Vegan Bacon

Every year I take a girls trip with my cousins and sister-in-law. We head to a cottage to eat and drink and relax all weekend. I like to try to make something special to bring when I can. We have two vegetarians in the group, so this year it was Vegan Bacon!

Wait, don't go! This recipe is meant to taste like bacon, but it's just made of roasted mushrooms and it's totally delicious in its own right. Meat-eaters will love it too!  My husband, the opposite of a vegan, loved it and calls it "facon".

I've adapted this recipe from Serious Eats.  The original recipe calls for roasting, then smoking the mushrooms with a chunk of wood on the stovetop. 

I decided that was a little ambitious for me on a weeknight, so I just used smoked salt and smoked paprika instead. The "bacon" probably isn't as smoky as it could be, but it sure is delicious!

The secret to making the mushrooms look like little strips of bacon is to use king oyster mushrooms.  These are usually available in Asian grocery stores, and some specialty grocery stores.  They have a mild flavour and cook to a chewy, crisp texture in the oven. 

If you can't find king oyster mushrooms, you can make vegan bacon bits out of smaller mushrooms using the same technique in the recipe below. 

The vegan bacon will keep about 5 days in an airtight container.  If you're serving it with breakfast, you can crisp it up again in the oven for 5 minutes.  Or just serve it at room temperature on sandwiches, salads or as a snack!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
4 king oyster mushrooms (about 250g)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil 
smoked salt
cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/8 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Use one large or two regular-sized baking sheets and line them with parchment paper or foil.  Spread two tablespoons vegetable oil over the parchment or foil.

Slice the mushrooms lengthwise into planks, about 1/8 inch thick (each mushroom will make about 6 slices with some scraps left over).

Lay the mushrooms on the oiled baking sheet(s) in a single layer. Then flip the mushrooms so the side with oil on it is facing up. 

Sprinkle smoked salt and pepper over the mushroom slices.  Flip again, and sprinkle the other side with smoked salt and pepper. 

Bake for 20 minutes.  Carefully flip the mushrooms and bake for 20 minutes more, watching carefully for the last 5 minutes, until they are crisp but not hard. 

Remove the mushrooms from the oven and drain on paper towels. 

Mix the remaining tablespoon of oil, maple syrup, sugar, paprika and garlic in a medium bowl.  Toss the mushrooms in the mixture and lay them out on the baking sheet again.  Return the sheet to the oven and bake about 5 minutes until the sugars begin to caramelize.  

Serve warm or store for up to 5 days and share with friends!  

Potato & Cheese Frittata

I rarely make eggs for dinner but every time I do I wonder why I don't do it more often. 

A frittata is very simple to make. You just cook your fillings and add eggs, then bake in the oven until set.

This is a great vegetarian meal that's filling and tasty and works surprisingly well as leftovers the next day.

This recipe comes from The Kitchn, with a few changes to make it even faster. Here's what you need:

Roasted Beet Salad with Creamy Jalapeño Dressing

Lately in our CSA basket we've been getting a lot of golden beets. They taste pretty much the same as red beets but they don't make as much of a mess when you peel and chop them.  This salad makes use of the pretty contrast between the red and golden beets and adds some creamy, spicy dressing to the mix.

Here's what you need for this salad:

Tart of the Month: Asparagus & Gruyere

I have plenty more to tell about our road trip to Nashville, but let's take a break from travel for our tart of the month!  This month we're doing asparagus again. We have a small asparagus patch in our garden and due to the cold winter and late spring, it is just starting to produce asparagus now in mid May.  Asparagus is one of my favourite vegetables so it gets two months of tarts before spring turns to summer and I suspect the tart of the month will turn from savoury to sweet for a while.

This tart is so easy.  Once again, no pastry skills needed, just frozen puff pastry.  Here's what you need for this simple spring tart from Martha Stewart:

Baby Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Pecans

This is a lovely, fresh salad.  It makes a great side dish or main course.

Curried Couscous with Zucchini

It is zucchini time again!  Last year we grew zucchini in our garden.  As we were warned, the harvest was abundant.  We managed to give some away and use the rest up in muffins, pasta and as a side dish.  Also, you can't beat fried zucchini blossoms!

But, because the plant took up so much space in the garden, we didn't grow zucchini this year.  We've got brussels sprouts growing in their place.  So I had to buy some zucchini for this recipe, but it's a great way to use it.  It is delicious warm or at room temperature.  As a side dish or a vegetarian main course.  Colourful, crunchy and tasty.

Here's what you need:  

Baby Turnips with Turnip Greens & Baby Carrots

I'm very pleased with these summer veggies.  Every week I go to the farmers market and grab whatever looks good.  

We've had some tasty veggies this year, but I always keep an eye out for baby turnips because they're so sweet and delicious. 

The baby turnips look exactly like white radishes.  Here they are with some breakfast radishes.

Watermelon Feta Salad

Don't be scared.  It may seem weird to mix watermelon with savoury feta but the taste is so delicious!  It is sweet, salty and refreshing.  I highly recommend this for lunch or dinner! 

I used a quarter of a medium-sized melon for 2 generous servings.  Remove the skin from the watermelon. 

Chiles Rellenos

Before I knew Matt, I'd never heard of chiles rellenos, stuffed, fried poblano chiles.  But over the years I've seen him order them any time he sees them on a menu.  It's not easy to find a wide variety of chiles where we live, so when I saw poblano peppers at the grocery store, I snapped them up and decided to surprise Matt with his favourite dish.  

I'm not going to say this was easy.  It's pretty ambitious, but you can prepare it in stages and fry the peppers in the batter at the last minute.  Frying indoors is one of my least favourite ways to cook; it's messy and hot and requires full attention.  But for some things - including this - it's worth it.  

I used this recipe from Chow which calls for an egg batter and claims to be the most authentic method.  Some recipes call for breadcrumbs in the coating.  This was an unusual batter but it tasted great.  

Rice Pilaf (Guest Post)

I wasn't feeling well last week so Matt did a bang-up job on dinner. This was so delicious we'll be making it again and again.  Here's Matt...

Sometimes, inspiration strikes and you end up trying something new with wonderful results. We had a pork tenderloin to marinate and had a bottle of souvlaki marinade. Wanting to keep with a vaguely Greek-style flavours, I took to the Googles and quickly surfed through some recipes for rice pilaf.

I decided to use this recipe as a starting point and made a few little changes: 

Pasta with (Very) Fresh Mushrooms

Mushrooms and I have a tumultuous relationship. When I was a kid I hated them more than any other food and would not tolerate even a sliver of mushroom on my pizza or pasta.  The first time I tasted and enjoyed mushrooms was in my 20s when friends grilled some marinated portobello mushrooms for a meatless dinner. It was a revelation, and I've been experimenting more with mushrooms ever since.  I still wouldn't say they're one of my favourite foods, but I do cook with them regularly and always eat them when they appear on my plate.  This is a big relief to Matt, who loves mushrooms.

So I'm sure my teen-aged self would be shocked to know that I not only eat mushrooms, but actually grew my own at home and enjoyed them.

I received this super cool mushroom kit from Mushrooms Canada and was very excited to grow them.  

Corn Radish and Jicama Salad

This is a gorgeous, tasty salad.  I bet it will be even better when corn is in season this summer, but it was a wonderful, colourful dish.

I adapted this recipe from Serious Eats (like just about everything I eat).  I didn't have all the ingredients they call for but this turned out great.   

Here's what you need: 

Swiss Chard, Fennel & White Bean Gratin

Hopefully this will be one of the last wintery dishes I have to post before spring brings asparagus, ramps and freshness to my kitchen.  But this hearty side is a great way to combine winter veggies into a healthy, tasty dish.

This recipe comes from Serious Eats but I pretty much halved it. Here's what you need: 

Lentil Salad and Carrot Daikon Salad

I made these two salads to serve with grilled lamb kofta and they were a great match.

The lentil salad is from Epicurious. Here's what you need:

1 cup green or brown lentils
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1 cup couscous
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large garlic clove
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves1/4 pound feta

Saag Paneer

I don't cook vegetarian dishes too often but this is a great one.  Rich Indian flavours served over basmati rice.  

Here's what you need:

Confetti Lentils

Here's a healthy side dish.  Since I still cant get into eating beans, I like to eat lentils or chickpeas on a regular basis since they're good for you too.

I actually used a bean and lentil blend that's pretty tasty. You'll need:
1 1/4 cups of lentils
2 medium carrots
1 medium celery root
1 medium onion
1 tablespoon olive oil

That's it.  No spices (except some salt) and no other flavours.  But don't worry, it'll work out.

Spaghetti with Braised Kale

Eating healthier has been going well but one challenge is weekend lunch. This is the time we'd usually grab something while out running errands or have some pizza.  But this pasta is a great solution to the problem.  It is healthy, tasty and, as long as you have some kale, can be made with a few staples.

Here's what you need:

1 bunch of kale (this is Tuscan kale, sometimes called lacinato kale which is darker and flatter than standard kale, but you can use either)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion
8 small garlic cloves
1/2 lb spaghetti (I used whole wheat)
Juice of one lemon
Grated parmesan cheese

Butternut Squash and Shiitake Mushroom Ragout

Here's another healthy dish that was surprisingly tasty.  Bon Appetit magazine published a Food Lover's Cleanse for the new year.  There are lots of nice, healthy recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner.   This one would be great as a vegetarian main course but I served it with roasted halibut.  

Here's what you need:

8-10 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms
4 sun-dried tomatoes, not packed in oil
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1/2 cup tawny Port
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium butternut squash
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Short & Sweet Sunday - Roasted Broccoli

If you're paying close attention, you may have noticed we eat a lot of steamed broccoli.  That and steamed green beans are my go-to green veggie sides.

But just like roasted cauliflower and roasted Brussels sprouts, roasting broccoli brings out even more flavour and it's nice to have a different texture as well.  It's not as low-cal as steamed broccoli but it makes a nice treat.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and break the broccoli into florets.  

Drizzle the broccoli with a tablespoon or two of olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked pepper.  

Roast for about 25 minutes until tender-crisp and just beginning to brown on the tips.  

When it's done, you can squeeze a little lemon over the broccoli or even sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.  Or just eat it as is.  

I served it with some chicken curry and basmati rice but it's great with just about anything.  Try it for a tasty winter treat that makes eating your vegetables the best part of the meal.  

Barley Mushroom Risotto

Although making a satisfying traditional risotto is one of my greatest cooking struggles, this barley risotto can't fail. It's easy and delicious every time.  It does take a bit of hands-on stirring time but the results are very satisfying.  Epicurious has the original recipe.

Here's what you need:

4.5 cups chicken or beef stock (I used a combination. It's about 1.5 cartons)

• 2 teaspoons butter
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 cup pearl barley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 3/4 teaspoon dried
• 1 bay leaf

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 pound assorted fresh mushrooms (these are white, cremini and shiitake), sliced
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley

First, warm your stock in a small pot over medium heat until just below a boil, then set it to low to keep it warm.  I am using packaged beef stock here but this is probably the last time I'll buy it after reading that packaged chicken stock is almost always much better in quality and flavour. Using chicken stock where it calls for beef won't make your dish taste like chicken, it'll just have better flavour.  

Next, melt the butter in a bit of oil in a large pan.  I like to use a bit of oil when I cook with butter because it keeps the butter from burning.  

Add in your chopped onions and sauté until softened and translucent.

Take a cup of pearl barley which is polished barley that cooks faster than other kinds.

Add the barley and thyme to your onions.  You can chop the thyme but I just add the full stems and remove them at the end.

Stir to coat the barley with butter.

And then add 2 cups of the warm stock and bring to a boil in the pan.  Reduce heat and simmer until stock is absorbed, about 5 minutes.  

Then keep adding and stirring in additional stock about 1/2 a cup at a time until all the stock is absorbed and the barley is tender.  This'll take about 45 minutes.

Eventually it'll look something like this.

Meanwhile, as the barley cooks, add some oil to a separate pan over high heat to cook the mushrooms.

Add the mushrooms to the hot pan and brown for about 5 minutes.

Reduce heat to medium, add minced garlic and cover and cook for about 5 more minutes until tender.  

By now your barley should have absorbed all the stock and should look like this.

Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley to the barley.

And stir to combine.

Serve the glossy, rich barley and mushrooms as a vegetarian main course (substitute vegetable stock) or as an accompaniment to roasted chicken. I served it with lamb sausage and green beans.  

This is a wonderful fall and winter dish.