Zoe Cuisine

Vegetable Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce

This is one of the first recipes that I learned to make on my own when I was in high school. I spent a few weeks visiting my vegan aunt out in Oregon one mid-winter vacation. I was not a vegetarian at the time, although I went through that phase shortly afterwards, and the experience of eating vegan was not as bad as I thought it would be. I discovered Tofutti ice cream, which I still think is delicious, as well as tempeh and tofu on that trip. I cooked a lot with my aunt and this homemade peanut sauce was one of my favorite things that we made. My aunt served it over stir fried vegetables and tempeh and I thought it was so tasty that I wasn't missing the meat at all. When I returned home, this stir-fry became a family staple served with chicken or tofu. The recipe has evolved over the years to include fresh ginger and garlic which I think gives it a fresher and more intense flavor. What I love about this recipe, is that the base ingredients for the sauce - tomato and soy sauce and peanut butter - are typically pantry staples. You can whip up a basic version of this sauce with just those ingredients, add whatever veggies and meat or fish that you like, serve over rice and you have an easy, satisfying and healthy weeknight meal. I made this with 15 adults during my Operation Frontline cooking class a few weeks ago and it was a big hit!

Vegetable Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce Ingredients: 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips and then halved 1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets 1 small white onion, halved and cut into thin slices 1 cup baby carrots, halved or quartered lengthwise 2 cups snap peas 21-25 count peeled, de-veined shrimp - approximately 12 for 2 people 1 15 oz can plain tomato sauce, such as Hunts 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 2 garlic cloves, finely minced 1 tablespoon fresh chopped ginger vegetable oil sesame oil (optional) optional additions: shrimp, pork, chicken, beef, tofu or tempeh Instructions: Prepare the sauce by combining the tomato sauce, soy sauce, peanut butter, cumin, garlic and ginger together in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients together until the peanut butter is completely incorporated. Set aside. Put the broccoli florets in a wok with 2-3 tablespoons of water, cover and cook over high heat for just 2-3 minutes or until the broccoli turns bright green. Remove the broccoli, rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process, and set aside. Rinse and dry wok or skillet. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, or a liberal amount of canola cooking spray, in the same skillet or wok over medium high heat. Add the sliced onions and carrots and cook until they begin to soften, about 3-4 minutes. Add the peppers and snap peas and cook for another 2-3 minutes. You want the vegetables to be crisp and bright and just cooked through. Add the broccoli and stir fry for another minute. Remove all the vegetables from the pan into a bowl and set aside. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon sesame oil to the wok and stir fry the shrimp over high heat until pink and slightly browned at the edges. They do not need to be fully cooked. Add the vegetables back to the wok, add the sauce and stir to coat the veggies and shrimp completely. reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Serve over brown rice, soba noodles or rice noodles. Serves 2 with leftovers. View Printable Version

Pickled Red Onions

 

I whipped up these pickled onions on a rainy afternoon a few weeks ago after a friend had put a bug in my ear about how easy pickling was. Since I had been collecting glass jars for months for no apparent reason, pickling seemed like a great way to put them to use. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the whole process was. You basically just cook a solution of vinegar, sugar and the spices of your choice together and add your ingredient to be pickled. I was able to make this recipe without purchasing one thing, since I had a red onion that had been hanging around for a while, and I always have various vinegars and spices. This recipe is really just a guideline for the whole process, as you can pair any spices you like and even substitute shallots, cabbage or green beans for the red onions. I like the pickled onions because they are a great addition to sandwiches and salads. We whipped up some slow cooked bbq chicken tacos that were phenomenal topped with a bit of slaw, these onions and then wrapped in a soft flour tortilla. I think the hot pink color is so pretty that these might even become stocking stuffers for certain lucky family members this Christmas. 

 

Pickled Red Onions Ingredients: 1 large red onion 1 1/2 cups white vinegar 1/2 cup sugar Spices: 1/2 cinnamon stick 5 whole cloves 1 bay leaf dash red pepper flakes or small dried chile cumin seeds fennel seeds black peppercorns other options: fresh ginger slices, whole garlic cloves, mustard seeds, allspice berries, star anise Instructions: Slice the red onion very thinly into rounds, or cut in half and then slice. Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Blanch the onion in the boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain in a colander. While you are waiting for the water to boil in the first step, mix the vinegar, sugar and spices in a separate medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the blanched, drained onions to the spice mixture and simmer for 1 more minute. Transfer the mixture to a glass jar (a 10-11oz jar is a perfect fit). Allow to stand until cooled. Will keep for several weeks in the fridge.

Recipe courtesy of SimplyRecipes.com

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Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

I was at a champagne and dessert baby shower a week ago where the hostess served the most delicious and decadent candies, cakes and pastries. My favorite by far was a pumpkin chocolate chip cake that she had made herself. Since my favorite food item of the holidays is pumpkin pie, I was immediately drawn to this dessert. I love the sweet and spicy elements of pumpkin pie from the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves. Her cake used all the same spices as you would use in a pie, but with the ingenious addition of chocolate chips for richness and added sweetness. I could not get over how moist the cake was. She told me that she only uses half the amount of oil that the recipe called for and substituted the other half with applesauce. I have heard of this being done to lighten desserts and think it is a great trick. I favor using non-fat vanilla yogurt to accomplish the same goal. I think it also keeps sweets moist while lessening the fat, plus I tend to have yogurt on hand in the fridge more often than applesauce. Either one works great. This recipe is very versatile as you can dress this up by baking it as a cake using a fancy bundt pan, as the hostess did, or else it can easily be made into a more casual loaf or muffins. When I recreated this at home after the shower I chose to make muffins, both regular and mini size, for better portion control. Since I am only cooking for two, baking a cake is not very efficient as it will go to waste. Muffins, however, can be wrapped individually in plastic wrap and frozen in a ziploc bag. That way you can enjoy the fruits of your single baking effort multiple times. Try these served warm and topped with frozen yogurt or ice cream for dessert.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins Ingredients: 2 cups all purpose flour 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon each of ground spices: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger 1 teaspoon salt 1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin (unseasoned) 4 eggs 1/2 cup oil 1/2 cup applesauce or 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons vanilla non-fat yogurt 1 12 oz. bag chocolate chips Instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and spices in a large mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add batter to a greased 12 muffin tin. This recipe will make approximately 16-18 large muffins, 12 large and 12 mini muffins, or 1 bundt cake. Bake for approximately 25 minutes for large muffins, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted. Mini muffins will only take about 15 minutes. A cake will take 45 minutes to 1 hour. View Printable Version

Staged Stir-Fry

(Photo courtesy of Cooking Light)

My food styling assignment this past week was to find a photo of a plated dish and try to recreate it at home using three different sets of props. I chose the above image out of the April 2009 issue of Cooking Light magazine for a chicken, cashew and red pepper stir-fry, as my inspiration for the assignment. I thought recreating a stir-fry would be less challenging that a plated meal of filet mignon and scalloped potatoes, and also cheaper since this food would inevitably end up in the trash! When you are recreating a recipe for the sole purpose of photographing it, you don't actually have to make the exact recipe. Ingredients that won't be seen, such as 1/2 teaspoon of white wine vinegar, are usually omitted. The stir-fry recipe I chose actually had a lengthy ingredient list, but I was able to get by with only a small amount of purchases since all I can see in the shot is rice, chicken, peppers, nuts and scallions. I decided to throw some yellow peppers in my shots for color and I swapped peanuts for cashews (mostly because I had peanuts in the pantry). In order to prepare the food to shoot, I made the food in stages and waited to work with it until it was room temperature. Hot food can let off steam that fogs up the plate and your camera lens. I did not actually stir-fry the chicken and peppers, instead I cooked them separately and then applied "the sauce" to them. My faux sauce was a mixture of corn syrup and soy sauce, for color. I hoped the corn syrup would give the dish a nice glistening look. My stir-fry was assembled on a nice big scoop of crisco so I could easily hold the peppers and chicken in place. My teacher liked my shot on the light background the best as she thought it had the freshest look. The critiques of my assignment were that my peppers were not randomly arranged enough, there were too many laying in the same direction, and my sauce application was not heavy enough. Ah the trials of being a food stylist! Hopefully my next assignment of shooting and styling a panini and soup will go a little better. I do have to say that for a mock stir-fry brushed with corn syrup and laying on a bed of crisco, it does look pretty tasty. If you would like the real recipe for the chicken, red pepper and cashew stir-fry click here to check it out.