New Standard Veggie Kebabs

It's summer, so odds are some or all of the following things are true:

• You can get lots of tasty vegetables for cheap
• It's too hot to cook inside
• You're going to a cookout
• You're throwing a cookout
• You've got vegetarian friends coming
• You are a vegetarian
• You're just too cheap to buy meat (actually these last two are season-independent, but whatever)

So you'd better have a good vegetable grilling option. The good news is, this recipe (which, as the title implies, has become my new standard both for cookouts and for dealing with vegetables when I don't have the time or brainpower to do anything fancy) is really all you need. I mean, if you want to get crazy grilling vegetables, don't let me stop you! In fact, invite me over so I can watch you grill them, and then eat the result! But this is easy, reliable, and so delicious you won't have any leftovers if you have guests. Which is a pity, because the leftovers are tasty cold.

This is so simple. Do I really need to do a post on this? You probably got the idea from the title, right? Chop some vegetables up, put them on a skewer, and grill them. But I know for me at least, it always helps to have a walkthrough, even - especially - for the most basic things. So here we go.



Ingredients

• Vegetables (onion I recommend having with everything since it caramelizes nicely and gives a savory flavor to its neighbors, summer squash of multiple varieties for extra color and flavor, mushroom another umami-intensive option, bell pepper also flavors its neighbors on the skewer, eggplant needs a long cooking time but absorbs flavor wonderfully, tomato not a vegetable but who cares, cauliflower tough to skewer but so worth it, potatoes or other root vegetables if they are small or par-cooked. Try others! If they work really well, tell me about it! If they fail spectacularly, tell me about that too!
• Olive oil
• Garlic
• Salt
• Spices (I like curry powder, thyme, and adobo. I bet you'd also have great results with dill, creole seasoning, maybe zaatar. Ooh, zaatar. I'm going to try that next time.)

You'll also need:

• Wooden skewers (You can use metal ones if you've got them, of course).
• A pastry brush

Instructions
Chop up your vegetables into large chunks; slightly larger than the size chunk you would like to eat off a skewer (since they're going to shrink as you cook them.

Start threading the vegetables onto the skewers. Try not to stab yourself. If you want very even cooking, you can separate the skewers by vegetable type, but personally I like to mix it up. Part of the joy of eating vegetables is that they mostly taste great in various stages of doneness, so adding that to the medley of flavors and textures you'll be creating just makes it more delightful. I like to include at least one chunk of onion on each skewer - it goes well with everything - but you should have more than enough vegetables to experiment.

Get a bowl and pour in about 1/4 cup olive oil - or however much you think it will take to brush your skewers with. Squeeze in a couple of garlic cloves and a pinch of salt, and stir around with your pastry brush.

Heat up your grill medium-hot. Pop your skewers onto the grill, and brush them with the garlic-oil mixture. Turn them over and brush them again. If the vegetables have started cooking while you were inside getting the oil, or the oven mitts, or something to put the cooked skewers on, that's OK. This is a very forgiving recipe; as long as you get the oil on sometime in the early cooking stage, it will be delicious.

What this recipe doesn't really forgive is ingredient quality. This is not really the place to use up the vegetables that are going to go bad if you don't use them tonight. I used an overgrown zucchini in this one (part of an experiment you'll read about in a few weeks time, if all goes well) and it came out too sweet-tasting and starchy.

Anyway, once you've brushed everything with oil, dust everything with your choice of spices. Here I've done curry on half and thyme on half.

Let grill for about half an hour or until vegetables are tender. You can eyeball this one. Watch out for the tomatoes sticking to the grill. Pull 'em off the grill and serve to your guests as is, or if you're spending a sad lonely evening like me, slide them off the skewers and save whatever you don't eat for later in the week!

Cost:
However much your vegetables cost. Let's see, here it's:
Eggplant:  $0.89
Zucchini: $0.50
Mushrooms: $1.00
Onion: $.10
Tomatoes: free! (garden for the win!)
Pepper: $.99
Total: $3.68
Serves: 3-6 depending on what else you're having.

Salad for Dinner

Learning to think of salad as the main meal rather than a side dish is an extremely useful skill.

Dinner!

Rice, corn, and potatoes are the food of the broke, to be sure, but they are also food for working outdoors all day. So when you need to eat enough to feel full but your level of manual labor doesn't justify a heaping plateful of rice, it's time for an enormous salad.

I learned to make this salad from a good friend, and it has gradually become my favorite kale salad of all time. (I'll post my second-favorite next time cottage cheese goes on sale). Kale is a great base for a dinner salad - it's robust and a little crunchy, it's got enough texture to keep things interesting, and it's got one of the best price-to-nutrient ratios in the grocery store. Add its cousin broccoli to the mix, and I could eat this for dinner every night for a week and be happy.  It also introduce me to a brilliant way to handle broccoli stems.

Broccoli stems are the vegetable equivalent of offal - they tend to get passed over or tossed out, but with a little bit of attention, they yield a quantity of delicious, nutritious, and highly edible food.



Ingredients

Half a small bunch of kale. I like the curly kind best for this purpose.
A head of broccoli
An avocado
An apple. A tart, firm-fleshed one is best.

(these are the essential ingredients, you can add other things like sunflower seeds, crumbled cheese, other vegetables chopped very fine)

Instructions

Wash the kale and chop it finely. (This means that you can also use most of the stems, unless they are particularly woody. Put it in your salad bowl.

A trimmed broccoli stem

Wash the broccoli and trim the stem. Depending on how young and tender the broccoli is, the stem usually has a woody, stringy outer layer. Slice that right off. You don't have to be tremendously precise about it. You're just getting it to a point where you can grate the stem. Chop up the broccoli florets nice and small - you don't want to be picking little trees out of the salad. Add the florets to the salad bowl.

You can see how the stringy bits simply won't grate.

Grate the stem into the salad bowl. Anything that's too tough to grate - I usually leave the outer layer on one side of the stem so I have something to hold onto while grating - discard.

The apple I used was a little too sweet and juicy.
See how it's oxidizing already?

Wash the apple, and grate it into the salad bowl.

Dice the avocado, add it to the salad. Toss, dress, and eat.

(As for dressing, you can use any of your favorites. Because this salad is so flavorful on its own, and has a fair degree of moisture from the grated apple and broccoli stem, I usually add no more than olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt.)



Cost
Kale: $.40
Apple: $.35
Broccoli: $1
Avocado: $1
Sunflower seeds: $.25
TOTAL: $3
SERVES: 1-2 (as meal), 4-5 (as side)

Endlessly Useful Granola

Maple-walnut-apricot

If there is one thing you should not be paying other people to make for you, it is granola. (Exception, of course, if I persuade my mother, whose formula this is, to start selling the stuff: that you should definitely buy!) Buy your ingredients in bulk and bake it yourself; an hour's worth of work can stock you up for a month. This recipe isn't so much a recipe as an algorithm. It's endlessly adaptable to whatever you have in your cabinets, whatever your taste is, and whatever's on sale at the moment.

Coconut-cashew-cranberry-chocolate

INGREDIENTS

6 Cups Granola Stuff:  Oats, coconut, sunflower seeds, peanuts, walnuts,
almonds, sesame seeds, etc. 2 -3 cups of this should be oats or a flaky thing - I've used rolled wheat and rolled quinoa on occasion. 

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil

1/2 cup honey (can substitute part molasses or maple syrup)

1/4 cup sugar 

1/2 tsp vanilla

spices to taste. I like ginger and cinnamon.

1/2 cup dried fruit and/or chocolate chips

Toast the granola stuff on an ungreased baking sheet for 20 minutes at 300ᵒ F, stirring occasionally. 

Meanwhile, heat the butter or oil, honey, and sugar in a saucepan. Stir well to combine. If you like, you can add 1/2 c peanut butter. Simmer but don't boil, at least not if you want to get your pot clean. Add vanilla if using. Combine the liquid and the lightly toasted mixture, stir until well mixed. Add spices if you're using them.

Pre-bake

Put the mixture back on the baking sheet. If you want it to stick together, pack it down. If you like a looser granola, break it up. Bake the combined mixture for 20 minutes at 300ᵒ F, stirring occasionally. Don't overbake - it will harden up as it cools. Remove from oven and let cool. As it cools, add chocolate chips and/or dried fruit.

I made two types of granola on this go-round. The first was oats, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, cashews, sesame seeds, coconut, and almond, held together with oil and honey, garnished with dried cranberries and chocolate chips. The second was oats, wheat bran, peanuts, walnuts, and ground flax seeds, held together with butter and maple syrup, garnished with apricots.

All the ingredients were bought in bulk, so the prices are approximations:

In the oven

Oats: $1.50

Wheat Bran $.10

Cashews $2

Walnuts $2

Peanuts $.50

Maple syrup $1

Butter $1.50

Flax seeds $.50

Honey $1

Sugar $.25

Cranberries $.75

Coconut: $.75

Apricots $1

Sunflower seeds: $.75

Almonds: $.75

Sesame seeds: $.25

Chocolate chips: $1.25

TOTAL: $15.85 (steep for a meal, but consider this will provide about a month's worth of breakfasts. Half a month if you also eat it for snacks. $1/day for some pretty energy-dense stuff.)

Butternut Lasagna with Vegan Bechamel Variation

Or, Almost But Not Completely Entirely Unlike Lasagna

This is the first variation - kale and sausage

What with folks shying away from refined wheat products these days, I'd naturally come across a variety of ways to approach the delicious and reliable pasta standards. What is both as cheap as pasta and can get its job, in terms of filling the stomach and the structure of the dish? Well, vegetables, naturally, but which ones? Zucchini ribbons make admirable substitutes for lasagna noodles, but zucchini are hardly worth the eating in winter. What we do have, however, is an abundance of winter squash. I wondered about what would happen if I replaced the lasagna noodles with thinly sliced winter squash, and the result was - this.

I'm going to take you through two variations on this dish in this post. There are two main components to this dish (besides the butternut): the Filling Stuff, and the Creamy Stuff. In the first variation, the Filling Stuff is kale and sausage, and the Creamy Stuff is ricotta and mozzarella. In the second, the Filling Stuff is kale and mushrooms, and the Creamy Stuff is a bechamel sauce made with coconut milk. You want to get really crazy, you can combine them, why not.

Ingredients - Base
1 large winter squash. (I prefer butternut. Something easy to peel; you're going to be slicing it.)

Ingredients - Filling Stuff*
1 large bundle of robust greens. (I prefer kale; spinach works just fine, collards would probably do.)
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic
1 8oz box of mushrooms, and/or
2 sausages of your choice (these are leftover chicken-and-apple), and/or
some additional vegetables. Peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, why not.
2 tbsp olive oil
Ingredients - Creamy Stuff
2 cups ricotta or cottage cheese
2 med eggs or 1 large egg
1/2 bunch parsley
1 tsp thyme
1/2 lb mozzarella
1/3 cup grated parmesan or other hard savory cheese
Ingredients - Creamy Stuff (Vegan Variation)
1 can coconut milk
2 tbsp oil
4 tbsp flour. I use whole wheat.
1/2 tsp nutmeg

*This makes enough filling for both variations. If you want to do just one, either cut the filling down, or increase the creamy stuff. Or just save the extra filling and eat it for lunch tomorrow.

Instructions

Stab the squash a bit with a knife; you don't want it to explode. Microwave it on high for three minutes. This'll make it easier to cut.

Peel the squash and slice it into rounds, as thinly as you possibly can. When you reach the seeds, scoop them out. You'll be slicing crescents now; that's fine.  Set your squash aside.

Dice your onions, chop or crush your garlic, and start it sauteeing in the olive oil.

Once the onions have started to become soft, add the mushrooms, sausages, or other filling ingredients.

Wash the greens, chop them finely, add them to the onion mixture. Cook them until they are just starting to turn tender, but not so long they lose their shape. Add a splash of water to the skillet if they are dry or sticking. Set your filling aside.

Ricotta variation

Ricotta variation
Mix the ricotta, eggs, and finely chopped parsley in a bowl. Add thyme and salt and pepper.

Vegan variation
Heat the oil (I confess, I used butter, but that wouldn't be vegan, would it?) in a small skillet. Add the flour and stir briskly. When it starts to darken and smell like toast, start stirring in the coconut milk, a little at a time until you have added the whole can. Add the nutmeg, and salt and pepper. You should have a thick bechamel sauce.

Coconut Milk Variation

Assembly

This is the really fun part about lasagna. Lay down a layer of your filling, pour or dab 1/3 of the creamy stuff over the top of it, grate 1/3 of your cheese over it (if you're using cheese), and then arrange your squash slices artfully in a layer over all that. Repeat until you run out of layers. Place in oven heated to 400 degrees and bake for 40 minutes or until the whole thing is bubbling. Let it set for at least ten minutes before trying to serve. It'll be looser than a regular lasagna, and is even better the next day (especially the coconut one).

Price - Variation 1
Butternut squash - $1
Kale - $.75
Onion - $.25
Ricotta - $2
Mozzarella - $2
Sausage - $3
Parsley - $.50
Total: $9.50

Price - Variation 2
Butternut squash - $1
Kale - $.75
Onion - $.25
Mushrooms - $2
Coconut milk - $1
Total: $5

Both serve 4-6 people.

Potato Leek Soup

As the winter sinks its claws into the east coast again, don't you want warm soup? I want warm soup. This is my go to soup. It's easy, it's cheap, its warm and delicious.

When I make potato leek soup, the creamy-pureed soup, that is not at the top of my list. Cream soups make giant messes of pots, and I like generally like chunks in my soup. I think of it as easy vegetable soup, really. Get tasty potatoes, russets or yukon gold. If you have one available, and have the fortitude to deal with one, a grated celery root is a delicious addition, as are celery seeds, but if neither are on hand, it is good without.

Potato Leek Soup

serves: lots

4 tbsp butter (or less, or olive oil)

minced ginger to taste

salt to taste

1 bay leaf

3 quarts broth, approximately*

3 leeks, with the ends trimmed

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 stalks of celery, chopped

4 potatoes, chopped

Melt the butter and sautee the garlic.

When the butter is melted and the garlic looks sauteed, add in the broth, bay leaf, and all the vegetables except the potatoes. Boil until everything is pretty soft, for about half an hour. Pull out the bay leaf and blend. If you have an immersion blender, now is a great time to use it; if not, you'll have to blend it in a regular mixer; try to get mostly the solid pieces in the blender, you'll be less likely to burn yourself that way. You don't really need to puree it to smooth unless you want to, like I said, I like some chunks. Cook it with the potatoes, until they are soft to the touch and nice and biteable, about another half hour.

Serve it with good crusty bread if you have it.

Unlike Bess, I am absolutely terrible at actually keeping track of how much anything costs. I might get better later as the blog progresses, but for now...here is my recipe.

*I use Trader Joe's vegetable broth that comes in a box. I would highly recommend using broth instead of water, but what kind of broth you use is really up to you.

Life-Changing Cabbage Soup

Slightly tangy, slightly creamy, this cabbage soup will make you rethink cabbage.

I know, this is a lot to promise from any soup, particularly from a soup made from the notoriously sock-flavored boiled cabbage. But this soup has made believers out of all my housemates. It’s at once tender and hearty, it sticks to your ribs and warms you right through, and it’s just as good if not better the next day.

Adapted from Nash Holos.

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage

2-4 potatoes (more if small)

2 onions

1 leek (or on this case, a ton of scallions)

2 tbsp butter or oil
2 tbsp flour

1-2 cups yogurt.

2 liters water or stock

Start heating the water or stock in a large soup pot.

Chop the potatoes up pretty small. You’ll be mashing them up in the soup, and a lot of the texture is going to come from how thoroughly you mash them. Personally, I like a few of them to stay chunky, but it’s up to you. So is the type of potato - I just use whatever is on hand, and so far everything’s worked.

Slice the cabbage up pretty small - not grated-level fine, but you don’t want to be fishing out recognizable chunks of cabbage. Drop it in the stock and let simmer. I use green cabbage, but there’s no reason red shouldn’t work, other than it might look odd.

Chop up the onion. The size will depend on how you like your onions in soup. Larger chunks if you like the succulent burst of savory onion flavor and smooth simmered texture, small dice if you’re not so into that and want the onion to blend more into the background. Add it to the soup. Let the whole thing just boil lightly for a while until the potatoes are mashable. In the meantime…

Chop the second onion and the leek - same deal about size depending on how you like them. Heat the butter or oil in a small skillet and start caramelizing the onion and leek. This’ll take about ten minutes or so; don’t skimp on the time here because this is what will give you a rich savory flavor in the soup.

While your onions are caramelizing, mash the potatoes in the soup pot. I just use the back of a spoon. Add water if it's thicker than you'd like.

Add a little more butter or oil to the skillet and then add the flour. I’ve used whole wheat flour and ground oat flour - I like something a little robust. Stir that around with the onions until it starts to smell like toast, 2-3 minutes. Then put the whole thing in the soup pot and stir it around.

Deglaze the onion skillet with the yogurt, and pour it into the soup. Turn down the heat so the yogurt doesn’t separate, stir it well, add salt, pepper, and a dash of lemon juice if you like, and eat.

Serves between four and eight, depending on how hungry they are and how much leftovers they want.

Cost breakdown:
Cabbage: $0.79
Onions: $0.23
Potatoes ~$.50? (part of CSA)
Scallions: $1.00
Yogurt: $1.00
Stock ~$1.00? (made from a $7.00 chicken)

TOTAL: $4.52