, everything can go in together at once, except kale. In a large pot, sauté onion in olive oil until the onion softens. Add the quinoa, chickpeas, broth, orange juice and cauliflower, stir well. Bring pot to a simmer for 10 minutes.
  • If using farro or rice, after sauteing onion, add grain and 2 cups of broth and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Then stir in the orange juice, remaining broth, cauliflower, chickpeas and cook for 10 minutes.
  • Add the kale at the end and cook for another 5 minutes until wilted. If the mixture gets too thick, add a little water. Season to taste.

 

BBQ Shrimp & Tahini Greens

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This is the first recipe I’ve posted with an animal component. I focus on plant-based foods because they have the most benefit to us nutritionally. Personally, I eat primarily plant-based and will have a meal with some animal product about once or twice a month. For me, that has been working okay.

This is a quick and easy meal that comes together in under 30 minutes.

The recipe does not use a true bbq sauce, but if you have a favorite, then go ahead and sub it in.

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BBQ Shrimp and Tahini Greens

This quick and easy recipe is light and tasty, just right for a weeknight meal.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: bbq sauce, cabbage, kale, light, shrimp, tahini
Servings: 4
Author: Chef Kim

Equipment

  • colander, skillet, pot with lid, measuring cups

Ingredients

  • 1.5 lbs shrimp raw, wild caught, easy peel
  • 1/4 cup ketchup no sugar, fruit sweetened, organic
  • 1/4 cup coconut aminos substitute soy sauce or balsamic vinegar
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 4 cups cabbage chopped
  • 4 cups kale or chard chopped
  • 2 Tbsp cider or rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/4 cup tahini

Instructions

  • For the Shrimp: Thaw if needed, in a colander under running water. When thawed, peel and place into a bowl.
    In a small bowl, combine the ketchup, coconut aminos and garlic, set a side.
  • For the greens: Chop the cabbage and kale or chard. chop the onion.
    In a pot with a lid, add 2 Tbsp of water and add the onion, saute for 3 minutes until it starts to soften.
    Add the cabbage and kale and 2 Tbsp of water, cover and steam for 5 minutes.
    Remove lid, add vinegar, 1/4 cup water and tahini and stir well to coat the greens. If sauce is too thick, add 2 more tablespoons of water. Season with salt and pepper.
  • While the greens are cooking, cook the shrimp:
    Add the ketchup mixture to a skillet and warm over medium-heat, add the shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally until shrimp is just cooked through and opaque.
  • Serve Shrimp over greens. Enjoy!