vegetarian – Page 2

Roasted Winter Veggies and Israeli Couscous

February 26, 2015 by Asharae Leave a Comment

Today we’re snuggled up in our house, trying to avoid taking part in anything pertaining to the outdoors. Last night we had a big storm come through, but the promised 8-10 inches of snow simply didn’t happen at our house. Our yard is a slushy muddy mess at the moment, and I confess I’m jealous of all our friends posting photos that look like Narnia.

One big snowfall. That’s all I ask of winter in North Carolina. Until then, I’m going to stay holed up in my house, pretending spring is just around the corner. Last week I shared a blood orange strawberry limeade that’s perfect for warding off the winter blues! This week I wanted to share one of my new favorite dinner recipes that’s great for all the same reasons.

Between the Israeli couscous, the vinaigrette, and the fresh veggies, this meal is a light alternative to the hearty, filling dishes I typically think of for winter meals. Since all the veggies I included in this recipe are still in season, they’ll be cheaper at the store and they’ll taste better than veggies that come into season later in the year!

I was inspired by several sources while coming up this recipe. Be sure to check each of these out for even more delicious winter recipe ideas!

Winter Buckwheat + Shaved Brussels Sprouts Bowl by Dolly and Oatmeal // Winter’s Bounty Buddah Bowl by Vegenista’s Kitchen // Winter Pasta Salad by Victoria McGinley

The idea for the vinaigrette also came from a couple places: Shaved Root Vegetable Salad with Goat Cheese and Hazelnuts by Salt & Wind // Basic Vinaigrette by Shauna Niequist in her book Bread & Wine

Roasted Winter Veggies and Israeli Couscous

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Ingredients

Couscous and Veggies

1 1/4 c of israeli couscous I used this couscous from World Market
3 medium carrots washed, peeled, sliced into rounds
1 turnip washed, peeled, diced
8 oz brussels sprouts outer leaves removed, ends trimmed, quartered
2-3 leaves kale finely chopped
Shelled pistachios or sliced almonds for garnish

Vinaigrette

1/4 c white balsamic vinegar
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 c olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Combine all vinaigrette ingredients except olive oil in a small jar with a lid. Cover with lid and shake to combine. Add olive oil, cover again, and shake to combine. Set aside.
Heat a pot of water for the couscous (follow the package instructions - my couscous called for 1 3/4 c water to 1 1/4 c couscous). While the water is heating, chop your veggies. Cook your Israeli couscous according to the package instructions.
Toss sliced carrots and diced turnips on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 1-2 Tbs olive oil, toss to combine, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, flip veggies with a spatula, and roast 5 more minutes.
Toss cleaned, chopped brussels sprouts in 1 Tbs of olive oil. Remove veggies from the oven, add brussels sprouts to the pan, roast for 5 more minutes. Chop the kale while you're waiting. Add kale to the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired, and roast the veggies one final time for 5-10 minutes, until kale is slightly crispy.
Combine veggies and cooked Israeli couscous in a large bowl, toss to combine. Serve with vinaigrette on the side so each person can add the amount they like. Garnish with almonds or pistachios if you wish!

This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own.

Simple Vegetable Soup

November 11, 2014 by Asharae 1 Comment

In an effort to save space, I titled this post “Simple Vegetable Soup.” What I actually scribbled down on the scrap of paper as I made the soup was – “Use-What-You-Have-In-Your-Pantry-Veggie-Soup.” I personally like that name a lot better. It’s a much better description of the story of this recipe.

Tim and I have been traveling a lot lately – between our three week road trip to three different weddings, several other short weekend trips away for weddings here in NC, and a roommate reunion with my college friends, we’ve put a lot of miles on the road lately. This means that our eating has been less than stellar. And the state of our fridge is abysmal at times. For being a go-with-the-flow kinda gal, I really love to have my meals planned out. I like shopping the menu to save money and save space in our fridge too. I’m the kind of person that wakes up thinking about dinner, and I love being able to look forward to something I know will be delicious. I think the last time we had that sort of routine was back in the summer. Or maybe late spring. It’s been a busy one.

All that being said, the other night Tim and I were wrapping up our editing for the day and looking towards dinner. It was one of those stare-at-the-fridge-hoping-something-will-appear nights. I scrounged around a bit and found we had enough ingredients in the fridge and few staples in the pantry to whip up a batch of soup. (Sidenote – I highly recommend keeping cans of beans and veggies, and a couple cartons of vegetable or chicken broth in your pantry for just such an occasion.)

Nights are getting chillier here in NC and the sun is setting unreasonably early, so a bowl of warm soup is the perfect antidote to the dark and cold outside. And I rejoiced at how this seemingly thrown-together soup turned out – it’s hearty and delicious with just the right amount of spice. We served ours with grilled cheese on the side – so good.

This soup has a little kick to it – you’re more than welcome to leave out the jalapeños and can of green chilies if you don’t like spicy food. I recommend adapting this recipe to whatever you have on hand. I’m sure it would be great with a can of corn, some potatoes, perhaps some celery. Feel free to add more vegetable or chicken broth (or water) if you like your soup to have more broth than veggies, just adjust your salt and pepper accordingly.

Simple Vegetable Soup

Asharae Kroll

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Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Servings 4

Ingredients

1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
1 yellow onion diced
4 medium carrots sliced
2 jalapeños diced and seeds removed
1/2 bell pepper diced (use a yellow one if you're looking to make this soup pretty)
3 cloves garlic minced
1 7 oz can green chilies
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes with juice
1 32 oz carton of chicken or vegetable broth
1/2 lb pasta we used elbow pasta
1/4 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Optional: Garnish with parsley

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions, rinse in cold water to stop the cooking. Add 1 Tbs olive oil, stir, and set aside.
While the pasta is cooking, heat oil and butter in a large stock pot over medium heat. Add carrots and peppers, cook about 3 minutes. Add onion, green chilies, and jalapeños, and cook about 5 more minutes or until tender. Add garlic, cook for one minute.
Add broth and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 20-30 minutes. Add oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.
Place noodles in bowls, ladle soup over the top, and serve. Garnish with parsley if you wish (or if you have leftovers in your fridge like me!)
I store leftover soup and noodles separately so the noodles don't get too soggy in the fridge.

Flour sack towel from The High Fiber – check out more of her gorgeous work at her Etsy shop!

Thai Nachos

October 1, 2014 by Asharae 3 Comments

This recipe was inspired by my brother. He worked with a summer program through UNCC this past July and they took their group of high school kids down to Wilmington for a week of fossil hunting and rock finding. One night my brother Christian texted me from the fabled Flaming Amy’s Burrito Barn – a restaurant known for…. you guessed it – burritos! Somehow in all our trips to Wilmington, I’ve never been – someone tell me – is it worth all the hype?

Christian sent me a photo of the dinner he had ordered – any guesses? Don’t get too far ahead of yourself – it wasn’t a burrito. I know, I know. That’s probably sacrilegious or something. But he’s always one to think outside the box when it comes to food. Instead of a burrito he ordered Thai Nachos. THAI NACHOS. Cue heavenly music. My response was pretty much – WHAT. Tell me everything! Tim and I hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so when he texted back with a list of all the toppings, we obviously dropped everything and made our own version of these nachos for our dinner.

I was tempted to keep this recipe to myself – perhaps to break out at our next Superbowl party or something. But no. That would be cruel. Cruel to serve you so many veggies at a Superbowl party and also cruel to keep this recipe to myself. You really must try these nachos for yourself.

Thai Nachos

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Servings 2 -3

Ingredients

Dressing

1 clove garlic minced
1.5 tsp fresh ginger minced
2 Tbs tahini can substitute peanut butter - heat for a few seconds in the microwave to soften
1.5 tsp soy sauce
1.5 tsp fish sauce find this in the Asian food section of your grocery store
1.5 Tbs sweet chili sauce
Zest and juice of 1 lime

Nachos

Tortilla Chips
Cheese shredded
1 Bell Pepper cut into bite-size slices
1/4 of a Red Onion cut into thin slices
Edamame find in the frozen veggies section - purchase the pre-shelled edamame
2 Carrots peeled and grated

Garnish

Cilantro
Green onions

Instructions

Whisk dressing ingredients together, set aside.
Heat a large pan with a drizzle of olive oil. Add red onions and bell peppers and sauté till slightly tender, about 4-5 min. Set aside when finished.
While sautéing the veggies, heat a pot of water and cook the edamame according to the package directions (usually 4-5 minutes, or until tender). When finished, drain and run under cold water for a few seconds to stop the cooking.
Assemble nachos on a large rimmed baking sheet (not pictured). Cover the pan with chips, sprinkle half the cheese on top, add bell pepper, red onion, grated carrots, and edamame. Add the rest of the cheese and bake at 400 for about two minutes, or until cheese begins to melt. Turn the broiler on and broil for about one minute, till cheese is melted and begins to bubble.
Garnish with cilantro, green onions, and drizzle the dressing on top. Enjoy immediately.

Notes

Feel free to add other veggies to this dish or even add cooked shredded chicken for a little more protein.

Caprese Salad with Honey Balsamic Reduction and some Mid-Week Inspiration

September 10, 2014 by Asharae 1 Comment

This week I want to share a few of the things that I’ve been inspired by lately. I hope a few of these words speak to you and perhaps encourage you to read these books or visit these blogs. Enjoy!

Tsh Oxenreider and her family’s year-long round-the-world trip.

I’m completely in awe of this trip Tsh and her husband are about to set out on with their three kids. I haven’t even gotten a chance to read her book Notes From A Blue Bike which I bought back in the spring, but it’s next on the list. I love reading stories of families who are thinking outside the box – the ones who are willing to make certain sacrifices in order to pursue what’s most important to them.

The Oxenreiders are doing something which seems so radical to some, but as Tsh explains it – “Traveling is in our blood.”

I love this quote from her blog. I think it applies to so many things, particularly when it comes to taking a big “next step,” in anything from vocation to marriage to family to going on a year-long trip around the world.

“I think sometimes we feel like there needs to be this extrinsic, sign-from-God sort of reason to do something this big. But really, what if God simply delights in us following our desires? What if we’re partly fulfilling our vocation (in the literal sense of the word) by acting on our deepest passions?”

Yes. This.

These photos of the Ingalls homestead from Joy Prouty.

Go look at them. And read her words. Altogether they make me want to melt in a puddle of happiness. I loved the Laura Ingalls Wilder books when I was a kid – and these photos reminded me of how much they ignited my imagination – perhaps my secret longing to build my own house, grow my own food, and raise chickens and goats has something to do with those books. I even remember a short-lived phase where I insisted on calling my parents Ma and Pa.

I think Little House on the Prairie is moving up on my list of books to re-read. But right now I’m trying to convince Tim we should read The Voyages of Dr. Doolittle aloud – it’s another of my childhood favorites. We started reading it on Sunday, and he was sweet enough to read a few chapters to me before I started snoring on the couch. Sunday afternoons man. They’ll getcha.

Anna Watson Carl and her blog The Yellow Table

I’m a relatively new reader of Anna’s blog, but I’ve been loving everything she writes. She’s a chef and a writer based in NYC and she’s publishing a cookbook this fall. It’s been a lot of fun to follow her journey via Instagram and her blog. She writes with refreshing honesty about combatting the doubts and discouragement and realizing her need for rest, refreshment, and new perspective.

I came across this post of hers recently and it really resonated with me. I too have trouble slowing down and truly resting. Working from home and running my own business is a blessing and a curse in that regard. I’m home all the time, so it seems it would be easy to relax and simply enjoy being home. The flip side of that is that I’m also always at work – there’s always more to be done – more emails to send, more blog posts to write, more photos to edit. And it really never ends. I’ve taken to (almost) never checking my email on the weekends because I simply need a break from it all. I’m slowly letting go of the guilt I can sometimes feel when I let an email go a couple days before I answer it. My heart and my brain simply need to rest sometimes.

This recipe is inspired partly by the plethora of tomatoes we have exploding from our garden right now and partly by our honeymoon over four years ago (no, we didn’t go to Italy, but we did eat at an amazing Italian restaurant in Georgia of all places.) We ordered caprese salad as an appetizer and it maybe changed our lives. Mine at least. The waiter explained that they had created a balsamic vinegar reduction to drizzle over the tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. All I remember is that that dish forever changed my dislike for tomatoes. The sweet, salt and peppery, tart combination left me yearning to figure out how to recreate that dish. Until now I’d never actually tried. I came across this recipe for a honey balsamic reduction and adapted it into my usual caprese salad ensemble. The result – delicious.

Caprese Salad with Honey Balsamic Reduction

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Ingredients

For the Honey Balsamic Reduction

1/2 c balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs honey

For the salad

3 Medium tomatoes any variety - we used Black Krim, Lemon Boy, and Better Boy tomatoes
Mozzarella buying the pre-sliced rounds makes this easy - I even slice those in half since they're so thick
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh basil chopped

Instructions

For the Honey Balsamic Reduction

Combine the balsamic vinegar and honey in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until syrupy and reduced to 1/3 c, about 10-12 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Store leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.

Assemble the salad

Layer the salad in this order - tomato, salt and pepper, mozzarella, honey balsamic reduction, fresh basil.
Enjoy!

Notes

If you're short on time or feeling lazy, you can always skip the honey balsamic reduction and drizzle a few teaspoons of balsamic vinegar over your tomatoes instead.