by betsy

Warm Up with Vegan Sage-Scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash

This recipe is a favorite among my recipes on Cookstr (the World’s No. 1 Collection of Cookbook Recipes Online!).

And here, in VA Beach, the weather has finally turned cool, so warming up with my Vegan Sage-Scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash from The Blooming Platter Cookbook is on the menu.  A brand new butternut squash from a trip to the farmers’ market last weekend awaits!

Below I offer a little sneak preview of the recipe, one of several holiday “gifts” I’ll be offering this month.  Enjoy!

Sage-scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash

Yield: 4 servings

This light recipe places golden squash center stage and uses just enough pasta to hold the dish together. I recommend using whole wheat pasta, as its nuttiness contributes significantly to the distinctive flavor of this dish.

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices

Sea salt

1 cup vegetable stock

1 yellow onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices

1/4 cup white wine

1 tablespoon maple syrup

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons rubbed sage

4 ounces whole wheat fettuccine (or pasta of choice)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Freshly ground black pepper

Fresh sage leaves, optional

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash, sprinkle with salt, and cook for 5 minutes. Don’t worry if the squash starts to break apart. Add the vegetable stock and cook, still stirring gently until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 7 minutes.

2. Add the onion and season with a little more salt. Cook until the onion begins to soften, 3 minutes. Add the wine, and cook until moisture is almost evaporated and mixture is caramelized. Stir in the maple syrup, vinegar, and sage. Keep warm.

3. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and return it to the hot pot. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste; toss to combine. Add the vegetable mixture to the pasta and toss again to combine. Serve hot garnished with fresh sage leaves, if using.

For 150+ more seasonal specialties, including ones appropriate for the holidays, I invite you to check out my cookbook.  A great holiday present, it’s the gift that gives all year long!

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by betsy

The Blooming Platter is on Cookstr! It’s the World’s #1 Collection of Cookbook Recipes Online!

The Blooming Platter is honored to be included on Cookstr, which really is the world’s #1 collection of cookbook recipes online!

Here’s what the creators say about Cookstr:

“Cookstr’s mission is to organize the world‘s best cookbooks and recipes and make them universally accessible.

We are setting the standard for innovation in the delivery of 100% trusted, tested, recipes to home cooks around the world. Our online recipe library offers thousands of recipes by hundreds of the top chefs and cookbook authors, that are free for everyone on Cookstr.com. This year alone, Cookstr.com powered recipe searches in over 20,000 cities and 200 countries!”

I invite you to check out The Blooming Platter Cookbook page by clicking here.  You’ll find six recipes from the book, complete with full color photographs.  My Sage-Scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash appears to be a big favorite among Cookstr members, and it is certainly one of mine!

If you like what you see, I hope you might consider ordering a copy or two of The Blooming Platter Cookbook for holiday gift-giving–it’s the gift that lasts all year, year after year.

And while you’re at it, I’ll be you’ll want to join Cookstr!

 

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by betsy

Restaurant Redux: Ruth’s Chris Tempura Onion Ring Cups with “Creamed” Kale

Okay, I know I have some explaining to do…Ruth’s Chris Steak House?

Well, you see, after we went to the movies one night this past December, my husband Joe and I headed over to a wine bar we like, only to find it was closed for a private holiday party.  Not wanting to drive anywhere else, we considered our options and chose nearby Ruth’s Chris, opting to dine in their attractive bar with its dark, gleamy and very appealing “men’s club” aesthetic.

Unfortunately, my husband isn’t a vegan–or even a vegetarian–so ordering was no problem for him.  However, for me, I think there were only two choices on the menu: tempura-battered onion rings and asparagus.  But since seasonal cooking and eating is my thing, I just couldn’t do asparagus in December.  Fortunately, I’d had a healthy snack before the movie, so we chose to split the onion rings which the bartender confirmed were vegan (a soda water and flour batter) after checking with the kitchen.

I have never seen such colossal rings in my life.  A mere  five came in an order, but I could only eat two and Joe one.  Because they were so substantial, I couldn’t bear not to bring the last two home.  But I wasn’t in the mood for a couple of honkin’ onion rings the next day, so I decided to do a “Restaurant Redux” inspired by my husband’s side dish of creamed spinach which I remember loving at  Ruth’s Chris during my vegetarian days in Nashville.

The rings are so tall that they make almost a cup form.  And the farmer’s market had gorgeous heads of kale that they had just cut, so I decided to fill the onion ring cups with “Creamed” Kale instead of spinach.  With half a can of leftover white beans in the fridge, I decided to make the “cream” out of the beans, nutritional yeast, and unsweetened soy milk.

The result put less emphasis on the cream and more on the greens, but was still silky, luscious and reminiscent of the Ruth’s Chris specialty. I simply heated the onion ring cups, filled them with the “Creamed” Kale, and served them surrounded by Ruth’s Chris’s special sauce which has a tangy sweet-hot Asian flare.

Even if you don’t happen to have onion rings-on-steroids on-hand, the filling is delicious on its own.

With this recipe, you can enjoy a little taste of Ruth’s Chris without all the death and dying.

Yield: 4 servings

4 Ruth’s Chris onion rings (they’re about 2 inches wide/tall!)

1/2 can (a scant cup) white beans, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

Pinch sea salt

Pinch grated nutmeg (preferably fresh-grated)

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 cups lightly packed finely chopped kale (I remove the stems and then use a food processor for this task)

Pinch sea salt

Pinch garlic powder

Approximately 4 tablespoons Ruth’s Chris special Asian sauce served with their Tempura Onion Rings (or a prepared Asian chili sauce)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place onion rings on a terracotta stone or an oiled or Silpat-lined baking sheet and heat for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine beans, nutritional yeast, soy milk, salt, and nutmeg in a food processor and process until smooth.  Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high.  Add kale and a pinch of salt and garlic powder, and saute for about 5 minutes or until tender, but still bright green.  Reduce heat to medium and stir in bean mixture.  Heat, stirring continually, for about a minute or until “cream” is heated through.  Spoon kale immediately into the onion ring cups and serve with the sauce drizzled around the onion rings and over the kale.   Note:  I actually used this much filling for two onion rings because that’s all I had, but it would fill four of them generously.

For 150+ additional seasonal recipes for someone on your holiday list, I invite you to consider The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.

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by betsy

Vegan Smoky Nooch-Roasted Pumpkin Seeds–THE Best Snack with a Glass of Wine or to Give as a Holiday or Hostess Gift

It would be beyond selfish not to share my super-simple, absolutely addicting new snack with you asap!

You see, I LOVE popcorn–lightly buttered (with vegan Earth Balance)–and sprinkled with nutritional yeast (nooch).  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.  You know nooch, yes?  It has a rich, cheesy flavor that can take on almost mushroomy notes in, say, a pot pie.  A favorite recipe I make starts with a roux made of toasted flour, nooch and vegetable oil, and its aroma while cooking…oh my-heavenly.  But I digress.

One day, craving a big healthy infusion of nooch, but not having any popcorn on hand, my eyes lit on Trader Joe’s roasted and lightly salted  pepitas (pumpkin seeds) in the pantry.  A mere 5 minutes later, I was munching on the most delicious snack to enjoy with a glass of white wine.  They are also delish sprinkled on a whole range of other dishes.  And poured up into little jars, they make very festive gifts.

Can I just tell you how many times I have burned my mouth on this snack because I simply couldn’t wait?  Sad, I know.  But I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, only with a little more self-control!

Yield: 1 cup

1 tablespoons vegan butter (I like Earth Balance)

*1 cup roasted and lightly salted pepitas (I use Trader Joe’s brand)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (Red Star brand contains B12)

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

Pinch sea salt

Melt butter in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pumpkin seeds and toast, stirring frequently, for 3 minutes.  Sprinkle with nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and smoked paprika, and toast, stirring constantly, for about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until nutritional yeast coating is golden and lightly toasted.  The buttery yeast may smoke a little while toasting, so just watch the color and avoid overcooking.  Remove the pan from the heat, stir in just a pinch of salt, and pour into a small bowl to cool.

Note:  Feel free to try it with pumpkin seeds removed from a fresh pumpkin, but I love the green color and narrow size of the variety Trader Joe’s sells and have never seen them in any pumpkin I have ever purchased.  Since Trader’s brand is already roasted, you’ll probably need to toast tfresh dried pumpkin seeds longer than my recipe calls for.

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by betsy

Food Network Magazine’s Food Truck Contest: The Zooming Platter

Darn!  I didn’t win.

Last summer, I entered this competition to design a hypothetical food truck and menu because as soon as I read about it in the Food Network Magazine, “The Zooming Platter” leaped into my mind.

The winners were announced in this month’s magazine and they were quite clever.   But, more to the point, none of them were vegan or even vegetarian.

Has anyone noticed–or does it go without saying–that the Food Network is not only not terribly supportive of plant-based diets (have they ever even presented a vegetarian special?), but that many of their celebrity chefs–talented and personable though they may be–seem a bit cavalier in regard to animal slaughter?

Oh, well.  Honk if you love The Zooming Platter!

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by betsy

Blooming Platter Cookbook Author a Featured Guest on PRN’s “It’s All About Food”

Yesterday, it was my distinct honor and heck of a lot of fun to be one of two featured guests on Caryn Hartglass’s super-informative and highly conversational internet radio program, “It’s All About Food,” on PRN (Progressive Radio Network) to talk about The Blooming Platter Cookbook and much, much more.

Just click here to access the program.

And while you’re on the site, stay awhile and poke around. You’ll find lots to hold your attention.  Caryn’s nonprofit “REAL” (Responible Eating and Living) was chosen by VegNews Magazine as one of the top ten nonprofits we all need to know about in 2011.  After one visit, you’ll see why!

Congrats, Caryn, on yet another accomplishment! (Caryn is one impressive gal.  Check out her bio here.)

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by betsy

Give the Gift that Lasts All Year–The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes!

Move over “Black Friday;” some of us favor “Green” when it comes to our holiday shopping!

And if you happen to be one of those people–and I suspect you are–perhaps the blooming platter cookbook would be perfect for someone on your list.

TBPC is truly a gift that lasts all year–year after year– with what has been called “Four Seasons of Yum!”

 

Note: for local residents, I’ll be signing books at the Eastern Shore Chapel Parish Book Store holiday open house this Saturday, December 3, 10 a.m. to noon.  Please join us!

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by betsy

Our Blooming Thanksgiving Platter–Third Up: Barley with Butterut Squash and Baby Bellas

For this addition to our five-star Thanksgiving feast, I turned to star chef, Emeril Legasse. 

In a recent culinary magazine, his recipe for a barley, mushroom, and squash risotto made in a slow cooker really appealed to me.  I gave my slow cooker away age ago–I just don’t enjoy cooking that way–but I loved his concept.  So I simply made some quick-cooking barley and folded in cubed and sauteed butternut squash and baby bellas whose flavor I deepened with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.  It was a hit and it made a ton, so I plan to add broth and make soup with the leftovers.  

Minced rosemary would be a nice addition, but I was flavoring the gravy with rosemary, so I didn’t include and it is still super tasty.   Similarly, since our dressing included sauteed onion, I didn’t add, but sauteed onion and garlic would be nice, though my stripped down version was delicious and satisfying.

Yield: 16 servings (when served with a couple of other side dishes and a main dish)

4 cups vegetable broth or stock

Pinch sea salt

2 cups quick cooking barley

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 butternut squash about 8 inches long, seeds, membrane, and peel removed; cut ino 1/2 inch pieces

Pinch of sea salt

1 pound baby bella mushrooms, sliced about 1/4-inch thick (I purchased them pre-sliced from Trader Joe’s)

Approximately 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

In a 2-quart saucepan, bring the broth or stock and a pinch of salt to a simmer.  Stir in the quick cooking barley, and simmer, loosely covered, about 12 minutes or until tender and water is evaporated.  Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a cast iron skillet over medium-high.  Add squash and a pinch of salt and saute, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until tender and just beginning to develop some color.  Lower heat if necessary to prevent from sticking.  Add mushrooms and continue sauteeing and stirring for about 3 minutes or until tender.  Turn off heat and stir in nutritional yeast.  Spoon cooked barley into a large bowl, add vegetables, and gently stir to combine.  Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper if desired.  Transfer to a serving bowl and serve immediately.  If you make the dish well in advance of serving, spoon it into an oiled heat-proof serving dish, cool, cover, and refrigerate until about an hour and a half before serving time. Remove the dish from the refrigerator about an hour before serving.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat barley mixture, covered, for 20-30 minutes or until lheated through.  Serve immediately.

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by betsy

Our Blooming Thanksgiving Platter–Second Up: Vegan Apple-Roasted Pecan-Sage Stuffing

On a recent Sunday, listening to our outstanding local public radio station, WHRV, announcer and jazz musician, Jae Sinnett, host of “Sinnet in Session,” shared his recipe–as he frequently does, for his show follows “Splendid Table” in their line-up–for an apple-pecan stuffing.  I didn’t write the recipe down, since I was driving; rather I just used it for inspiration, thinking it sounded perfect for our Thanksgiving feast.  To Jae’s basic recipe, I added cornbread to the bread base, as our family has always used a combination for what we think is the best taste and texture.  I also used roasted pecans–and a lot of them!–for depth of flavor.

Yield: 10-12 servings (when served with a couple of other side dishes)

1-8 inch pan of cornbread, cooked and cooled

About 10 ounces of multi-grain bread

1 pound roasted and lightly salted pecan pieces or halves (I purchased them already roasted and salted and Trader Joe’s; if using halves, break them with your fingers as you add to the stuffing); reserve a few to sprinkle on the top if desired

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large yellow onion, but into 1/4-inch dice

About 3 stalks of celery, trimmed, and cut lengthwise into 4 strips and then cut crosswise ino 1/4-inch pieces

2 sweet-tart apples (I used an apple grown here in Virginia), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/4 inch pieces

Approximately 2 teaspoons of rubbed sage or to taste

Vegetable broth or stock, added a little at a time until mixture is very moist but holds its shape and is not soggy (this will take at least 2 cups, so start with that amount)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Photo Credit: SoupAddict.com

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Crumble cornbread into a large mixing bowl.  Tear bread into bite-size pieces into the same bowl and toss gently to combine.   In a large cast iron skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high.  Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes.  Add celery, and continue sauteeing and stirring for about 2 minutes.  Add the apple and do the same for about 3 minutes.  All vegetables should be tender, but still hold their shape.  Add them to the breads in the large mixing bowl along with the sage, and toss gently to combine.  Begin adding broth or stock, stirring and “fluffing” with a fork until desired consistency is reached.   Taste to check for seasoning, and stir in salt, pepper, and sage as needed.   Oil a 9 x 13-inch glass or ceramic dish and spoon in stuffing without packing it down.  Sprinkle with reserved pecan halves if desired.  Bake just until heated through, about 25 to 30 minutes.  Cover with foil if the top appears to be drying out during the baking process.    Serve immediately.  If you want to prepare earlier in the day and reheat before serving, simply bake for about 20 minutes, cool, cover, and refrigerate.  About an hour and a half before serving, remove the dish from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for an hour.  Then reheat, covered, in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or just until heated through.

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by betsy

What Bloomed on Our Platters for Vegan Thanksgiving 2011–First Up: Vegan Roasted Pumpkin with Pepita and Sage Pesto

Thanksgiving 2011 Hosts: Betsy & Joe DiJulio

This Thanksgiving was surely one of the best in recent memory, if a bit bittersweet.

In 1991, the year after my husband and I got married and moved to Virginia, we began a tradition of hosting the Thanksgiving celebration for both of our families.  Over the ensuing two decades, our families changed and grew with everyone welcome, though busy lives, blended families, and family responsibilities to aging relatives meant that not everyone could come every year.  However, some years, we happily picked up an aunt or two and a good family friend.  More recently, both Joe’s and my mothers experienced increasing health issues to the point that his couldn’t travel for the last two years and mine couldn’t travel last year, so we went to our respective homes for the holidays in 2010.  Sadly, Joe’s mother passed away last April (and had been predeceased a few years by his father), but my mother rebounded.  So this year, nine of our clan once again gathered here to revive the tradition.

It was a joyful day of cooking and visiting.   Our niece Gabriella and Joe’s Aunt Cathy stayed with us, with everyone else in beachfront hotels.  Before everybody woke and/or came over, I sprung out of bed and cleaned out our kitchen and garage refrigerators so we would have a clean slate.   The result was two sparkling fridges and an entire dishwasher load of food storage cartons.   Cathy dried every single one of them (I don’t run the heated dry cycle on the fridge to save energy) and she somehow kept up with the food prep dishes and tools all day, as I hand wash a lot of them either because they are special or because they will be reused.

 

Minnie Quickly Had Mom Trained

With the great fridge clean-out and a nice dog walk with Gab and Cathy under our belts, my parents and sister arrived and we all eased into a nice leisurely five hours of food preparation.  Joe and his sisters went to the gym, stopped by to say “hi,” and then headed to their hotel suite, complete with kitchen, to see about their contributions, returning around 4 p.m. with them in tow for the feast.

Meanwhile, at home, our house guests and my family were wonderfully helpful and conversant kitchen companions, easily moving in and out to offer help as needed.  And plenty was needed, as the only preparation my sister and I had done the day before was to make the dessert–Cranberry Crunch, a longtime family favorite–and a pan of cornbread for the dressing.  My dad turned out to be the ace pumpkin cleaner and peeler.  Doing that for a crowd is a bit of a chore, but was so much more enjoyable with my papa.

When we sat down to dinner my husband said he was surprised that there was nothing green on the menu.  He was right: there were no green vegetables!  But that was somewhat by design, as there simply wasn’t anything other than collards and broccoli at my go-to farmer’s market, and I didn’t have a particular hankerin’ for either.  But the market did have beautiful pumpkins and butternut squash, so I served both. 

Let’s begin with a recipe I’ve featured here on The Blooming Platter before:  Roasted Pumpkin with Pepita and Sage Pesto.  It is loved by many, including former pumpkin haters.  And, after introducing it to our Thanksgiving guests this year, it has even more fans.  Simply click on the link to access the recipe.  Note that, for Thanksgiving, I used six small striped pumpkins about 6 inches in diameter (see photo below) instead of a Turk’s Turban Squash and doubled the pesto recipe to serve 10 to 12 people (with other side dishes).  But we prepared the pumpkins the same way: roasting them for a little bit before removing the seeds, pulp, and peel; cutting it into chunks; and then roasting the chunks again for 17-20 minutes, or 8-10 minutes on each of two sides.

These Beauties Are as Tasty as They Are Pretty

Be sure to check out my three remaining Thanksgiving posts for my Apple-Roasted Pecan Dressing and Barley with Sauteed Butternut Squash and Baby Bellas plus my sister-in-law’s Cranberry-Orange Relish with Ginger and Walnuts and Aunt Cathy’s Caponata.

And for even more seasonal specialties, I hope you will check out The Blooming Platter Cookbook, great for everyone on your holiday gift list.

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