Homemade cole slaw dressing

When I made veggie burgers the other night, I made cole slaw as a side dish. Now, you can buy cole slaw dressing in a jar, but (a) those jars are huge and you won't use it all and (b) it's super easy to make your own!

Notes: I make this even easier by mixing the dressing right in the bowl where I plan to put the cole slaw. 

This makes enough dressing to reasonably dress about 4 cups of cole slaw (about half of one those bagged mixes). I say "reasonably" because I don't like over-dressed slaw. It should be thoroughly coated, but not swimming in dressing. 

You can 100% make this ahead of time. Even a day ahead would be fine! But certainly the morning of. I think it's best if you make it at least an hour ahead so it has time to sit in the fridge and marinate. 

Ingredients: 

2.5 tablespoons mayo

1 teaspoon honey

2 teaspoons honey mustard

2 teaspoons relish (sweet or dill, whichever you like)

About 10 dashes hot sauce

Salt and pepper

Directions: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl until well combined. Toss with about four cups of your favorite cole slaw mix.

White Bean and Roasted Carrot Burgers

Veggie burgers: when they are terrible, they are really terrible. Dense, dry, and flavorless. I think they're hard to do well. Partly it's because people tend to think of them as mere meat replacements rather than allowing them to speak for themselves. 

Notes: There are plenty of things you can do ahead of time for this recipe. I made the carrots the day before. If you're putting sliced tomato or onion on your burgers, slice those up as early as the morning you plan to serve them. Just put them in separate plastic containers in the fridge.

If you have a grill pan, you can use that to cook the burgers. I wouldn't put them on the actual grill. They're soft, so they'll fall apart far too easily.

You could season these burgers a number of different ways. Some lemon zest and fresh oregano would be delicious, if you wanted a Greek-inspired flavor. You could also do a Moroccan-style combo with some ginger and some allspice. I think next time I make them I'll use some chipotle.

Have fun with your burger fixin's, too. I had some leftover sun-dried tomato pesto, so I made some pesto mayo. 

Ingredients:

2 15oz cans of cannelini beans (or Great Northern beans)

2 cups baby carrots (or "adult" carrots cut into 1-inch pieces)

1 cup bread crumbs (not Panko)

1 egg

2 tablespoons cumin

2 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 cup chopped fresh parlsey

2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

Hot sauce to taste

Salt & pepper

Olive oil

You favorite burger fixin's

Directions: Heat the oven to 400. Toss the baby carrots with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast them for about 40 minutes until they're brown and can be pierced easily with a fork. 

Let the carrots cool for a few minutes. Use an immersion blender or a food processor to buzz them into a paste. Set aside (or put in the fridge if you do this ahead of time). 

Drain (but don't rinse) the beans. In a large bowl, mash the beans with a potato masher (don't break them up completely, you want some whole beans for texture). Add in the carrots, egg, the spices, and hot sauce and combine. Season with salt and pepper. Add in the bread crumbs and herbs until everything is mixed together. Form the mixture into four patties and set aside. 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high. When the oil is hot, add in your burger patties. Cook for about 7 minutes per side or until each side is crispy and brown. Put them on a plate lined with a paper towel to drain slightly. 

Dress up your burger buns with your favorite stuff and enjoy!

Roasted Eggplant and Mushroom Lasagna

I'm trying to up my vegetarian meals game. I make lasagna fairly regularly, and the vegetarian version is usually spinach. I decided I needed a refresh. 

Notes: If you're in a hurry, just use your favorite jarred sauce. But if you have the time, the homemade version is easy to do!

Maybe you're surprised by the appearance of mint on the herbs list? You shouldn't be! Mint is under-used in savory dishes and it goes great with eggplant.

I used to think that you had boil lasagna noodles like you boiled other pasta, but really there's no need. You just need them to be pliable. If you cook them all the way, you lose the texture when you put them in the oven. It's also way harder to layer them when you need to assemble everything---they just fall apart. 

I know those no-boil lasagna noodles are all the rage, but honestly? They aren't very good. They don't stand up to a hearty lasagna. And they have a weird taste.

Lasagna is a great make-ahead dish. You can roast the veggies and put the ricotta mixture together earlier in the day and just keep them in the fridge until dinner time. I'd take them out while your pasta water is coming to a boil so that they're closer to room temperature. You can also assemble the whole lasagna and put the baking dish in the fridge! Make sure you let it sit out for 30 minutes before you put it in the hot oven.  

Ingredients: 

1 normal-sized eggplant

1 package of mushrooms (white or baby bella)

1 small onion

1 15 oz. package of ricotta

1 mozzarella ball

Approx. 28 oz of marinara sauce (homemade recipe to follow)

1 egg

1 box of lasagna noodles

2 tablespoons each of chopped fresh basil, fresh parsley, fresh oregano, fresh mint

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Directions: Heat the oven to 400. 

Start with your marina sauce if you're making your own (recipe follows). If not, roast your vegetables. De-stem the mushrooms and slice them. Dice the eggplant in 1-inch pieces. Slice the onion thick. Put everything on a sheet tray, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Roast them for 15-20 minutes until soft and starting to brown. Set aside and drop the oven temperature down to 375.

In a mixing bowl, beat the egg and then add the ricotta and fresh herbs. Season with salt and pepper. Stir everything together until well combined. Put the bowl in the fridge while you do other things. 

In a large pot, bring water to just below a boil. Add salt and then put in your lasagna noodles. Let them cook until they're pliable, use tongs to gently separate them in the pot. Slice your mozzarella ball (keep the slices kind of thin).

When the noodles are done, ladle about a cup of marinara sauce into a 9x13 baking dish. Put four noodles in the dish. Top them with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture. Top that with 1/3 of the eggplant mixture. Top with another cup of sauce. Repeat the layers until the veggies and ricotta are used up. Put four noodles on top and pour the remaining sauce over them. Put slices of mozzarella on top. 

Cover with foil and bake for between 30-40 minutes until it's all bubbly and the noodles have expanded. Take the foil off and bake for 5-10 more minutes until the mozzarella starts to brown. Remove from the oven and wait about 7-10 minutes before you cut into it. Serve and enjoy!

Easy marina sauce

Ingredients: 

1 small onion

5-6 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons each of chopped fresh basil, fresh oregano, fresh parsley

1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes

3 tablespoons of tomato paste

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

Directions: In a skillet or sauce pan on medium, sauté the onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil until it's tender and starting to brown (about 10-15 minutes). Add in the garlic and cook 5 more minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir. Add in the herbs and pour in the crushed tomatoes. Stir everything together. If it looks a little thick, add just a bit of water. Turn the heat to low and let the sauce simmer, stirring occasionally, for as long as you have--the longer the better. 

Crispy Brussel Sprouts with Avocado

There's a restaurant in Swarthmore that serves an appetizer called crispy broccoli. You would think a broccoli appetizer would be boring, but you'd be wrong about this one. Since we're in Durham this year, no crispy broccoli for me. So, I thought I'd try to make a version of it at home as a side dish. 

Notes: You think you don't want avocado with your vegetables, but oh you do. That's the part that makes the crispy broccoli appetizer interesting! It's a great mix of textures and the smooth avocado pairs great with the earthy brussel sprouts. 

When you make oven-baked fries, you sprinkle them with flour or cornstarch to get them to crisp up on the outside. I tried that with the brussel sprouts, but I'm not sure it made a difference. They basically has the same texture they always do when I roast brussel sprouts. I went ahead and included that step anyway. 

If you don't roast your veggies, you're missing out. It's one of the most flavorful preparations. If you have a veggie hater in your life, serve them roasted veggies and they might change their tune. 

Ingredients:

1 package/bunch of brussel sprouts

1-2 avocados

1 lime, juiced

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1 teaspoon flour or cornstarch

Salt and pepper

Olive oil for drizzling

Directions: Heat the oven to 425. While the oven is heating, put your baking sheet in the oven so that it gets hot. 

While the oven is heating, trim the ends off brussel sprouts and remove the smaller outer leaves. Slice them in half. Put them in a bowl, season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle on the flour or cornstarch and mix with your hands until no white remains on the sprouts. 

When the oven is hot, take your baking sheet out and brush it with olive oil. Put the sprouts cut side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through cooking.

While the sprouts are in the oven, prep the avocado. Mash it in a bowl, add in the soy sauce and lime juice, and season with a little salt. Taste it before you add more salt (since soy sauce can be salty). 

To serve, spread some avocado on the plate. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Pile the sprouts on top of the avocado and enjoy!

Greek Chicken with Tzatziki and Homemade Pita

Long-time readers of this blog will recall that I am an impulse baker. I bake on a whim all the time. You'll recall that I made chicken pot pie risotto earlier this week. I ended up with leftover chicken. I had planned to make some greek-inspired chickpea cakes, but, I decided, chickpeas will keep just fine in their cans. The chicken will not keep as long. So, why not make greek-inspired chicken instead? 

I'm not sure what made me think "pita," but I decided yesterday that I would make them today. That's advanced notice for the impulse baker. I've never made them before, but I will definitely be making them again.

Notes: I tweaked this recipe for the pita and this recipe for the tzatziki sauce.

So, making bread from scratch. It can be intimidating, but that shouldn't stop you. You just need planning and patience. These tasted so fresh and delicious, it was well worth the work!

A lot of the kneading is about feel. When you first start kneading, the bread will feel loose and almost too soft. That's because the gluten hasn't developed yet. Just keep going, sprinkling more flour on the bread and your hands if it starts to stick. As you knead, the gluten will develop and the dough will start to feel springier and denser. 

When you're rolling out the pita, be careful not to sprinkle too much flour on it. Try to flour the rolling pin. I got a little too much flour on mine and it was stuck on there after my pitas were cooked. 

You can see the too much flour here, but also, look at that good puff!

It's likely you will have leftover pita. Don't worry, you can keep them in the fridge. Let them cool completely and put them in a zip top bag, separated by pieces of wax paper. Then you can heat them up for a few minutes in the oven.

English cucumbers work best for the tzatziki sauce because they're seedless and the skin is thinner and less bitter. But, if you don't have them, don't go buy one just for this. Use a regular cucumber, but peel it first. 

I would make the tzatziki first and get it out of the way. If you're doing all this in one go, make sure you have your chicken ingredients all prepped and ready to go before you start rolling and cooking the pita. You'll probably have to cook some pita while you roll out the others (if you're like me and don't have enough counter space for 8 pitas). Start the chicken when you're about halfway through the pitas.

I don't have a picture of the whole assembled pita with the chicken. The pita was kind of the star of the show. It all turned out really well.

Ingredients:

For the pita:

1 packet of yeast

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons olive oil plus more for the bowl

3 cups of flour plus more for dusting

For tzatziki:

1 cup of greek yogurt

1/2 English cucumber (see notes)

1 garlic clove

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and pepper for seasoning

For chicken:

2 cups shredded cooked chicken (approx)

1 lemon

3 tablespoons of olive oil

4-5 cloves garlic

3-4 springs of fresh oregano

Diced fresh tomatoes, sliced onion, sliced cucumber for serving

Directions for pita: In a large mixing bowl, mix the water, sugar, and yeast together until the yeast and sugar dissolve (it's OK if there are some little lumps left). Allow it to sit uncovered in a warm spot in your kitchen until it's bubbly and frothy (about 15-20 minutes). 

Stir in the olive oil, salt, and flour. The dough should start out looking sort of rough and shaggy. If it's really sticky and wet, sprinkle in some more flour. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together and starts to look a little smoother. Then turn it out on a floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and springs back when you poke it. Wipe out the dough bowl with a paper towel and coat bowl with olive oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel, and allow it to rise until it's doubled in size, about an hour.

When the dough has risen, deflate it and shape it back into a ball. Turn it out on a floured surface and divide it into 8 pieces. Let them sit under a clean kitchen towel for 10 minutes. Roll the pieces out into circles, about 8 inches or so in diameter (see notes).

Heat a large skillet on the stove over medium-high heat. To check and see if it's hot, flick a drop or two of water in the pan. If it beads up and sizzles immediately, you skillet is hot. Drizzle the pan with olive oil and wipe the excess away. Put a pita circle in the pan. It will start to puff and bubble after about 45 seconds. Flip it over with a big spatula (you should see some little brown spots on the side that was touching the pan). Cook for about another minute. Put your finished pita on baking sheet lined with a clean kitchen towel. Cover the finished pita with a towel while you make the rest. 

Directions for tzatziki: Grate the cucumber on the small holes of the box grater into a strainer lined with a paper towels or cheese cloth. Squeeze the water out and leave in the strainer. 

Add the yogurt, salt, pepper, and olive oil to a small mixing bowl. Grate the garlic with a microplane or zester straight into the bowl. Add in the cucumber and stir well to combine everything. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Directions for chicken: Mince garlic and oregano. Zest the lemon and cut it in half. Heat a skillet on medium and add olive oil. Add garlic to the pan and cook for a few minutes. Add oregano and lemon zest and cook for another minute or two. Squeeze half the lemon into the oil mixture and then add the chicken. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until the chicken is heated and some of the liquid in the pan evaporates. Turn off the heat and finish by squeezing the other half of the lemon over the chicken.

To serve: Speak some tzatziki sauce on one of the pitas. Top with chicken and add whatever toppings you like. Enjoy!