Recipe for Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Horseradish

July 10, 2017 by 3 Comments

I’ve shared my thoughts on the Anna Jones cookbook A Modern Way To Cook previously, as well my favorite recipe from the book for homemade crackers. This cookbook brings together more then 150 vegetarian recipes in unique flavor combinations, and one that had caught my eye and that I was saving for summer tomato season was one for Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Horseradish.
Recipe for Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Horseradish Recipe for Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Horseradish

Lentils are super affordable and healthy, full of nutritional benefits such as high dietary fiber, lean protein, iron, folates, vitamin B6, manganese, thiamin, selenium ,and more. This makes them great for heart health, helps fight fatigue, can help with weight control since it helps you feel full, the fiber is good for digestion, and the selenium in lentils (not found in many foods) can improves immune response to infection by stimulating the production of disease-killing T-cells and helps detoxify some cancer-causing compounds in the body.
Recipe for Lentils - healthy for you and delicious

This dish is also, importantly, delicious. It is tasty with the creaminess but healthy comfort of the lentils, the cold contrasting shock of the horseradish sauce, the burst of the roasted grape tomatoes, and the crunchiness of the breadcrumbs. The only expensive ingredient is the horseradish sauce – the recipe calls for cottage cheese, but you can use silken tofu, vegan mayo, or vegan cream cheese too.
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Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe

December 19, 2016 by 7 Comments

My sister mentioned a show called My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to me, and I ended up binging on the entire first season in one weekend when I found it on Netflix (it’s also available on Hulu). If you haven’t heard of this show, it’s about a girl who runs into her childhood first love and moves to California to follow him. The episodes tend to center around her schemes how to get together with him, believing he is her destiny. You can see where the “crazy” part of this comes in, but the show did a good job in the first season of balancing the realistic fact a woman can be smart yet a bit unsound about love at the same time, fed by unrealistic messages about how true love can rationalize lots of wackiness. There are also lots of humorous musical numbers in each episode with fun lyrics. In a recent episode in the current season, the main character Rebecca makes kugel, and suddenly I wanted it.
Crazy Ex Girlfriend playing Fridays on CW and also available to stream on the CW App, Netflix, and Hulu

Kugel is a Jewish egg noodle casserole dish with a custard of eggs, milk, and cheese. It may be sweet by adding sugar and cinnamon and perhaps vanilla and fruit, but there are also versions that are savory which is what I think the character Rebecca made. They are baked in rectangular pans that are then served in squares.
This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions

This dish is my twist on this version by Farm to Table LA who followed her grandmother’s worn, faded, and well loved recipe card. It used a lot more butter, eggs, and cheese than others, but trust a recipe card that looks like that straight from any grandma. The butter helps create the crispy edges that are 40% part of the highlights of this dish, and the egg and cheese once cooled makes this hold together well.
This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions

I did add additional vegetables with sauteed onions and I had some leftover peas, but you could add any vegetable: if I had it I would have loved sauteed spinach and mushrooms too.

This recipe makes 9 servings.

Ingredients:

  • 16 ounces of wide egg noodles, cooked al dente
  • 1 stick butter
  • 5 eggs
  • 1 cup milk
  • 32 ounces small curd cottage cheese
  • 5 tablespoons of sour cream
  • 1 cup diced sautéed onions (optional)
  • 1 cup frozen peas, or you can use sauteed spinach, mushrooms, etc.  (optional)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt and more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper and more to taste
  • Grated Parmesan (optional) to serve
  • Chopped parsley to garnish (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Cook the egg noodles until al dente, drain the water and set aside. If you want, you can put in a teaspoon of butter and mix it so the noodles don’t stick to each other while you complete the other steps if not doing them simultaneously.
  2. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Put a stick of butter in a 13 x 9 pan and let it melt in the oven as it preheats.
  3. Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine the 5 eggs, 1 cup milk,  32 ounces of cottage cheese, and 5 tablespoons of sour cream. Season generously with the 1/2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper. Optionally also combine in the 1 cup of sautéed diced onions or peas. Instead of peas you could also add other savory ingredients like mushrooms and or sautéed spinach.
  4. Add the cooked egg noodles into the egg and cheese mixture and stir.
  5. Pour the noodles with eggs and cheese mixture directly over the melted butter: no need to further stir.
    This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions
  6. Cover and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes
  7. Uncover and bake for approx another 15-30 more minutes –  keep checking until you see the sides and top of the dish are golden brown and there are lots of browned edges and top, but not so dark brown it is burning.
    This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions
  8. Garnish with the chopped parsley (optional). You can serve the dish warm, but I think it’s best after an hour when the Kugel has set and is firmer. Otherwise when you cut it into the squarish pieces it will not hold together.
    This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions

Serve with salt, pepper, and grated Parmesan to top per each individual’s taste. The best pieces are the corner pieces of course since they offer more crunchy parts. It tastes fine without the grated Parmesan, but I love making it snow cheese.
This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions This Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onionsThis Savory Cheese Kugel Recipe is my take on the Jewish casserole with egg noodles, butter, eggs, and cheese, with other optional add ins like here, peas and sauteed onions

Have you ever heard of or had kugel before, or any other Jewish dish? Do you watch My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend?

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Tofu and Mushrooms A La King

December 19, 2012 by 1 Comment

I decided to try a vegetarian version of a gorgeous Chicken A La King recipe I saw on Pinterest and which originated from the blog Get off your Butt and Bake! I increased the cheeseiness from the recipe because I love cheese and it has never worked negatively for me when I have upped cheese. Nope, never ever ever. Anyway, this ends up yielding more sauce, so based on how many shells are in a package the recipe below is enough to yield enough sauce for two packages of six shells, or approximately six people if everyone has two puffs each along with another  side.

It is very rich, so would be wonderful to paid with another dish that has some acid to cut through this such as a salad with a citrus vinaigrette. I chose to use tofu and mushrooms, but having a variety of color and shapes in vegetables you choose, such as sliced carrots, peas, diced peppers, etc could make this really visually stunning. You could put anything into this sauce. Really, seriously, anything. This sauce is so good.

Ingredients:

  • 2 package of puff pastry shells (6 in a package).
  • 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water, beat together
  • 1/3 cup of butter for the sauce
  • 8 ounces of sliced cremini mushrooms
  • Optionally, add in any other vegetables, such as peas, carrots, etc.
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of chopped dill
  • 1/2 teaspoon of  chopped parsley
  • 3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
  • 2 cups milk
  • 12 oz (3 cups) of shredded cheddar cheese- I used a mild cheddar which is also why I upped the amount
  • 1 extra firm tofu, diced
  • 1/2 teaspoon diced chives

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Beat together 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water. On parchment paper or foil on a baking sheet, lay out the thawed puff pastry shells. Beat together 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of water, and brush the tops with the egg and water mixture. Per the instructions on the package, bake the puff pastry for 20 minutes. After that time, remove the top of the pastry from the pan using a fork to help cut it out and place aside, and then  bake the shell portion for another 5 minutes or so just to make sure they are cooked through. Baking these shells could be done while preparing the sauce.
    Tofu and Mushrooms A La King Tofu and Mushrooms A La King
  2. Meanwhile, optionally prep and cook any additional vegetables (microwave, sautee, or steam them, or however you want to cook the veggies. I considered cooking the mushrooms sauteed in a butter sauce, but then decided since they were so fresh to not cook my tofu or mushrooms at all.
    Tofu and Mushrooms A La King
  3. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter, and then add the cornstarch water mixture, broth, milk, and all your seasonings of salt, pepper, dill parsley, pepper, onion powder, and sugar. You can be creative with the seasonings to suit your taste and the flavor of the broth you used. Stir until the sauce has all mixed and thickened so that if you draw a line on the back of your stirring spoon, holding it vertically the sauce should not drip and cross the line.
    Tofu and Mushrooms A La King Tofu and Mushrooms A La King Tofu and Mushrooms A La King
  4. Turn the heat to low, and make sure the sauce does not boil. Add in the grated cheese 1/2 at a time, stirring as the cheese melts.
    Tofu and Mushrooms A La King Tofu and Mushrooms A La King
  5. Combine the mushrooms and diced tofu now into the sauce. I didn’t need to cook my tofu and mushrooms, but obviously you are using meat it has to be cooked beforehand. Stir everything to mix.
    Tofu and Mushrooms A La King Tofu and Mushrooms A La King
  6. Plating time! This was the hardest part for me- spilling little drops of sauce from the pot to the plate! Pour with a spoon the mixture into the puff pastry shells, top with a little bit more cheese if you’d like, but I topped mine with some fresh chopped chives.
    Tofu and Mushrooms A La King  Tofu and Mushrooms A La King Tofu and Mushrooms A La King

This happens to have been done with puff pastry shells, but you can also use any kind of carb you want- toast, biscuits, english muffins, croissants, rice, pasta… Yum. I love how this particular meal plates in a more fancy fashion that you could have at a dinner party, or just for a romantic evening thanks to the pastry shells. As mentioned since you can fold anything into this sauce, you can use any leftovers you would like such as leftover turkey or ham or chicken, etc.

Tofu and Mushrooms A La KingTofu and Mushrooms A La King

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