White Bean Pate

This was the last of my "Pantry Challenge" recipes. It was really fun and I certainly enjoyed making room in my kitchen for new food, but now I'm happy to be trying out some new recipes this week.

White bean pate was super easy and yummy. I ate it with these fancy rosemary crackers that i got from the Sweet Grass Dairy store in Thomasville. Its a lot smoother than hummus, which is exactly what I was going for. I used canned navy beans, so they blended really easy. I actually just used a potato masher to blend them - I never even needed a mixer!

Ingredients:

1 can navy beans
2 tbsp ranch dressing (I would have used tahini if I had any)
several pinches thyme
several pinches black pepper
onion and garlic powder

1). Mash everything up until smooth. Taste for spice levels.

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Pantry Challenge Day 7 - Mexican Pita Pizzas

Didn't I say I'm moving towards an empty pantry? I seriously need to go grocery shopping! These mexican pizzas were exactly how they look - fast, filling and pretty tasty. I mean fast, they went from fridge to plate in under 10 minutes. Not the most nutritious of meals, but they'll do when there is nothing else in the house!  

Ingredients:

4 pita pockets, carefully pulled apart

1 cup refried beans (if you buy a can, make sure they’re vegetarian!)

½ cup salsa

1 cup shredded cheese (I used part skim mozzarella)

About ¼-1/2 cup sliced green onions

 Preheat oven to 350 

 On each pita, spread about ¼ cup refried beans

 Then spread salsa 

  Sprinkle with cheese
  Bake at 350 for 7 minutes, until cheese is melted and pita is crisp
 Garnish with green onions.

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Pantry Challenge Day 6 - Crumbled veggie burger breakfast pita

I am definitely moving towards an empty pantry! This recipe took about 5 minutes to make, and it was surprisingly tasty. Also, by trying this recipe, I inadvertently discovered that cream cheese smeared on a veggie burger is a very tasty snack!

Ingredients:

1 egg
1/2 veggie burger (I used an Amy's veggie burger; it was quite large so I only used half)
1 tbsp ranch dressing
cilantro
salt, pepper
2 tbsp light cream cheese
2 tbsp salsa

1) Microwave the burger until its no longer frozen (it doesn't need to be heated through, but you do need to be able to break it up)

2) Crack your egg in a bowl, add the salt, pepper, and ranch. Whisk until its blended.

3) Crumble your burger into a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the egg mixture. I added my cilantro here, but it was a cilantro paste that comes in a tube. If you're using fresh cilantro, I would wait a little longer to add it.

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4) While you're waiting for your eggs to cook, you can prepare your pita. By prepare, I mean spread some cream cheese and salsa in it. You could toast the pita, but I left mine untoasted.

5. Scramble the eggs, but don't break them up too much - leave the pieces large.

6. Stuff the pita. Add some salt and pepper if it needs it. Enjoy! (Add some fresh spinach or baby greens here if you have any!)

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Pantry Challenge Day 5 - Farfalle with crumbled tofu

Wow, I'm on day 5 already? Well, the rest of the recipes will be a little more pantry-esque, but they will still be tasty (I hope)!

Farfalle with tofu was good - I accidentally added way too much pepper. It was still ok, just a little overpowering. The fresh basil was nice (I keep a large basil plant in my kitchen), though I really wish I had a few garlic cloves in the house. That would have added a better flavor. Cheese makes things taste better - Romano cheese sprinkled on top would have added a lot here.

Ingredients:
1 block firm or extra firm tofu, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 box farfalle pasta
2 tsp olive oil
4-5 leaves fresh basil
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder

1) Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente.

2) Drain the pasta and return it to the pot. Add the oil, spices, tomatoes (drain them) and taste for spice levels.

3) Crumble the tofu in your hands until it resembles feta cheese and drop it in the pot. Heat for about 10 minutes, until the tofu has lost its extra liquid and is heated through. Add the basil. Enjoy!

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Pantry Challenge Day 4 - Jerk Seitan with fruity quinoa

My favorite description of jerk flavors is, of course, from Isa Moskowitz. She says that when you're putting the jerk seasoning together, you're thinking that there is no way that these flavors will go together. When the final product comes out and you taste it, you're a jerk for ever questioning.

I used a prepurchased block of seitan that had been sitting in my fridge for weeks. I'm out of vegetables, so I was hoping that by adding some dried fruit to the quinoa then that would count...sort of.

Jerk seitan

Ingredients
seitan, cut into bite-size pieces
red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch each of allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon

1) Put everything in a non-stick skillet. Saute for about 5-8 minutes, until the seitan is heated through and slightly browned.

Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
1 cup vegetable broth
handful dried fruit - I used about 1/4 cup each of dates and cherries
1/4 cup crushed pecans

1) In a saucepan, bring the veg broth to a light boil. Add the quinoa. Reduce heat to low,cover, and cook 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Taste it to make sure its done; it may need a few more minutes. The measurements here are less finicky than when you're cooking other things, like rice. If the quinoa starts looking dry before it is done cooking, add some water or broth. If its done but still kind of watery, just let the cover off the saucepan and let it evaporate over low heat.

2) When the quinoa is done cooking, stir in the fruits and nuts. I was thinking of adding some curry spice here, but I decided against it because the broth made it so flavorful.

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(This is really one of those times that I wish EJ was here to do the photography; he would have made this dish much more appetizing than I can. But I promise - it was really good!!)

Pantry Challenge Day 3 - Chick-pea salad pitas

Obviously I wouldn't cook something that I didn't think would turn out good. I was interested in how these would turn out, but I was blown away when they ended up being AH-MAZING. I wish I had about 3 more cans of chickpeas so I could eat these every day! The carrots and onions give it that kick and crunch, though I do wish I had some celery to chop up in there. If you so desire, add a bit of relish to the recipe (I strongly dislike pickles and relish). A potato masher worked well for the smashing, if you're making a large batch (which you should) a blender or food processor on a pulse setting might be better.

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas
1/3 cup fat free mayo (or vegan mayo)
3 tbsp fat free ranch dressing
1/4 cup matchstick carrots (mine were quite long so I broke them into smaller pieces by hand)
scant 1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 tsp thyme
several shakes of garlic and onion powder
about 1/2 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
a few pinches of salt (to taste)

1. (This is easy) Mash everything up in a bowl. Taste to make sure you like the flavor combo. Spoon into a pita pocket and enjoy!! If you have some lettuce or tomato to put in the pocket as well you should definitely go for it!

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Pantry Challenge Day 2 - Potato Rosemary Pizza

Ok...potatoes on pizza...I know its a little weird but just bear with me for a moment. The first time I had a potato pizza was in Cambridge (MA) at Cambridge 1 and I was blown away. I decided to give my own version a try, and it came out great!

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Ingredients:
1 recipe Basic, all purpose dough
1/2 potato
1 cup milk
3 tbsp flour
3 tbsp fat-free cream cheese
1 tsp rosemary
several shakes of onion and garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Prepare the dough as directed. Shape into a pizza pie. Preheat the oven to 500.

2. Make the rosemary cream sauce. Put the milk in a saucepan and heat. Just before it boils, add the flour and whisk. Allow to boil for about 10 seconds and whisk constantly for a minute or two. The mixture should have thickened; if it didn't, try adding more flour and let it boil again.

3. Remove from heat and stir in the cream cheese, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Taste for flavor.

4. Place the potatoes in a single layer on the pizza. Spread the cream sauce as evenly as possible over the potatoes and sprinkle with rosemary. Add the cheese on top of that.

5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown.

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Pantry Challenge Day 1 - Pomegranate tofu with roasted potatoes

These were really nice. The pomegranate molasses added a bit of fruit flavor without the sweetness, so it still felt like a savory dinner dish. I did have to buy the molasses online - I purchased it several months ago for a different recipe.

Baked Tofu

For the marinade:
1 cup vegetable broth
2 tbsp balsamic vinagrette
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp thyme
lots of shakes of garlic and onion powder
salt and pepper, to taste

1 block firm or extra firm tofu

1. You'll definitely want to drain your tofu for this. Place the block of tofu on a plate, and put another plate over it. Place a heavy object on that plate. You'll have to discard the tofu juice every once in a while. I let mine drain for an hour.

2. Slice the tofu and put in a bowl with the marinade. Let marinate for at least an hour, but overnight is better.

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2. Preheat the oven to 375. Spray a casserole dish with cooking oil. Bake the tofu for 20 minutes, then flip each piece and bake another 10 minutes. Serve with a little extra marinade.

Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients:
1 potato (I think mine was an Idaho...?)
Spice blend (I used the peppercorn salad dressing spice blend from Penzey's, but I think any combo of garlic/onion/salt/pepper with some sage or thyme would have been great.

1. Slice the potato into pieces that are about 1/2 an inch thick and place immediately into cold, salted water.

2. Bring the water to a boil and let it boil for 15 minutes.

3. Spay a cookie sheet with oil. Line the potatoes on the sheet and sprinkle with your spice blend.

4. Roast the potatoes in your preheated oven for 10 minutes. (Yes, I'm aware that it is possible to roast potatoes without boiling them first, but I wanted to use half of this potato for another recipe...check back later this week to see it).

From Food pics