Taking Advantage of Summer Vegetables: White Beans, with Sweet Corn, Zucchini and Yellow Tomatoes

Hi, everyone!  Yes, it's been an embarrassingly long time since I've blogged.   Rather than posting every day, I'll be easing back in slowly, with perhaps a post a week, most likely on weekend days where I have more time to cook and write.

Summer in the mid-Atlantic is a great time to experiment with vegetarian cooking.  Growing up in New Jersey, we ate a ton of fresh sweet corn, and I love to incorporate this into my summer meals.  Our local market also has tons of varieties of summer squashes - zucchini, eight ball, crookneck, bonita, pattypan and more!

My concoction today took advantage of our local market's bounty, as well as some pantry staples.  I'm a big fan of red onion - I feel that it adds color and great flavor to dishes. I diced that finely, and then diced a zucchini and quartered some yellow tomatoes and set them aside.  Then, I used my handy corn zipper to take the kernels off of two ears of corn. 

I got a small amount of olive oil going in a large pan.  We were running low on olive oil, and I was worried I wouldn't have enough.  In actuality, it worked out fine, which likely means I've been using too much.  I'll measure from now on and see how things go.

I sauteed the onions first, and then added the corn and zucchini.  While the veg was going, I rinsed a can of Goya white beans (rinsing helps take off the "canned" taste and reduces your sodium content) by pouring them in a colander and running them under cool water.  I then stirred the beans into the veg mix.

To season the dish, I used black pepper, cumin, sea salt and smoked paprika.  A little bit of smoked paprika goes a long way to add color, a smoky flavor and a spicy kick.  Once I could smell the aroma of the spices, I took the mix off the heat and added in some fresh chopped cilantro, and then topped my serving with a bit of crumbled feta.  You can easily omit the feta to make this dish vegan, but I wanted to use up our leftover feta from the boreks I made last weekend.

A dish like this is great if you're feeding non-vegetarians.  I had a larger serving as my main dish.  My non-vegetarian husband had it as a side with some leftover barbeque from lunch.  He commented that the colors were bright and summery and he liked the kick from the smoked paprika.

Not only did this dish taste good, but it cost next to nothing to make!  We already had the onion and yellow tomatoes in the house.  We got two ears of corn for 79 cents, the zucchini for 79 cents, the small bunch of cilantro for 69 cents and the beans for $1.09.  I have a few portions leftover for lunch this week. 

What vegetables are you experimenting with this summer?

Rice Noodles with Vegetables and Adzuki Beans

Thanks to my recent purchase of coconut aminos, I'm having lots and lots of fun with Asian inspired cooking.  Tonight, I decided to do a vegan stir-fry with adzuki beans and lots of fresh vegetables, including red onion, shitake mushrooms, yellow bell pepper, baby carrots, garlic, bok choy and fresh cilantro.

The adzuki bean is small in size and reddish/purplish in color.  According to wikipedia, they have been used in Asian cooking for centuries, with fossilized beans found in ruins dated to 4,000 BC!  The beans are a good source of protein, iron, magnesium, potassium and folic acid. While they're often used in sweet preparations, I enjoy them in savory dishes like tonight's concoction.


I finely diced 1/4 of a large red onion and half a yellow pepper.  I then thinly sliced a large handful of shitake mushroom caps (I find the stems to be too tough), as well as eight baby carrots (if you're using a whole carrot, 1-2 peeled should be sufficient). 

Once this selection of the veg was cooking, I heated a 3/4 full kettle of water on the stove and began sauteing the onions, mushrooms and peppers in oil, seasoning with black pepper.  When the kettle was hot, I put the rice noodles in a metal mixing bowl, poured over the hot water, and let the noodles soak for 10 minutes.

As the noodles soaked, I added the carrots and 3/4 of the can of adzuki beans.  I then minced three cloves of garlic in my chopper, sliced the bok choy and chopped the cilantro.  I then added these last three ingredients, and, when the garlic was fragrant, added some coconut aminos and sesame oil.

When the 10 minutes of soaking was up, I drained the noodles and stir-fried them with the vegetable bean mixture for two minutes, allowing them to absorb the flavors of the sauce and finish cooking. I then put the noodles in a bowl and garnished them with sesame seeds.

The result was very flavorful and filling.  If I made it again and wanted to add a spicy element, I would add a bit of Sriracha or some red pepper flakes. 

Kim's Red Radish Tabbouleh from The Kind Life

I have a yoga retreat tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure I prepared a healthy lunch I could eat at some point in the afternoon.  I decided on this tabbouleh dish, which was featured in Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet.

The Kind Diet is a great resource if you're curious about a healthy vegan diet, as well as if you're interested in exploring some more macrobiotic type dishes (aka, what Silverstone describes as "superhero" foods).   The book includes tons of recipes, as well as information about the health benefits of a vegan diet and some information about ethical veganism.

The recipe I chose to make is from the "superhero" section of the book.   It calls for bulgur, radishes, green onions, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil and sea salt.  My minor changes were cooking the bulgur to the package directions, using cilantro in lieu of parsley (had a lot in the fridge to use up!) and adding black pepper.  I also made sure to mix in the lemon juice, olive oil and seasoning while the barley was hot so that the salad would absorb its flavors better.  We'll see how it tastes tomorrow!

I also made a big batch of kale chips to share with some of my fellow retreaters.  This time, I went easier on the olive oil and let the kale chips cook on paper towels.  It seemed to help make them less greasy this time.  I also used my salad spinner to get the kale nice and dry before coating and seasoning it.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Corn & Cranberries

A few years ago, when I was still eating meat, I used to go to Nando's Peri Peri, which specializes in Portguese roast chicken.  They also have a number of sides, including a roasted butternut squash dish I enjoyed so much that I learned to replicate it myself.  While I no longer eat chicken, I still love this squash combo.  I now make it regularly for Thanksgiving and fall family meals, as well as for my office's annual Thanksgiving Potluck, which will take place this Tuesday.

The health benefits of butternut squash are numerous.  It's a great source of fiber, Vitamin A, B-complex vitamins and minerals like iron and zinc.  Now that it's fall, you'll likely see whole butternut squash everywhere.  If you do decide to go with whole squash, make sure you have a very, very good knife, as I once wrecked an entire set of cheap knives trying to deconstruct one.  Here's a handy tutorial on how to peel and chop the butternut.

I, however, opt to use fresh-cut squash chunks, which saves me a lot of prep time (and sanity).  The chunks are still fairly large, so I do chop them in smaller pieces.  For a large crowd like my 20+ person office potluck, I used two packages.

Corn zipper in action.

I also prefer to use fresh corn - my local market still has ears available.  If you don't have access to fresh corn, frozen is an ok substitute, but defrost it first. Try to avoid using canned - the texture will be too soft.  If you're using fresh corn, using a corn-zipper is a safe and quick way to get the kernels off.  As I've mentioned before, it's a great investment for your kitchen!  For this amount, I used two ears.

I then finely chopped a medium red onion and added it in, along with a generous handful or two of dried sweetened cranberries and a handful of chopped fresh cilantro.  Make sure to use the fresh herbs here - dried won't work.

I then combine everything in a large mixing bowl and stir in a generous amount of olive oil, and season it with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.  Put it in glass baking dishes on a single layer (making enough for 20 meant two dishes) and let it roast for 30 minutes at 400, stirring occasionally.

Stuffed Pattypan Squash, Brought To You By Multiple Cousins

Last weekend, when my cousin Rachel came over with her culinarily adventurous 14-month old daughter, she also came bearing some squash from my cousins Greg and Susan.  One of the squashes was a Pattypan Squash, a white, salad plate sized gourd with scalloped edges.  While I was researching them on the internet, I realized I had seen their smaller squash cousins at Whole Foods in their mixed baby vegetable pack.

The Monday after dropping off the squash, Rachel emailed me a New York Times recipe for Pattypan Squash Stuffed with Corn.  I decided to make it today's lunch, but as a vegan meal rather than a vegetarian one.

I was a little nervous about being able to cut the squash in half.  I'm still reeling from an incident with a butternut squash a few years ago that ruined an entire (cheap) set of knives.  But, my good chefs knife slid right through the patty pan.  A good reminder - if you're going to have one good kitchen implement, get a really good knife!

The same good knife also made chopping the onion and the inside of the squash a breeze.  The sharper the knife, the more precise your dice will be.  To get the corn off of the ear, I used our corn stripper.  Before we got the corn stripper, I used a large knife to remove corn kernels, but it was always a bit unsteady and I was always a little worried about cutting myself.  The corn stripper is a lot easier to handle and also keeps the corn contained in a little container, so it's also less messy.

Whole Pattypan Squash

The good knife also came in handy when chopping the cilantro.  A nice tip for chopping cilantro or parsley if you don't want a lot of stem in your food: Hold the herbs upright in one hand.  With the other hand, slide your fingers down the stem.  The leaves should easily slide off and be ready for chopping.

The recipe called for gruyere or swiss, as well as egg and milk to make a custard.  Instead of the gruyere, I used mozzarella daiya.  After filling the squash halves, I poured a little bit of vegetable broth over the top.

I was so happy with the results.  I usually prefer white corn, but accidentally picking up yellow corn was a bonus.  The bright yellow kernels were a nice contrast for the pale interior of the squash.  The vegetable broth soaked into squash flesh, which gave it an added flavor dimension.  Husband came in from some errand running at the end of my meal, had a few bites and pronounced it "hearty and well seasoned."  So, look for more stuffed squash recipes on the blog soon!

So, thank you, Greg and Susan, for supplying the ingredient for this delicious meal, and thank you Rachel, for bringing it to our house and providing a recipe!

Potluck Side Dish: Corn and Black Bean Salad

Fiance' and I were invited to a barbeque yesterday where all guests were asked to bring a side or a dessert.  One of my favorite side dishes to make for a summer barbeque is Corn and Black Bean Salad.  You can find umpteen versions of it on the internet, but here's the one I put together yesterday:

In advance, strip the kernels off of four ears of fresh sweet corn.  You can either use a sharp knife or a corn stripper.  I then toss the corn in olive oil and bit of salt and roast it in a very hot oven - 475.  Putting the corn on a single layer on a baking sheet and stirring it frequently helps.  It took me 20 minutes or so to get the corn slightly browned, but watch yours closely - some ovens may perform better and thus your cooking time will be decreased.  You ideally want your corn to be slightly browned - this will add a nice roasty/smoky flavor to your dish.

After the corn has cooled (I refrigerated mine overnight), dice 4-5 firm tomatoes.  The firmer the tomato, the better the texture of your salad will be.  Also, make sure to remove the seeds and accompanying goo - this will prevent your salad from being soggy.

Next, open a can of black beans and rinse them in a colander.  This will reduce the sodium content and "canned taste of your salad."  Mix tomatoes, corn and beans in large bowl.

Now, it's time to add some color to your salad - I went with greens.  I finely chopped four green onions (also known as scallions), both the white and green parts, along with some fresh cilantro.  Make sure to use fresh cilantro if you're adding it.  You can also use minced red onion instead of the green onion.

For my "kick," I deseeded and minced two fresh jalapenos (I used a chopper - you do not want to get jalapeno juice in your eye!).  If you want even more heat, you can leave the seeds in or use serranos.

For the dressing, I juiced two limes and added a healthy amount of fresh ground pepper, 1/2 tsp or so of sea salt, about a 1/2 tsp of cumin and a little garlic powder.  I then whisked in a few glugs of olive oil and combined the whole deal with the salad.  Taste it and decide if it needs more seasoning - mine needed a little more salt.

Ideally, you want this to sit for an hour or so for the flavors to combine, and serve at room temperature.   This also makes for a good filling for burritos or veggie tacos, as well as on a taco salad.