Tempeh Reubens

 

My husband and I were recently in NYC and ate at a great veggie restaurant that had tempeh reubens among its menu options.  This inspired me to try a version of tempeh reubens at home.

Ingredients for one sandwich:

2 slices of bread (gluten-free if needed)

1/2 package tempeh (gluten-free if needed)

Slice cheese

Large handful of sauerkraut

Homemade “Russian” dressing: 1/2 cup low fat mayo, 1 tbsp chopped red onion, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 2 squirts Sriracha sauce, dashes of salt, black pepper and paprika, 2 tsp horseradish (this makes WAY more dressing than is needed for the reubens- we’ve been spreading it on our sandwiches all week!)

Butter

Olive Oil Spray

 

Instructions:

Sautee tempeh in a pan until it’s warm and lightly browned.  Butter outsides of bread slices.  Slather insides with the dressing, and layer on tempeh, cheese, and sauerkraut. Heat sandwich in pan until bread starts to brown and cheese begins to melt.

 

 

Roasted Vegetable Cashew Stew (Gluten-Free)

 

This recipe is modified from a recipe by Wegman’s grocery store.  The ingredients are simple, but they were combined in a way I hadn’t thought of before.

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):

1/2 package baby carrots, diced

1/2 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 eggplant, diced

1 package white mushrooms, diced

1/2 red pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1 zucchini, diced

few large handfuls of cashews

chopped rosemary leaves

1/3 package frozen peas

salt & pepper to taste

olive oil

Wegman’s garlic simmer sauce (substitute sauce of your choice)

Also added to the stew: tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce (gluten-free if desired), onion and ginger powders

Additional garnish: Feta cheese, scallions, grated parmesan

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Add chopped vegetables (except for peas and rosemary) to a large bowl and coat with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Arrange veggies on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake for about 15 minutes.  Remove from the oven, stir, and sprinkle cashews over the veggies.  Bake for another 10 minutes, veggies should be fork-tender.

Remove baking sheet from oven  and sprinkle rosemary on top of the vegetables.  Transfer vegetables to a large stock pot.  Add peas and sauces/seasoning.  Heat on medium, and stir vegetables to coat with sauce.  Heat to desired temperature.  (The original recipe called for another store-made sauce, but it contained wheat, so I improvised so that my husband could eat the dish.  I added some tomato sauce to the pot, as well as a little balsamic vinegar, gluten-free soy sauce, and dashes of onion and ginger powders).

Serve the stew as is, or on top of grain of your choice- we had some left over chick-pea pasta, so had the stew with that.  And topped it all off with some feta cheese, scallions, and grated parmesan.  A hearty, delicious, healthy meal!

 

Portobello Mushroom “Pizzas”

These Portobello mushroom pizzas make for a quick, easy, and healthy vegetarian and gluten-free meal.

Rinse and pat dry portobello mushroom caps (remove stems), spread on a layer of pizza sauce, add a couple basil leaves and slices of tomato, and top with shredded part-skim mozzarella.  Bake in oven about 25 minutes until cheese starts to brown.  I topped these with a little balsamic glaze and grated parmesan, and served with a side salad.

Eggplant Bake

Here’s a quick & easy recipe for a hearty eggplant bake.  It’s basically like a lasagna, but with eggplant in lieu of noodles.

Ingredients:

2 eggplants

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 small container of part-skim ricotta cheese

Few handfuls of part-skim shredded mozzarella

Chopped basil leaves

Grated parmesan cheese

1/2 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

Salt, black pepper, & red pepper flakes to taste

 

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut eggplant into long strips, length-wise.  Spread a thin layer of the crushed tomatoes on bottom of an 8×8 baking dish.  Put down a layer of eggplant (I used 4 strips per layer).  In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with a few handfuls of shredded mozzarella, and the cannellini beans.  Add a little salt and black pepper, and mix in.  Spread a layer of the cheese/bean mixture on top of the eggplant, and top with some crushed tomatoes.  Add another layer of epplant strips, with these cheese/bean mixture and crushed tomatoes on top, and then add on one final layer of eggplant and the cheese/beans and sauce.  Top with some grated parmesan, a little more shredded mozzarella, chopped basil leaves, and salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes to taste.

Cover with foil and baked for 1/2 an hour, then uncover and bake for another half an hour, until sauce is bubbly and cheese slightly browns.

 

 

Cheesy Baked Pumpkin Pasta (Gluten-free)

It’s been a while since I posted a recipe.  I’ve still been enjoying looking at the Reader and getting inspiration from you all.

This dish is modified from the recipe found here (with thanks to the woman behind this blog for alerting me to the recipe)

I used gluten-free pasta (Ancient Harvest is a good brand), took out the bacon and added in chick peas, subbed vegetable broth for chicken broth, and used a cup of shredded mozzarella cheese in lieu of the 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella/1/4 cup shredded pecorino romano.  I may have added more rosemary than was called for, too!

It was a delicious, hearty dish for a fall evening, and one to not feel too guilty about!

Vegetable Tofu Fried Rice

My version of vegetable tofu fried rice was inspired by this recipe for tofu fried rice: http://www.food.com/recipe/tofu-fried-rice-from-cooking-light-112705

I used to buy Trader Joe’s brand fried rice, but their versions aren’t gluten-free, so decided to make my own fried rice so my husband could enjoy it, too.  And while it took a little more effort, I enjoyed my take on it more!

Ingredients:

1 cup uncooked brown rice

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1 package of baked tofu, cut into cubes

2 eggs

2 cups frozen snap peas

1 Tsp garlic powder

1 Tsp ginger powder

2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce, divided (I used gluten-free soy sauce)

1 red pepper, diced

6 large white button mushrooms, chopped

1/2 an onion, diced

20 baby carrots, chopped

Sea Salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes

Instructions:

Cook rice in a pot according to instructions on package.

While rice is cooking, saute onion in the sesame oil in a large pan.  Add in the mushrooms, carrots, and peppers.  Add the garlic and ginger powders, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally.  Sprinkle on some salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Add in the tofu and then the rice wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce.  When the rice is almost done cooking, add the frozen snap peas to the pan.  Pour the rice into the pan with the vegetables and tofu (I didn’t end up using quite all of the rice).  Add another tablespoon of soy sauce and stir until rice is well coated with the sauce.  Crack two eggs over the rice and vegetable mixture, and stir until the eggs have cooked through.

4 servings

Healthy Oat Cookies

This is not my recipe, & I no longer have the original source for it.

But it’s a quick & healthy cookie recipe I still wanted to share:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bowl combine 3 mashed bananas (ripe), 1/3 cup apple sauce, 2 cups oats (used gluten-free oats), 1/4 cup almond milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 cup raisins, 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips.  Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes.

Gluten-free Banana Blueberry Muffins

Since my last post, someone in the household was diagnosed with Celiac disease, so The Seated Cook blog will be going gluten-free.

This muffin recipe mostly follows the recipe here: http://www.loveandlemons.com/2014/09/20/gluten-free-blueberry-banana-muffins/

Ingredients:

• 1.75 cups Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• Sea salt (I usually grind my sea salt shaker about 6 times over the bowl)
• 2 ripe bananas
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons melted coconut oil
• ½ cup coconut sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup blueberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tray with cooking spray (or line with paper).
2. In a large bowl, beat the eggs.
3. Microwave the bananas on a microwave-safe plate for about a minute (this will help with mashing them).  Mash them on the plate, and stir them into the eggs.
4. Stir in the vanilla and coconut oil.
5. Mix in the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt (I usually mix everything all in one bowl as a short cut, but you can separate the wet and dry ingredients, if preferred).
6. Fold in the blueberries.  Continue to stir the batter, it will be thick, add a little bit of water if needed.
7. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups (it’s enough for 12 muffins).
8. Bake for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden on top.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Date Pistachio Balls

I’m continuing to come across wonderful recipes in my Reader.  On my end, I’m still keeping things simple.  I recently made chocolate date pistachio balls, which were adapted from this recipe for chocolate almond date balls: http://www.somethingswanky.com/chocolate-almond-date-balls/

I have a huge bag of pistachios, so decided to swap the almonds for pistachios (and I’m sure these would be great with any nut).  I also added olive oil, since I found the mixture wasn’t sticking that well on its own, and I was out of coconut oil, which I often add to similar recipes.  The olive oil did alter the taste a little, but if you like olive oil, that’s not a bad thing.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pitted dates
• 2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
• 2/3 cup pistachios, shelled
• Olive oil (didn’t measure exactly, probably poured about a tablespoon over the ingredients)

Instructions

     Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until the ingredients are well mixed.

     Scoop out the mixture and form into balls.  Place balls in an airtight container and refrigerate until chilled.

Baking with Toddlers: Black Bean, Pumpkin and Chia Seed Cookies

I really like black bean brownies, so was excited when I came across this recipe for black bean cookies (with pumpkin as a seasonal bonus!)
These are delicious, (relatively) healthy cookies (I made them with a little less sugar), and it’s really the pumpkin that you taste rather than the beans.

Cooking with Toddlers

Getting out of the house with a newborn and a toddler is like trying to herd a pack of cats. So far, our attempts to leave the house have gone like this:

1) Start packing the 900 items we need 2 hours in advance of departure.

2) 30 minutes before departure, sit two year old on potty. He ” no have go”.

3) Change baby’s diaper and nurse him.

4) Put baby in carseat.

5) Baby has an explosion in his diaper; change baby.

6) Toddler now pees on carpet while saying “I had an accident; no biggie!”

7) Clean up carpet, change toddler’s clothes.

8) Toddler proclaims ” I’m pooing” which is code for ” I need to go use the potty”.

9) Set toddler on potty; wait for 10 minutes while he does his business. Congratulate him profusely for letting us know he had to go.

10) Clean up potty…

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