Chili Crusted Scallops

Um yeah. This dinner is epic. I've made it countless times - it's from a certain diet plan that hall not be named... but includes the counting of points. I probably won't get arrested for posting it - but whatevs. I'll change a few things so that I can't get into trouble.

3 Tbsp lemon or lime juice
2 tsp chile powder (not cayenne like I mistakenly read... whoops!)
1 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp Na++
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 pound scallops
1 zucchini - sliced
1 summer squash - sliced

Pre-heat your broiler.

Put everything up to the scallops in a small saucepan - stir with a fork over medium heat for a minute or two so that it gets nice and thickened. Add the scallops to the saucepan and cover in delicious sauce. Get out your favorite baking sheet and spray with some cooking spray.

Stack the squash and zucchini on one side of the pan, and place the scallops and their delicious chile sauce on the other. Broil for 3 minutes - then flip the scallops and broil for 3 minutes on the other. Look at that - 6 minutes and you're done! Maybe 10 minutes total and you've got dinner.



I served with some roasted sweet potato wedges (sweet potato sticks, 1 tsp olive oil, rosemary, Na++ and pepper and 425 degrees for about a half an hour) and kale chips kale chips (torn kale, olive oil spray, 1 tsp balsamic, Na++ and pepper 325 20 minutes).

Fish sandwiches

The other day I came home late and completely frazzled after my advisor requested a draft of my ENTIRE dissertation on May 4th. I figured I would send him a section at a time, but no - I need to have the whole thing done by then- which is pretty daunting. I have my chapters done, and am nearing the halfway point of my intro- which means I have the entire discussion section and all the formatting to do. FUN!

My husband usually asks "what are WE going to do about dinner" the second I walk through the door if by chance I come home late (which is often). I love his use of "we." As if he is part of some dinner-making team. What he actually means when he asks this is: "when the hell are you going to make something for me woman? I am incapable of making anything myself let alone you. Or eating a snack. that would be too difficult as well. Instead I waited until now, 8pm, to accost you for food as soon as you walk through the door. Feed me or I will be cranky, much like a small child."

Well, something on my face (and perhaps the fact I was shaking with rage) tipped him off that I would not be making dinner. when he opened his mouth to ask his usually question, he paused, and looked frightened. Instead he said "I was waiting for you to come home to show me the recipe you were going to use for dinner, because I was going to make it."

Nicely played husband, nicely played.

We continued on the fish kick and made THESE fish sandwiches from How Sweet it Is. Good choice. The only thing I did was make the kale chips, and I burnt them. I am not going into the kitchen until the weekend, so we'll see how he eats tonight!



Nevermind, I did make some summer squash- which I sauteed in olive oil and oregano, and then added some goat cheese too when it was done. That- I didn't burn.

I'm eating fish again

Last weekend when our friends came to town, I had fish at various times. I tend to eat fish with guests or when out to dinner because it is difficult to always eat vegetarian out (like at an oyster roast) and I hate being a pain in the butt by making people plan around me. I generally don't eat fish very often because when I did it would upset my stomach quite a bit, as I hadn't eaten meat in almost 2 years now.

Well, all of the fish I enjoyed last weekend didn't bother me at all - and it all tasted great. My husband really wants nothing in the world but for me to eat meat again. Well, I will not eat anything else besides fish - but I though adding fish into my diet would make him really happy.

So- Friday night I told him I had a surprise for him, and drove him to Fresh Market and told him we'd be eating fish at home again and he could pick out whatever he wanted. Like the butthead that he is, he acted like my surprise sucked and told me I hyped it up too much and he was expecting something "awesome." In reality, all that I said was that I had a surpise for him. Apparently uttering that sentence was too much "hype," and he probably expected me to take him to NHL tryouts or a Rudy-marathon at a local bar with free beer on tap.

No more surprises for that guy.

The first fish dinner I cooked was some simple Chile-Spiced tilapia with some Strawberry Mango Basil Salsa from How Sweet it Is. It was really good - except for the fact that they only gave us one filet of tilapia to split, thouygh I clearly said I wanted 2. Oh well, we each got a crab cake also.

I served it with my favorite tomatoes (cherry tomatoes sauteed in olive oil for 10 minutes until nice and soft) and KALE CHIPS.

And my husband... he didn't even say thank you! Maybe he needs some more tofu and art shows instead of fish and hockey games.

Catching up

I haven't had much time to cook and subsequently blog for a bit now. I have a study in full swing, manuscript edits, I am starting to look for and apply for post docs... and yeah I guess that's about it. So- here is a quick recap of some stuff I have made over teh past week or two and have failed to share.

1) Lemon Risotto
My friend featured this RISOTTO on her blog Cooking for Dan. I had to make it since I pledged to make about every recipe she has made so far - they all look wonderful. This recipe was simple and delicious. It made enough for an army so I brought some to work to share with my friends/colleagues. One called it the best thing they had ever eaten, the other said it was too salty for their taste and mixed it in with venison chili. One of these individuals will never get any home cooked treats from me ever again. My opinion was that it was INCREDIBLE. I couldn't stop thinking about it after the first night and had some immediately the next night with a big old spinach and beet salad :-) For the recipe follow the link above - or you can be lazy and click here (I can't believe I am enabling this laziness - really).


That little glass by the way is not booze as you might expect - but rather my salad dressing for the night: olive oil, chardonnay, balsamic vinaigrette, and some special herbs! But yes, that is wine.




2) Kale and Sweet Potato Skillet
I've made this once before and I loved it then. From my favorite cookbook Vegan Express by Nava Atlas. It's super simple and chock full of goodness.

The recipe:
2 medium sweet potatoes (microwaved until soft)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1.5 Tbsp soy sauce
One 8 oz. package tempeh - cut into 1.4 inch slices
1 bunch kale torn into small pieces, ribs removed
4 garlic cloves
15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp curry paste dissolved in a but of warm water
2 tsp curry powder (or more if you love curry)
2 scallions minced
cashews (optional if you can spare the calories... I can't)

When potatoes are cool enough to handle, peel and chop. Add 1 Tbsp oil and soy sauce to pan - add tempeh and saute 5-7 minutes. Set aside. Sir fry garlic in remaining oil until fragrant, add kale, 1/2 cup H20, tomatoes, curry powder, and paste. Cook for 10 minutes covered. Stir in scallions, (and cashews if using) and cook 2-3 minutes longer. DONE. Nutritious and FAST.



3) Vegetable Pot Pie
My friend Nick got this recipe from his mother - and he has made it twice while we have been over. It is seriously so good I can't even stand it. The crust is amazing, the addition of tofu baked with soy sauce to the filling is ingenious. You can check out the recipe HERE on the site Gale's Recipe Collection. This is phenomenal - please make it! I forgot to take a picture of it all as one piece, so here is one wonderful serving. Even carnivorous Dave loved it.



4) Butternut Squash Enchiladas
I had a little butternut squash I wanted to use to make something different- and found this recipe on the Vegetarian Times site. OH MY GOD. These turned out INCREDIBLY. I can't even say it enough. Unfortunately there is a lot of hands-on time, making this more of a Sunday meal (like it was for us). Unfortunately, they were so good that I only got to eat 1... my husband ate all of them! I didn't even get to take a picture of them because I had to go to work, and by this morning they were all gone! The website doesn't have a picture either - I'm sorry! But if you need a knock-their socks off recipe - this is it. The ingredient list is short and the prep time mostly accounts for roasting the squash.

I've never asked you to trust me blindly and make something before - but do it, please.

The Recipe
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 butternut squash (11/2 lb.), halved and seeded
1 medium onion, diced (1 cup)
1–2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, drained and diced, plus 1 Tbs. sauce
1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp. )
3 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 green onions, chopped (1/3 cup)
1 16-oz. can enchilada sauce
8 whole-wheat or corn tortillas
1 cup shredded reduced-fat Cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°F. Place squash cut-side down on baking sheet. Roast 45 minutes, or until soft. Cool until easy to handle. Scoop squash into bowl, and mash. Heat oil in saucepan, add onion and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until soft. Add chipotle, adobo sauce, and garlic. Cook 1 minute, stirring often. Stir in mashed squash, cream cheese, cumin, and nutmeg. Cook 3 minutes more, or until heated through. Remove from heat, and fold in green onions.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spread 1 cup enchilada sauce over bottom of 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Lay tortillas on baking sheet, and warm 3 minutes in oven to soften. Divide filling among tortillas, and roll loosely. Place filled, rolled tortillas in baking dish. Top with remaining enchilada sauce and Cheddar cheese. Bake 30 minutes, or until top begins to brown and sauce is bubbly.

5) Tofu Pesto Alfredo Sauce

This was a creation I made on the spot tonight as something to top my cheese tortellini with. I had seen some recipes for vegan alfredo, and figured I would give it a WHIRL. This was not vegan as I added some parmesan - but I figured the tortellini already had cheese in them so I wasn't doing any extra damage! The recipe is an approximation because I just threw this together- but it was GREAT. Even husband agreed!

The recipe:

1 container silken tofu

about 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, or to taste

1 big Tbsp earth balance margarine

2 Tbsp pesto

salt and pepper

All you do is whirl this in a food processor

And then add to whatever you are covering in it. I added some wilted spinach and chopped sun dried tomatoes to garnish the pasta because it sounded good. I was right - it was great. I ate it in about .2 seconds flat - so I am still massively full.

Okay - I guess that's about it! Now I can catch up on my reading! :-)

Pasta with Greens and Tomatoes

I saw this post on my sister in law's blog, Fried Ice and Donut Holes and knew that I wanted it right away. The recipe is a breeze, and came together in no time - it's from the awesome cookbook, Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers. We added asparagus (since I haven't had time to cook the veggies I bought at the farmer's market have just been sitting there in my fridge waiting for Dave to stop eating Papa John's pizza and chicken breasts with no sides). Dave saw some Tofurkey in the fridge and requested I add that as well, so I added two links and it was a nice protein addition.

12 ounces Whole Wheat Pasta ( I used brown rice pasta which wasn't bad at all)
1 medium head Escarole or Curly Endive ( I used Kale)
1/2 bunch asparagus
2 links Tofurkey Sausage - cut into cute little coins
5 Garlic Cloves, minced
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1 can (28 ounces) Diced Tomatoes (I used two chopped tomatoes)
1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Dried Rosemary
Grated Parmesan Cheese
Chopped Olives, optional ( I didn't have any)


Saute garlic in oil, add greens and asparagus and cook until wilted/soft. Add Sausage and brown. Add tomatoes and cook- add herbs and saute until fragrant. Garnish with cheese and olives if you have them.

Tempeh and Temperature intolerance

It is HOT outside. Seriously. The heat index today was 100. Growing up in WNY - summers didn't get so warm. I remember lifeguarding in August wearing jogging pants and a hoodie. Well, those days do not exist here until December. Once it hits over 90 degrees- I whine. I know I do, and I feel bad that people have to listen to me, BUT DAMN IT IT'S HOT.

Anyway - I got home at a reasonable time today to do some "work" (read: writing. Blah). I made some for real rabbit food today - mashed cauliflower and kale with garlic chips. I threw some tempeh in after I sauteed the kale in sesame oil - even though I said I would have no more soy today. I couldn't help it, it sounded good. I made some shiitake miso gravy and smothered that all over the tempeh and cauliflower. Seriously - if you haven't made it - you have to try it. Just steam a head for 15 minutes, then chuck it in your food processor with some earth balance/silk creamer/salt and pepper or whatever you so choose as an embellishment. It was AWESOME. I also ate a lot of Kale. Go veggies. BUT I am still sweaty and gross and don't think I have any trash tv to watch tonight.

Am I half way done with my wine you may ask? No, that's actually a correct serving. Each bottle should yield 6 glasses. Try answering some questions on your current drinking now - alcoholic.

The wine is a Shelton riesling. I like it because it's more flavorful than a typical riesling, and much heavier on the tongue/palette, and almost tastes effervescent. Pretty good for a monster winery.