Tag Archives: Entrees

Catfish en Papier

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This is a dish that I’ve been making it regularly for about five years. I usually make it with catfish, but it’s equally good with scrod (which is what I made it with tonight), tilapia, or any white-fleshed fish.

To make it: 
  • 4 catfish filets (or other white fish), cleaned and de-boned
  • 1 bosc pear, cored and sliced into thin wedges
  • 1 lemon, sliced thinly
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • about 8 artichoke hearts, quartered
  • 1/2 cup kalamata olives
  • 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
  • 1/4 cup capers
  • 1/2 cup dijon mustard (smooth or stone-ground)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • juice of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425. Mix together dijon, honey, lemon juice, olive oil, thyme, dill, salt and pepper to make the sauce. Lay out each fish filet on a square piece of parchment paper and layer with lemon, about a dozen capers, 6 olives, 2 artichoke hearts and 2 tsp of pomegranate seeds. Add pepper and pear slices. Drizzle on about 2 tsp of sauce and fold the parchment corners in together to make a packet for the fish. Arrange completed packets on a cookie sheet and bake at 425 for 15 minutes (add a bit of time for thicker filets). Serve immediately with some brown rice and steamed green beans.

Baked mac and cheese

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I grew up eating my grandmother’s mac and cheese - pretty good, but BLAND as all get out - I think she used Velveeta and Cheddar for most of it, and almost no salt or spices. Finding myself in need of a kid-friendly, but adult-palatable meal last week, I stumbled upon this beautiful recipe. Using a bit of gorgonzola gives it a bite without too much punch, and the ground mustard and leeks just makes it magical. With the exception of my eight-year-old neice (who seemed crestfallen that it wasn’t Kraft), all 7 people in my house that night devoured this. It’s not low-fat by any stretch of the imagination, so make this on a cold night when you have a lot of people to feed. It keeps pretty well, too - but I don’t recommend freezing it.

To make it: 
  • 1 pound of pasta (preferably a medium-sized shell shape - I don’t like elbows much)
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 leeks, sliced in half lengthwise and cut into thin half-moon shapes
  • 3 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped roughly (you want largish pieces)
  • 2 tbsp flour
  • 1 tsp paprika (regular)
  • 1 tbsp ground mustard (I grind my own in a mortar and pestle)
  • a couple of pinches herbs de provence
  • 2 cups 2% milk
  • 1 cup grated colby
  • 3/4 cup grated extra-sharp cheddar
  • 1/4 cup gorgonzola crumbles
  • 1/2 grated parmesan or asiago
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup of bread crumbs, unseasoned

Preheat oven to 400. Cook pasta until it’s about 3/4 done - you want it to still have a lot of bite to it, but be a bit softer. Drain and spread out into a 13*9 casserole dish or Bar pan.

To make the sauce, melt butter in a large saucepan and sauté leeks and garlic until they soften. Add flour, paprika, mustard, salt, pepper and herbs and sauté for a bit longer until the flour gets pasty and a bit brown. Add milk and whisk to incorporate anything. Heat on medium, whisking constantly until everything is well incorporated and milk is heated through. Add colby, gorgonzola and sharp cheddar along with about 1/4 cup of the grated parmesan or asiago. Keep whisking on medium until cheese melts and incorporates into the mixture and it starts getting thicker. It might not get super-thick; don’t worry about it. A lot of the liquid soaks into the pasta while it bakes.

When the sauce is good and done (taste a bit of it to be sure it tastes right), pour the whole thing over the pasta and stir to coat in the pan. Top the whole thing with the rest of the grated parmesan or asiago and the breadcrumbs. Bake for about 20-30 minutes or until the breadcrumbs start to get brown. Serve hot with some sautéed ginger carrots (just sauté them with a bit of butter and ginger ale until they’re tender - thanks Alton Brown!) and a salad.

Cabbage Curry with Tomatoes

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This was my take on a really amazing cabbage curry I had at a Bengali restaurant I frequent with my boyfriend Nick. This version is lighter, fresher and has just a hint of sweetness to it. It was amazing over potato/cheddar pierogies, but you can also have it over basmati or brown rice. The key is to get a fairly small, young cabbage - it has much more tender leaves that get a bit sweet when you cook them.

To make it: 
  • 1 small head of cabbage, sliced very thin
  • 6 medium-sized plum tomatoes, diced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced thinly
  • 1 onion, cut in half and sliced thinly into half-moon shapes
  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped roughly
  • 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) - you can also use butter, peanut oil or mustard oil (mustard oil is nice in this)
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Penzey’s Maharishi Curry Powder (or another curry powder you like)
  • 1 tbsp brown mustard seeds, crushed
  • salt to taste

Melt ghee in a shallowish stockpot and add spices. Cook until they start to crackle and you get that great smell like curry is happening in your house. Add onions and garlic and sauté on medium-high for about 5-10 minutes until onions are soft. Add the rest of the veggies and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until veggies (especially cabbage) are soft and wilty. Serve over potato and onion pierogies or over basmati rice.

Summer risotto with beets and fresh corn

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Traditional risottos tend to have a heavy dose of Parmesan, and I realized too late that I was out. The substitution of extra-sharp Cheddar not only worked well - it was PERFECT. This is really surprisingly good, and  the beets impart a dark red color that’s really nice.

To make it: 
  • 1 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) or butter
  • 1 medium onion, chopped roughly
  • 2 ears corn, kernels removed
  • 1 medium beet, julienned
  • 1/2 block tempeh, sliced into small pieces (optional - you can also do a cup of fresh or frozen peas)
  • 4 cups veggie stock
  • 1 cup arborio rice
  • 1/4 cup chardonnay (preferably one that’s quite fruity and a bit tart - we used one called “smashed grapes”)
  • salt to taste
  • about 1 tsp curry powder
  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped finely
  • 1/3 cup extra-sharp cheddar, grated finely

heat stock in a small saucepan over low heat and keep heating for the duration of the cooking. heat ghee, curry and onions in a large sauté pan, stirring over medium heat until onions are translucent. add rice and stir to coat and incorporate everything all nice-like. add wine and continue stirring around until wine is absorbed into the rice. start adding stock a ladelful at a time, stirring with each ladelful until liquid is absorbed - don’t add new stock until the rice starts looking dry. when you’ve got about 3/4 cup left, add beets and corn, and tempeh or peas with a ladelful of stock, and stir to incorporate. throw in some salt. add the last of the stock and the cheese and thyme and cook, stirring constantly, until risotto is done. you’ll know that it is because the rice has gotten tender but still has some bite to it, and you have a bit of a sauce going, but nothing drastic.

Roasted Eggplant with feta/corn relish

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I made this last night for myself and a friend, and I gotta say, I’m loving the Vegetarian Times right now! The inspiration for this dish came from yet another Yoga Journal newsletter, but the ingredients were stuff I just happened to have on hand. This dish is amazing alongside a bit of quinoa (as I had it last night), or with some baked brown rice (which I’m having it with today)

To make it: 

Ingredients:
eggplant/glaze:

  • 1 largish eggplant, cut into 1/2″ slices
  • 2 tblsp good balsamic (mine had a fig infusion, but you could use any good vinegar)
  • 1/2 tsp herbes de provence (or just thyme and rosemary)
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 3 tblsp good olive oil

Heat the oven to 400 F. To make the glaze, put balsamic and herbs/salt/pepper into a wide bowl. Whisk in the oil until you get a fair emulsion. Coat the eggplant slices with the glaze and place on a cookie sheet - bake at 400 F for about 20 minutes, until eggplant is tender (it should feel a bit melty when you poke it).

Relish (this is best made ahead of time; I did it in the afternoon)

  • 1 large heirloom tomato (I used a red zebra, but you could also use 2 medium-sized vine-ripened tomatoes), chopped roughly.
  • 1/2 cup dried chickpeas (or 1 can of cooked ones)
  • 2 ears of corn, kernels removed
  • 1 cup feta cheese crumbles
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 tblsp good balsamic
  • 1-2 tblsp good olive oil
  • 2-3 tblsp fresh basil, julienned

If using dried, rehydrate the chickpeas by bringing them to a boil in about 3 cups of water and simmering for 30 minutes over medium heat. drain any liquid and add chickpeas to a large bowl with a lid. If using canned, drain and rinse the chickpeas and add them to a large bowl with a lid. Now that you’ve done that, add the tomatoes, corn kernels (you don’t need to cook them), salt and pepper and drizzle the balsamic and olive oil over the whole mess. Toss to coat, and mix everything together. Add basil, toss very gently again, and cover the bowl. Let it sit in the fridge for at least an hour or two.

To assemble this is very simple - put a bit of eggplant on the plate, have some quinoa or brown rice on the plate with it, and then spoon the relish on top. It also goes very well with the grain, so if you want to just eat the relish with some brown rice the next day, that’s quite tasty as well.