Cucumber Roll ups

January 30, 2017 by 7 Comments

I’m a sucker for all those cheesy and fried appetizers I’ve been seeing especially with Superbowl Sunday coming up this weekend. I wanted to share an option like these Cucumber Roll Ups that are easy to do that offers a healthy option and can also feed those who are gluten free, vegetarian, even vegan.
Slice cucumbers the long way to make cucumber roll ups for a healthy, vegetarian, gluten free bunch of bites for a party Slice cucumbers the long way to make cucumber roll ups for a healthy, vegetarian, gluten free bunch of bites for a party

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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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Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers

December 12, 2016 by 4 Comments

I think these appetizers of Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers are adorable because of the way you can get multiple colors with the orange, yellow and red which are so cheerful, and then presentation wise the way they stand up in little rows or formations so bravely. These are vegetarian but can be made vegan if instead of feta and cream cheese you use Tofutti or some other vegan cream cheese.
Recipe for Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers, easy peasy and are adorable because of the way you can get multiple colors with the orange, yellow and red which are so cheerful, and then presentation wise the way they stand up in little rows or formations so bravely

It does take a little time to stuff these, but I just did it sitting on the couch while watching Gilmore Girls. You can go faster if you pipe these into the peppers, but pushing them in with a little butter knife like I did will also do the trick.

These are perfect for a holiday gathering or potluck as you can just get a 1-2 pound bag of these and with approximately a pepper person get your lil cheese stuffed mini peppers soldiers in line or in wreath or tree formation or whatever you’d like! A 1 pound bag yields about 15 or so mini peppers, at least it did for me.
Recipe for Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers, easy peasy and are adorable because of the way you can get multiple colors with the orange, yellow and red which are so cheerful, and then presentation wise the way they stand up in little rows or formations so bravely

Ingredients:

  • 1 16 ounce bag of mini sweet peppers
  • 5 ounces of fresh, soft feta cheese or alternatively goat cheese
  • 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • 4 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
  • 3 cloves worth of minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • salt, to taste
  • ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Cut off top about 1/2 inch from the stem to make the hat, and also cut at the bottom about about 1/2 an inch so the pepper can stand upright. Remove the seeds from the top and inside the pepper if any (most of the seeds will be at the stem), and rinse and dry the peppers.
  2. As the peppers are finishing drying, in a mixing bowl combine the 5 ounces of fresh soft feta cheese, the 8 ounces of softened room temperature cream cheese, the finely chopped 4 tablespoons of chives, the 3 cloves worth of minced garlic, teaspoon of red pepper flakes, tablespoon of olive oil, teaspoon of lemon juice. Mix well until everything is a smooth creamy texture

    Recipe for Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers, easy peasy as you combine the feta, cream cheese, chives, garlic, olive oil, red pepper and bit of lemon juice and mix until smooth

  3. Now, it’s just a matter of filling the peppers and topping them with its matching hat! After you are done, you can serve now or refrigerate until ready to serve (say the next day!)

Recipe for Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers, easy peasy and are adorable because of the way you can get multiple colors with the orange, yellow and red which are so cheerful, and then presentation wise the way they stand up in little rows or formations so bravely Recipe for Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers, easy peasy and are adorable because of the way you can get multiple colors with the orange, yellow and red which are so cheerful, and then presentation wise the way they stand up in little rows or formations so bravely

An alternative way to serve these cheese stuffed mini peppers is that instead of whole like you see above, to cut the peppers in half length-wise instead. Then you don’t need to deal with the stuffing… but I couldn’t resist this because I just found it so stinkin’ cute!

What’s your favorite holiday appetizer to bring to a party?

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Cornbread Salad

November 28, 2016 by 3 Comments

This is my take on cornbread salad. I will disclose now that I don’t like beans and so I left them out. However, I added baby romaine lettuce to make this a real salad, versus just corn bread with some veggies layered in. My version also sears the corn kernels before adding them to the salad. I also did make bacon, but served it on the side so that the corn bread salad is by default vegetarian and can feed everyone, and people can add the meat if they would like. You can add or omit ingredients according to your preference so this salad is very flexible. With the colors of the lettuce, corn, tomatoes, pepper, and cheese it also just looked so pretty!

Recipe for cornbread salad - my version is an actual salad with romaine lettuce, and I omitted the beans but you can add the if you'd like just need a bigger bowl to put your salad in! I also served the bacon crumbles on the side so it could be vegetarian by default Recipe for cornbread salad - my version is an actual salad with romaine lettuce, and I omitted the beans but you can add the if you'd like just need a bigger bowl to put your salad in! I also served the bacon crumbles on the side so it could be vegetarian by default

Ingredients:

  • 8-14 ounces of Corn Bread mix plus any ingredients to make it – you will need to already have prepared this and let it cool, or purchase already made cornbread. If you use the larger amount, use your judgement on whether you use all the corn bread or not in the salad depending on how much you want the ratio to corn bread and salad.
  • 10 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled (optional)
  • 15 ounces of corn kernels
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 4 small green onions
  • 1 red bell pepper
  • 1 package of grape tomatoes (you can also use other tomatoes – you want the equivalent of two large beefsteak almost)
  • 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
  • 10 ounces of baby romaine lettuce
  • 2 cups of chopped pecans (optional)
  • 1 can of pinto beans, rinsed and drained (optional)
  • 1 – 1.5 cups of your favorite Ranch Dressing

Directions:

  1. Prepare the cornbread per package directions or purchase already made cornbread. If you are making it, set it aside to cool.
  2. If you are using the bacon, cook the bacon as you like (I like to cook it in the oven) until crispy. Let cool so you can crumble it.
  3. Heat a pan on high with 1 tablespoon of butter. Once it is melted, add the 15 ounces of corn kernels and spread so it is a single layer and all coated with butter. Do not mix again until one side of the corn kernels is slightly browned – stir so the browning is even and then set aside to cool.
  4. Chop the 8 small green onions, the 1 orange bell pepper, and if using grape tomatoes cut in half the grape tomatoes otherwise chop the other kind of tomatoes you chose to use. I personally like grape tomatoes because it still has a nice firmness when halved vs other tomatoes.
  5. In a large bowl, mix the seared corn, chopped green onions, orange bell pepper, tomatoes, 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, and mix this with the 10 ounces of baby romaine. You can also include the bacon in now, or what I did is serve the crumbled bacon on the side for those who wanted it so the cornbread salad is by default vegetarian.
  6. Serving options:
    • If you want to present this in a layer, first put in some of the dressing, put in half of the corn + veggies and romaine mixture in your glass bowl. Next, crumble in half of the cornbread. Drizzle more dressing. Add the rest of the corn and romaine, and top with the crumbled cornbread you have remaining. Spread the rest of the dressing on top.
      Recipe for cornbread salad - my version is an actual salad with romaine lettuce, and I omitted the beans but you can add the if you'd like just need a bigger bowl to put your salad in! I also served the bacon crumbles on the side so it could be vegetarian by default
    • Or if you  prefer having more time for the flavors to all blend, mix everything all up in no layers – corn and romaine, cornbread, and dressing – and let chill in the fridge for a couple hours while prepping other dishes for the meal.
  7. As an option, during the blending step you can also add pinto beans that have been rinsed and drained, but I don’t like beans so I didn’t use them. Also optionally, you can toast 2 cups of pecans on a pan until fragrant and add it into the salad for crunch.

Since you will know your cornbread best, you should use your judgement on how much to use ratio-wise with the salad – some cornbread is denser, some sweeter, etc. If your cornbread is very soft, you could consider toasting it after cutting it into smaller squares almost like toasting croutons.

Now don’t get me wrong – I still served creamed corn at my Thanksgiving because I’ve always remembered corn niblets of some sort at my Thanksgiving growing up – but I wanted to have another version of corn as it so represents harvest and liked having a “healthier” version via this salad.

Have you ever had cornbread salad or heard of it before? What’s your favorite kind of salad during late autumn/winter?

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Vegetarian Holiday Side Dishes

November 21, 2016 by 11 Comments

It’s the week before Thanksgiving – and I’m always excited for an opportunity to try recipes that I’ve been waiting for potlucks or group dinners, and share food with others. This year I’m staying in Portland for Thanksgiving weekend unlike previous times when I went off to Sonoma or San Juan Islands or Leavenworth. It’s still a potluck situation where guests are all bringing in contributions for the meal, and I continue with trying to offer a medley of Vegetarian Holiday Sides. After all, making side dishes that are completely vegetarian means both omnivores and vegetarians can both enjoy the dish.

Here are some of my favorite of the vegetarian sides I’ve made previously, including the recipes.

These dishes I particularly like because you can use them as a vegetarian main dish so they don’t feel like they are only eating side dishes:

More great sides that everyone can eat.

What are you making for your sides for Thanksgiving? Are any of them vegetarian holiday side dishes?

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