Summer Basil & Chicken Pasta

A raid-the-fridge weeknight dinner

The herb:

I’m on a basil kick. Last week it was vegan pesto taste testing, and Monday night it was tomato and basil pizza – just some standard marina, thickly layered sliced tomatoes, and a generous sprinkling of fresh basil. Quick, delicious, and oh-so-summery.

Last night, with a bundle of basil leftover in the fridge, Basil Challenge III was upon me. Admittedly, my Summer Basil & Chik’n Pasta was born of a solemn swear to myself that I’d figure out a way to use the basil without making a special trip to the grocery store. If you cook as a vegan, I’m sure you’ve been there, too: the 7^th consecutive day of swinging by the store for that one fresh ingredient that you cannot (will not! ought not!) do without.

Enough already! Basil Challenge III: raid the fridge and make it happen.

The innovation:

Employing the go-to formula for a simple, satisfying vegan dish, I reached for a grain, a protein and a veggie. Here’s what I had on hand and how I used it:

• 2 cups pasta, cooked
• 1 package chik’n, thinly sliced
• 2 large tomatoes, diced into large chunks
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 tsp garlic, minced
• ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 TBSP EVOO
• 1 can artichoke hearts, quartered
• 2-3 cups baby spinach
• 7-10 large basil leaves, chiffonade(d??)*
• Sea salt & pepper to taste

Heat the EVOO on medium low and add your onion, garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook for 3-4 minutes and then add the chick’n strips. Increase heat to medium and stir frequently until chik’n begins to brown, 5-7 minutes. Next, incorporate your tomatoes and a generous sprinkling of sea salt. Keep the chick’n and tomato mixture moving, stirring frequently for 5 minutes.

The spinach and artichoke take only
a few minutes to cook. This meal
comes together quickly!

Once your tomatoes are softened and juicy, add the baby spinach and artichokes, cooking for an additional 3-4 minutes. Finally, toss in 75% of your beautiful basil ribbons, saving the rest for garnish. Combine, add salt & pepper to taste, and you’re good to go.

The alterations:

Now, I know I said I wasn’t going to go to the grocery store for this particular dish, but that doesn’t preclude me from thinking about what I’d do differently if I had!

Firstly, I’d use whole wheat pasta. The tri-colored shells were fun, but I think a nutty whole grain flavor would have really rounded out this dish. Additionally, I’d probably opt for a more flavorful chik’n than the Trader Joe’s Chickenless Strips I had on hand. Lightlife Smart Strips are among my favorite.

But as always, this dish is highly adaptable: don’t have artichokes? No prob, forget about them. Want more Vitamin A & C? Double your baby spinach. No fresh tomatoes on hand? Hell, grab a can.

Whatever it takes to save yourself that 8^th consecutive trip to the store, amiright?

*I’ll cook dinner for whomever can explain to me how to conjugate chiffonade. Promise!

Brown Rice & Sesame Tofu Salad

A Heaping Plate of Vegan Grains and Greens

The Dilemma:

Me: “I would love a salad for dinner tonight!”

Fiancé: “………uh huh..”

Don’t get me wrong, my fiancé (aka Jeremy) loves him some vegan cooking. Lord knows he eats enough of it. But sometimes my veggie dreams don’t speak to him so seductively. An occasional meat and prolific cheese eater, my sigo is a sort of convenience vegan, enjoying the meals I prepare but by no means inclined to choose tofu over chicken when left to his own devices.

And his own devices are…ravenous. A salad, usually, will not suffice.

So last night, when I declared myself salad-ready, the silence set in. Nothing…nothing…no comment…and then a polite little “uh huh.”

Little did he know that my signature Brown Rice & Sesame Tofu Salad was in store. Uh huh. That’s right.

The Recipe:

Hello, gorgeous!

I invented this salad in my late college years, right around the time when my sister and I would frequent the Lady Killigrew Café and Bookmill in Montague, MA. It was there that I had my first taste of warm brown rice over crisp greens, a combination so compelling I had to replicate it in my own kitchen. Yes, you have to juggle a few moving parts to pull this salad together, but it’s oh-so-worth it!

For sanity’s sake, approach this recipe in three parts: the rice, the tofu and the veggies.

For the rice, you’ll need:

• 1 cup sweet brown rice
• 2 cups water
• Dash of salt

Place the water, rice and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down as low as it will go and cover. Cook for approximately 40 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.

As the rice is cooking, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut your block of tofu into slices or squares and set pieces into a marinade of:

Flip the tofu slices about halfway through baking
to brown evenly on both sides.

• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 TBSP toasted sesame oil
• 1 TSP freshly grated ginger
• 1.5 TSP pressed garlic
• ½ TSP red pepper flakes
• 1 TSP sesame seeds

Allow the tofu to marinate for at least 30 minutes and then spread on a cookie sheet. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until browning occurs, flipping each piece at the 15 minute mark.

Now, onto the veggies. While there's tons of room for experimentation here, some of my staple veggies include:

• ½ yellow bell pepper, sliced into long strips
• 4 radishes, sliced
• 1/3 red onion, sliced into thin rings
• 1 carrot, coarsely grated
• 5 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ½ avocado, sliced
• 4 cups arugula, loosely packed

The Finale:

Cindy's Kitchen vegan-
friendly dressing

Once your rice and tofu have cooked and your veggies are prepped, simply spread a bed of lettuce and go to town with your toppings.

And no Brown Rice & Sesame Tofu Salad is complete without my all-time favorite dressing: Deeply Roasted Sesame by Cindy’s Kitchen. Not only is Cindy’s Kitchen a local shop, hailing from Brockton, MA, they offer a huge selection of vegan dressings and marinades, all unbelievably fresh and flavorful. If my Brown Rice & Sesame Tofu Salad were on a dessert island, Cindy’s Roasted Sesame dressing would be its singular survival item.

It, like me, can’t do without.

Power Protein Potato Hash

Dressing up your favorite starchy friend

The Goods:

Potatoes – 8 roasted pounds of them, to be exact. 

Why? Because for my dad, convenience is the holy grail of all culinary pursuits. If a recipe involves too much chopping, prepping, or clean up – forget it. “I don’t care if Christ’s coming to dinner,” he’ll say. It’s just not gonna happen.

Some days, though, he’ll get on a roll: slicing and dicing everything in the fridge and packing it up into neat stacks of Tupperware. With most of the prep work done in advance, early morning omelets or afternoon salads come together in a matter of minutes. 

Short on ingredients? Sub in some zucchini, squash, broccoli, or pinto beans.

So I wasn’t surprised to find enough potatoes to feed an Irish army when I was trolling through the family fridge this past weekend. Roasted and lightly seasoned, they were mine for the taking/making. With an afternoon of swimming in 100 degree heat before me, I needed something filling yet bikini-friendly. 

And so, of course, I grabbed a can of beans (because let’s be real, a little bloating won’t hold me back) and my vegan Power Protein Potato Hash was born.

The Recipe:

Get started by dicing 3 large russet potatoes into small squares. Toss the diced potatoes with EVOO, sea salt, pepper and garlic power. Freshly pressed garlic and parsley would work wonderfully, as well. Spread your potatoes into a flat layer on a large baking sheet and roast at 350 degrees, flipping every 10-15 minutes for about 45 minutes total. 

As your potatoes are roasting, grab and prep:

• ½ red onion, finely chopped
• 1 TBSP EVOO
• 1 can kidney beans (14.5 oz)
• 1 ear corn, de-kernelled
• 1 Portobello mushroom, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• ½ avocado, sliced
• Salsa & cilantro for garnish

Remove the potatoes from the oven when they’re fork-soft. In a skillet over medium heat, heat the EVOO and add the onion. Let cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the mushroom and bell pepper and let cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly. Incorporate ½ can kidney beans, corn, and cherry tomatoes, cooking for another 3 minutes. Finally, add in the potatoes, toss in your red pepper flakes and season with sea salt and pepper. 

Top it off with avocado slices, roughly chopped cilantro and a few scoops of your favorite salsa. If you want an even bigger protein boost, add in some sliced vegetarian sausage. 

Breakfast, my dears, is served!

Spicy Summer Corn Salad

Heatwave Eats: Spicy Summer Corn Salad

The mindset: 

This summer in Boston seems to vacillate between periods of pouring rain (i.e. Memorial Day weekend) and even longer waves of scorching heat. We’re now entering day three of 90+ temps, and if you’re anything like me, you’re a sweaty mess and not in the mood to turn on the lights, let alone the oven or stovetop.

Yes, my kitchen has been a detoxifying 87 degrees, so it’s time to pull out the raw recipe reserves. With mid-summer corn piled high at every turn, I need little more convincing. Spicy Summer Corn Salad, here we go.

The method:

What greater joy is there than cutting sheets of corn fresh from the cob? The cool, crisp kernels are the perfect template for an endless variety of raw salads. But let’s start simple.  

For a 2-serving salad, you’ll need:

                3 ears fresh corn, shucked & de-kernelled

                10 cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

                1/2 zucchini, thinly sliced and then quartered

                ½ jalapeno, with seeds intact if you like it hottt

                ¼ cup cilantro, roughly chopped

                ¼ cup EVOO

                2 limes for juicing

                2 dashes hot sauce

                Sea salt & pepper

Combine the corn, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, jalapeno and cilantro and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together the EVOO, lime juice, hot sauce and 2-3 generous dashes of salt and pepper. Drizzle the EVOO mixture over your veggies and combine. Chill in the fridge or serve immediately.

The madness: 

Now, if you (like me) insist on eating at least one serving of avocado per day, here’s your opportunity.  Dice it up and mix it in. It’ll be amazing. Or, if you want to pack in some protein, toss in a can of black beans. In the mood for more herbs? Chiffonade some fresh basil for a garnish. If you’re not up for a spicy ride, simply skip the jalapenos and hot sauce.

Pair this salad with a veggie burger or a crusty, whole grain bread topped with hummus, sprouts and avocado for a simple summer dinner. And as always, digging in on your porch (lawn, driveway, roof…) will really make the flavors sing.