Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Mushrooms

I love roasted vegetables! Here's a simple recipe if you like brussels sprouts and honestly, even if you're not sure if you like them, you will be eating them up after you make this dish.

Ingredients:
1 lb bag of Brussels Sprouts (Trader Joe's has them pre-washed) - halved lengthwise

6 Small Portobello Mushrooms (Trader Joe's has these packaged) - sliced
4 Tbsp of Butter or Vegan Margarine
1-2 tsp of Rosemary Leaves
2 tsp of Garlic Powder
1/4 cup of Olive Oil
1-2 tsp of Salt
1-2 tsp of Black Pepper

1/4 cup of Water

Preparation is key for this recipe to work under 30 minutes. First, pre-heat your oven to 450º, meanwhile halve your brussels sprouts and place them in a baking pan or sheet. Take the olive oil and spread evenly across your sprouts. Take 1-2 tsp of salt and sprinkle evenly over the sprouts. Do the same for garlic powder and black pepper. Place pan in oven. Bake for about 20 minutes.

While your sprouts are in the oven. Slice your mushrooms. Heat your pan with 2 Tbsp of butter or margarine. When butter starts to melt toss in your sliced mushrooms. Cook until covered in butter or until soft. Toss in rosemary, salt and black pepper to taste. Stir and cook for about 5 minutes. Take an additional 2 Tbsp of butter and melt in the pan again. Stir until well mixed. Pour in water. You'll want to make a sauce out of this so the dish won't be dry.

Once the sprouts are finished in the oven... (they're done when you see them begin to caramelize.) Yum! you can take them out of the oven and taste test it as well. When you're satisfied, take the sprouts and place them in the pan with the mushroom sauté. Make sure you have enough sauce so that your dish doesn't wind up dry. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Finish by serving over a bed of rice! (I can't believe how good this is...) Oh and if you want to get adventurous add fried onions. Heh.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Green Beans and Fried Onions


You got it, fried onions! I don't know why I hadn't discovered this sooner. Trader Joe's sells cans of fried onions and they were on display a few days before Thanksgiving. I decided to put them to use and try them on EVERYTHING... :D

(You can try them with asparagus too!)

Ingredients:
French Green Beans
Trader Joe's Fried Onions
Salt
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 tsp Garlic Powder

Heat oiled pan. When pan is hot, toss in a handful of onions and start to sauté. Toss in the green beans. Stir. Add garlic powder pinch of salt... keep stirring. Cook until green beans are softer but still bright green. Don't overcook. Add more onions and salt to taste. The onions are already salty so be aware of how much salt you are adding. If you're unsure, do a taste test.

Yummmy. I love this recipe with asparagus! Fried onions are the best!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Nearly Vegan Thanksgiving Feast

Yum! I wish I could have Thanksgiving food all over again! Doesn't it look good? Anyway, I promised I would post pictures of my Thanksgiving food and here it is in all its glory. Unfortunately, I would be breaking my own rules if I posted the recipe to this whole meal. It was an entire process to get all of these ingredients together. I might post the green beans though... that was easy! I discovered Trader Joe's fried onions too.... now I'm putting them on EVERYTHING. Heh.

Sigh... tofurkey... mmm.

Last but not least... everyone's favorite mashed potatoes. My boyfriend decided to micromanage my kitchen skills by taking this task over. Luckily he pulled this one off beautifully thanks to his fond memories of mom's own recipe. What a good boy!