18 posts tagged “vegetables”

The other day I posted an entry for Mochachocolatarita’s Chinese Take-Out Party…(if you guys haven’t checked out her party yet, get over there!  There are tons of delicious dishes to be had!)…Of course, once the round-up was posted, my fingers couldn’t click the mouse fast enough to get to her site.  There are main dishes, rices, noodles, appies, soups and desserts.  There were a couple (ok, ok *more* than a couple!) of dishes that really caught my eye.  The Kung Pao Chicken entries were especially insistent with the powers that be within my grumbling stomach.  Kung Pao Chicken is basically chicken and peanuts, stirfried in a delicious brown sauce.  But take this simple dish and add a bunch of ginger and vegetables, and you have elevated it to something sublime.  The entries on Rita’s page inspired me to go out and make some Kung Pao, go and see what inspires you!

For the Kung Pao Chicken recipe, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=183

Doing my morning blog rounds I was over at Peter’s site (Kalofagas) longingly looking at his Eggs Benedict recipe (by the way, go and check that out you guys…it is seriously killing me I want it so badly), and realized there was a post just below that one that I hadn’t seen!  WHAT?  He had posted a delicious Chinese Take-out menu, and mentioned that it was part of a round up to be found at Mochachocolatarita’s Website.  I am SO glad he posted that, because her website is fantastic!  It’s so cool how we bloggers network and find each other through others’ blog posts.  I had never seen Mochachocolatarita’s site before.  That is a sin right there…her site is awesome.  No, more like AWESOME!  And Right now she’s hosting an event celebrating her 88th post, called, “Chinese Take-Out Party,” where each entrant submits their take on Chinese take-out. 

I think that this might be sheer luck on my part, because I had planned to post this anyway, but to come in just under the wire like this and be able to participate in a fun event?  Even better!

This recipe was something I came up with after having taken out a loin roast, and began wondering what to do with it.  The weather has been pretty warm, so regular roast with mashed potatoes didn’t really seem to fit the bill.  Avocados are currently at over 11 euros a kilo (that’s like $8-9 a pound), so Tex-Mex was out (you know it’s illegal to eat Tex-Mex without guacamole, don’t you? )…what to do?  Hmmm.  Why not go Asian with it?  Yes!  That was the answer I was looking for. 

For the recipes, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=179

Potaje (pronounced po-TAH-hay) is a delicious multi vegetable stew very typical of the Canary Islands.  Here, rather than have all the food served at once, meals are served in courses.  Generally a first course, which can be either a soup, stew, salad, or pasta and is then followed by the main course and of course following that, dessert and coffee.  Many restaurants in Spain offer a lunch “menu,” where you can choose a first and second course from the day’s specials, and it comes with a beverage and dessert.  I’m pretty sure that the variety of potajes are as varied as the chefs that prepare them.  There are lentil potajes, watercress potajes (look for this one soon), corn potaje…the limit is your own creativity, much like soups and stews everywhere else in the world.  Let me share with you my mil’s recipe for Potaje Canario….

Recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=152

Wine selection for this one...I'd go with a crisp Chardonnay (in fact, I did. lol)

potaje

So, as most of you already know, yesterday was Chinese New Year.  While I’m not Chinese, I must admit I’ll look for any excuse to celebrate! LOL  So, I made some Asian treats in honor of this special day.  Chuck over at Sunday Night Dinner posted his mom’s top secret recipes for Nuoc Cham (dipping sauce) and Cha Gio (Spring Rolls) recently, and I just couldn’t go another day without making some of my own…my Gawd that stuff is good!  It’s also been a while since I’ve made fried rice, and my dear hubs really loves a chicken curry version that I do, so it was set…spring rolls and fried rice would be our menu for the day.  I realize that my menu doesn’t have all of he traditional elements of a Chinese New Year menu, but heck, it’s the sentiment that counts, right? lol  I decided to do a step by step for the spring rolls, like Chuck (sheesh I’m such a total copycat!), for those of you who might not have rolled them before…I know that before I tried to make them the first time I was a little intimidated by the idea.  But, it’s really very simple, as you’ll soon see. Go and check out my site for the step by steps and recipes: http://canarygirl.com/?p=147

First of all, the Curry Chicken Fried Rice:

curry chicken fried rice

And now the Spring Rolls (Cha Gio)….I was much inspired by Chuck’s recipe, though I just had to make some changes (you know me!)…I sort of morphed his mom’s recipe with mine, and the resulting roll was just fab.

So, it’s definitely winter here in Canaryville…you might laugh at me for my idea of winter after having lived in the Minnesota tundra, but even so…winter it is…short grey days, blustery winds and rain.  The temps aren’t overly chilly, but it *feels* freezing…partly because of the humidity, partly because of the structural elements of the house…marble floors and concrete walls don’t lend well to warmth. lol  Here in the city of Las Palmas especially, it’s rare that people have central heating installed, so chilly days really are chilly…even inside!  I generally provide improvisational heat by baking, and making bubbly things on the stove.  I think it’s almost like aromatherapy heat…psychologically, comforting smells warm the soul and therefore, the body. :) 

lentil stew

Lentils have to be one of my favorite things ever….I like them in just about anything, but in soup or stew they really appeal to my soup/stew addicted senses.  Rich in iron, protein, B vitamins, potassium and calcium, lentils really pack a nutritional punch too.  Spanish chorizo (from Asturias) really deepens the flavor of this stew…it, along with the bacon add a wonderful smokiness that makes this one of my winter favorites. (Don’t be alarmed at the long list of ingredients, the recipe is actually very easy, just chop and throw everything into the pot.)

Recipe is here:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=140

For the gang at:  It's all about food & wine , I'd suggest Paternina Banda Azul... 

So there’s this train of recipes just patiently waiting to be posted on my site…but the thing is, is that I’ve been busy with the aftermath of the kids being home.  Yes, I am *still* finding remnants of those twisty tie things they so abundantly fasten kids’ toys with today in the strangest of corners.  The aftermath of the holiday vacation has been keeping me busy…everything seems to be out of place.  Like, why on Earth is that sock hanging from the door handle?  Why are *all* of the dvd’s out of their cases?  And OH!  Watch out!  Remote control car on the loose!   So.  My sweet little recipes are all waiting patiently in line at Flickr.  Asking which one gets to be first….”Pick me!  Pick me!” they say.  Hopefully I will be able to post them all over the next week (supposing that I can keep up with the newer things I plan to make, and not perpetuate the queue! haha).  This recipe comes to us from my Mom, Carla.  She made a similar one over the holidays and sent me the recipe.  It sounded SO good!  And dang…it sure was!  It makes a huge batch, though, so if you’re not feeding a large family or an army, you might want to scale it back a bit.  I sort of took the “idea” of her recipe and ran with it, I looked at the ingredient list added some stuff, subtracted some stuff, and winged it.  This is one of those soups that is a whole meal in itself, hearty, satisfying and oh, so good.  I hope you like it as much as we did!

For the folks at It's all about food & wine, I'm going to suggest a rosé for this...something not too dry, not too fruity, with just a hint of a bubble, but not quite.  El Coto Rosado is my choice...

Recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=135

zuppa di pasta alfredo

Minestrone is such a great soup for winter, isn’t it?  It has a little bit of everything in it, and is so versatile.  The ingredients can be changed up to fit anyone’s tastes, whether you like it with bits of ham or bacon, with cheesy tortellini (as I’ve done here), or easily made vegan as well.  This is a great recipe if you have a bunch of odds and ends in the refrigerator that  you’re looking for ways to use, too.  Don’t be frightened by the long list of ingredients, this is one of the easiest things in the world to make, and not only that, it’s hearty, delicious, and warming for those icky cold winter blahs.

Recipe is here: http://canarygirl.com/?p=134

For the folks at It's all about food & wine, I'd suggest a chianti, a nice red to compliment the acidity of the tomatoes in the soup.

minestrone

Yesterday was one of those lucky days that I was able to make it to my Asian grocer.  Man I love that place.  They have the freshest produce at the lowest prices.  Huge bunches of baby bok choy, scallions, cilantro, spinach, basil and bean sprouts for a mere 90 cents each (that’s euro cents, but in US dollars it works out to about 1.35 I guess?).  And the Napa Cabbage…Wow…a humongous bunch for a buck.  You can’t beat that.  This week they also had fresh tofu, which will show up hopefully tomorrow (we celebrate Thanksgiving day on Friday here, so the hubs can join us).  With the abundance of fresh produce and some lovely chicken breasts that my local grocer had on sale this week, the obvious choice was a stir-fry.  Don’t be frightened by the lengthy ingredient list here…just change it up according to your tastes, and what you have in the fridge.  It’s all good. :)  The possibilities for this recipe are virtually endless, to make it vegetarian/vegan, change the chicken to tofu and substitute vegetable broth for the meat based, or mix it up a bit with beef, chicken and shrimp or other seafood.

MEK had mentioned that perhaps including a wine suggestion with my posts would be helpful, so for this particular entry, I'd suggest a fruity white, or even a rosé...preferably a young Rioja. :)

For the recipe, please visit:  http://canarygirl.com/?p=119

chicken and veggie stir fry copia2

In our house, rare is the day that everyone at the table likes the food I’ve prepared…Each person has their own special quirks, likes and dislikes…myself included.  On quiche days, however, everyone tends to be happy…I make at least 2, sometimes 3 or more…One of our favorites is my Spinach and Feta Quiche, which has to be made every time. lol  There are several ways to make it, the fillings can be as varied as the imagination permits…this time, we’ve got an abundance of peppers, onions and leeks that were beckoning me at the fruit and vegetable vendor….Since I’ve been making a lot of kebabs lately, I thought maybe a change of menu was in order…lol  And so, this time, I threw it all together in a quiche.

For the recipe, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=95

vegetable quiche

Mmmmm…fresh garden produce…The farmer’s markets around here are
beginning to have all sorts of delicious tidbits…at phenomenal prices.  Can’t
beat that!  I’ve been craving stuffed zucchini for a while now, and
today I finally got around to making it.  I had some leftover Chevre
cheese from yesterday’s salad, and thought, what the heck?  Why not toss it
in there too?  Yum.  I can’t even think of another adjective, except,
Yum.  The filling for this would be awesome wrapped in phyllo, or even
just regular pastry dough…I might even venture to say even better than
the stuffed zucch’s…or as a quiche, or oooh!  Wait!  An omelette!  Can
you tell I really liked the filling? Haha  Anyway…I give to you my
stuffed zucchini:

For the recipe, please visit: http://canarygirl.com/?p=82

garden stuffed zucchini