Tasty Tuesday!

Grilled Vegetable Quesadillas with Rhubarb Salsa

     Grilling season is in full swing! I've always enjoyed grilling out with friends and at one time it was a weekly and sometimes bi-weekly event. I haven't been able to grill as much as I used to but I still enjoy inviting friends over, having a few beers, and grilling food. A lot of people think that grilling is only for meat eaters but I say NAY! Besides the endless varieties of veggie burgers, tofu hot dogs, and soy sausages, which are all really tasty, the grill can be used for a wide variety of vegetarian dishes.

     This week I bring you Grilled Vegetable Quesadillas with Rhubarb Salsa. Veggie quesadillas are a great and easy way to feed a crowd and with the addition of rhubarb salsa you can't go wrong. This is honestly the first time I had made anything with rhubarb so it has always been a bit of a mystery. I had actually never tasted it until someone recently made a strawberry and rhubarb pie. My local grocery store had plenty on hand and for a very good price so I had to buy a few stalks. Rhubarb has a bit of a sour taste but not too much. It goes great with sweet items and even balances nicely with spicy items like the ingredients found in this salsa. Enjoy!

          Vegetable Quesadillas

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon pureed chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
• 1 red bell pepper
• 8 whole green onions
• 2 small zucchini or yellow squash, quartered lengthwise
• whole wheat flour tortillas
• shredded cheese (I used a 4-cheese Mexican blend)
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantroSour cream, guacamole (optional)

1. Combine oil and chilies in adobo sauce. Set aside 1 tablespoon of the mixture. Brush remaining mixture over both sides of vegetables or use as a marinade. 
2. Cut bell peppers and zucchini crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.
3. Grill vegetables until tender, turning occasionally.
4. Sprinkle half of cheese over four tortillas; drizzle reserved oil mixture over cheese. Top with grilled vegetables, cilantro, remaining cheese and tortillas. Grill quesadillas over medium-low coals 3 minutes per side or until cheese is melted and tortillas are lightly toasted. Cut into wedges and garnish with sour cream, rhubarb salsa and guacamole, if desired.

          Rhubarb Salsa

• 2 medium stalks rhubarb split lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch chunks
• 1/3 cup finely minced scallions
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
• 1/2 cup pickled cocktail onions, halved (finely chopped white onion can be substituted)
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• Salt
• Chipotle powder or cayenne (optional)

1. Have a bowl of ice and water ready. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil in a saucepan or pot, add the rhubarb, blanch 20 seconds, then scoop out with a slotted spoon into the ice water. After a minute, drain well and transfer to a medium-size bowl. 
2. Fold in the scallions, jalapeño and cocktail onions. 
3. Blend the honey into 1 tablespoon of the vinegar and add. Season with about 1/4 teaspoon salt and chipotle or cayenne to taste if desired.

Take care of yourself and each other...

Blogging from the road.

     I returned to North Carolina to visit family for a few days. I'll be the first to admit that this is not my favorite place in the world. In fact I very rarely have anything positive to say about my hometown. However, the time for negativity in my life is over. I'm trying to make it come to an end at least. Besides, I'm here to see family and family is everything. Or as Don Corleone famously said, "A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."

     There is one spot in my hometown that I always make time to visit even though at times I have no reason to. It's one of the oldest parts of the city and has gone through countless stages of reinvention (much like myself). It once was the commercial and economic district of the city and then later it was a haven for criminals, drugs, and prostitution. Now, its an area filled with locally owned small businesses, coffee shops, and independent movie houses. I started frequenting the area in my late teens during the decline of the crime and prostitution era and the very beginning of what the area is now. In fact, my favorite hang out when I was younger was an unassuming coffee shop that later turned out to be a front for a local drug trafficker. The coffee shop was obviously shut down and has since been a endless chain of shops, martini bars, restaurants, and now a techno club.  Here are a few pictures I snapped this morning.

This is a picture of the top floor of the old coffee shop. I never realized how beautiful it looked until this morning.

Take care of yourself and each other...

 
   

Tasty Tuesday!

Thai Red Curry Eggplant and Mustard Greens

     Last week I blogged about the affordability of various greens. They're in season now and abundant at your local grocer or farmer's market. I've decided to keep the leafy green train rolling this week with a recipe I found at Vegetarian Times of Thai red curry, eggplants, and mustard greens! Who doesn't love Thai food? It is the perfect balance of spicy, sweet, and sour somehow magically rolled into one dish.

     This is also a great recipe for cleaning out the refrigerator or pantry. I actually had everything on hand except for the eggplant. The only item that you might have trouble finding is the red curry paste. However, if you visit any Asian or international food market I guarantee they will have a massive supply and it is also extremely cheap. I purchased two cans of red curry paste for $1 and it keeps forever. Also, for those of you who don't like spicy food (and I will never understand why you don't) you can always go with a yellow curry paste instead of red. Green curry paste is the spiciest so you may want to avoid that. Enjoy!

• 2 Tbs. Thai red curry paste
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 clove garlic, minced (1 tsp.)
• 1 Tbs. vegetable oil
• 1 small eggplant (8 oz.) cut into 1-inch-thick chunks
• 1 small onion, quartered and sliced (1 cup)
• Mustard greens, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces. Use as much as as little as you want. 
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup light coconut milk
• Lime wedges

1. Whisk together curry paste, sugar, garlic, and 2 Tbs. water in small bowl. Set aside. 
2. Heat oil in wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and onion, and cook until eggplant is browned. Stir in the red curry mixture, and cook until vegetables are coated. 
3. Add mustard greens, and cook until leaves are wilted. Stir in coconut milk and 1 1/4 cups water, and season with salt, if desired. Cover, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until eggplant is tender. Serve with rice and a few lime wedges if desired. I also included a dish of soy sauce and chives.

The red curry paste! So spicy! (not really)

The eggplant and onions getting cozy

Chop the mustard greens using your sweet Santoku knife of truth. Mine is lurking in the background.

Coat the cooked vegetables with the curry paste. Ah...it's like a spicy blanket!

Pour in a little light coconut milk. Make sure to block your lighting so your picture has a nice shadow and you can barely see the food like I have done here.

Take care of yourself and each other...

Harvesting onions at the Towson University Urban Farm

"Car full of onions. Car full of onions. Car full of onions. Hey hey hey hey!"

You're supposed to sing the above lines like this:

Take care of yourself and each other...

The Beer is ready!

     Instead of making this yet another Tasty Tuesday post I have decided to debut the beer a little early. If you haven't read my previous posts about making this beer you can do so here, and here, and finally here. I wanted a beer that would be perfect for summer so I went with an American Pale. Hoppy with a hint of citrus, this is the perfect beer for really hot days. And did I mention that it will get you drunk?

     It has been hypothesized that civilization began when scavengers, hunters, and nomads began to settle and establish agriculture. But, it has been further hypothesized that the reason they established agriculture was to grow various types of grain that could then be fermented into beer. So, there you have it. Beer is responsible for civilization as we know it. Thank you beer! 

The American Pale

     I started making beer long before I began to discover agriculture but in a backwards/roundabout way I have managed to bring the two together. There is nothing more satisfying than drinking your own beer while working in your garden and growing your own food. When the Zombie Apocalypse happens (and it will mind you) I'll have the food and beer angle taken care of. All I need now to complete my team is a weapons expert, a martial artist, a sassy but beautiful black woman, and a fat guy. I am currently taking applications.

Having a beer while I check the tomatoes

Take care of yourself and each other...   

Tasty Tuesday!

Vegan Cabbage Rolls!

     Finally! A Tasty Tuesday post on an actual Tuesday. This week we will be exploring the wonderful world of cheap greens! Greens, like mustard, collard, cabbage, and or course, kale, are in season right now and are incredibly abundant and not to mention.....cheap, which is always a good thing. In fact, I bet it would be hard to find any of those items for more than $0.99 a pound. Additionally, a medium sized bunch of kale, mustard, collard greens, or a head of cabbage will be enough to make several different meals. So, my advice is buy as much as you can and get creative.

     Besides the obvious affordability of greens they are also super healthy for you. Can't we all use a little more money in our pocket and a little less cholesterol clogging our arteries? So this week, I bring to you Vegan Cabbage Rolls! Enjoy!

• 1 head of cabbage
• 1/2 cup of brown rice
• 1/2 cup of lentils
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• garlic (as much as you want)
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 15 ounce can of chopped tomatoes with the liquid (or pasta sauce)
• 3/4-1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 tablespoons of capers
• salt and pepper

1. In a pot, cover the brown rice and lentils with water, bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to medium low and cook until tender.
2. Heat the oven to 350F. Bring a large pot to a boil. Place cabbage leaves (as many as will fit) into the pot and boil until the leaves soften (this will take a few minutes). Then set aside.
3. In a skillet, heat the olive oil, add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the tomatoes and liquid, garlic, the vegetable stock, and caper and cook for another 5 minutes or so until the liquid has reduced somewhat. Add salt and pepper to taste
4. Lay the cabbage leaves out and spoon in brown rice and lentil mixture. Add the tomato sauce mixture on top of that and then fold the cabbage leaves (burrito style) and place seam side down in a small baking dish. Repeat until you have no more rice and lentils, or no more cabbage leaves, or no more space in your baking dish. You may also pour any remaining liquid over the cabbage rolls to prevent them from drying out.
5. Cover the baking dish loosely with tin foil and place in the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until everything is heated through.

Take care of yourself and each other...

Tasty Tuesday!

Beer! (part 3)


     This is the third installment of the beer related Tasty Tuesday posts. The fourth and final installment is my favorite (drinking the beer). This week, after two weeks of maturing the beer in the secondary fermenter, it was time to bottle! Bottling is probably my favorite part of making beer. You get to see the un-carbonated final product and there is something incredibly satisfying about filling bottles with a beverage that carries so much history and has the potential to make a lot of people very happy. And....I made it myself. This is quickly turning into a DIY type blog. So be it.

     The process of capping the beer traps carbon dioxide inside the bottle and creates bottle conditioned carbonation. A single celled organism has never amazed me as much as yeast. The bottles will need a couple of weeks to fully carbonate and then after that....it's time to drink. During the bottling process I got my first whiff of the hop aroma. I have a feeling that this beer is going to be super hoppy. A perfect summer beer if you ask me.

     Stay tuned for the finish product. If you have any beer brewing questions, or just want to talk beer, feel free to leave a few comments. I hope to hear from you.

    Roommate Ryan capping that bottle like a boss.

Take care of yourself and each other...

Tasty Tuesday! Late Edition

Pickles!

     I know....I know. I'm late again. I've been burning the candle at both ends trying to finish this grad thesis. I've had to put a few things on the back burner. But, I have returned and this time I have brought pickles. I've written before about food preservation and my goal to have a waste free garden this year. I decided this past week to learn how to make my own pickles, and with the help of a family recipe that was given to me recently, I did just that. My garden hasn't produced any cucumbers of its own yet, so I bought two large cucumbers from my local grocery store instead, but I do have a ton of fresh dill. I figured that this will be practice before I become overrun by cukes in the next couple of months.

     The process was MUCH easier than I thought and took very little time. This is a dill pickle recipe but there is an endless variety of pickles you can make. I'll explore those later. So, if you're looking for new ways to use those left over cucumbers or just want to get on the DIY bandwagon. Give pickling a try.

     This recipe will make a couple large jars of pickles or maybe 3 small ones.

• 2-3 medium sized cucumbers
• 1qt. water
• 1c. vinegar
• 1/4 cup of salt

To each canning jar add the following:

• 1 clove of garlic
• a few sprigs of fresh dill
• 2 tsp. pickling spice

1. Combine 1 quart of water, 1 cup of vinegar, 1/4 cup of salt in a small pot and bring to a boil. Once the liquid begins to boil reduce the heat to medium low and stir until all the ingredients are combined (basically until you can't see any salt).
2. Let the liquid cool completely. You don't want to cook the cucumbers when you add the liquid to the jar.
3. To each jar add a clove of garlic and a few sprigs of dill. 
4. Cut the cucumbers into thin slices and fill the jars.
5. Next, add two teaspoons of pickling spice to each jar. I added one teaspoon before the cucumbers went into the jars and another teaspoon after.
6. Fill the jars with the cool liquid. Do not fill the jars completely full. You will need about 1 inch of head space between the jar lid and the liquid.
7. Keep the jars in a the refrigerator. The longer you let the cucumbers marinate the better.

A couple of cucumbers are about to feel the wrath of my sweet Santoku knife.

A sprig of fresh dill I grew in my garden. No big deal...I just cultivated life, that's all.

Sliced cucumbers, sprigs of dill, and a clove of garlic nestled snuggly in a glass jar.

The finished product with pickling spice. Looks way better than Vlasic.

Take care of yourself and each other...

See, the Champ doesn't eat meat either!

     This is the real reason I stopped eating meat (not really). You're the best champ!

photo by Christopher Ameruoso

Take care of yourself and each other...