Category Archives: Meatless Mondays

Mushroom Pizza with Truffles

Mushroom Pizza with Truffles

Mushroom Pizza with Truffles

Take your love for pizza to the next level and indulge in this recipe that’s inspired by the pizza trending in Italy that’s packed with mushrooms with a touch of white truffles!

Mushroom Pizza with Truffles

By Rina Oh

Sevings: 4

Time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

  • Basic Pizza Dough:
  • 3/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Mushroom Pizza:
  • 6 cremini mushrooms
  • 2 cups oyster mushrooms
  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
  • ½ cup ricotta cheese
  • 2 tablespoons white truffle oil

Directions

  1. Combine lukewarm water, yeast, and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Brush large bowl lightly with olive oil. Mix 2 cups flour, sugar, and salt in processor.; add yeast mixture and 3 tablespoons oil, process until the dough forms a sticky ball; knead dough with your hands for about 5 minutes. Form into a ball and transfer to a bowl covered with olive oil; cover bowl with a wet towel and allow dough to rise in a warm area for about 2 hours.
  3. Heat a non-stick frying pan on high heat for 2 minutes. Add the vegetable oil and heat for another minute. Saute the Oyster mushrooms in the pan on high heat, moving the mushrooms frequently until they are browned, for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Split pizza dough in half.
  5. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Split pizza dough in half.
  6. Using 2 small 9” pizza pans, spread about a tablespoon of olive oil to coat each pan. Form a ball with one half of the dough and spread out using your fingers. Push dough with your fingers until it reaches ends of the pan. If you are using a sheet tray, do not divide the dough in half. Spread the dough into a rectangular shape.
  7. Add mozzarella cheese. Spread it evenly. Scoop some ricotta cheese with a spoon and place on top of the mozzarella cheese.
  8. Place Oyster mushrooms over mozzarella cheese.
  9. Place Cremini mushrooms over Oyster mushrooms. Top with extra mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with White Truffle oil and season with salt and pepper.
  10. Place pizza in oven at for 10 to 12 minutes, until the crust is a golden brown color.
  11. Remove from oven and slice the pizza into eight pieces using a pizza slicer or a sharp knife.

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Filed under American Food, Dining with Outlaws, Meatless Mondays, Pizza, Recipes, Vegetarian

Vegan Red Kidney Bean Stuffed Peppers in a Tagine

Vegan Red Kidney Bean Stuffed Peppers in a Tagine

Vegan Red Kidney Bean Stuffed Peppers in a Tagine

 

Happy Meatless Monday! Make this Indigenous Cuisine inspired vegan stuffed peppers utilizing all the spices traditionally used with ground meat recipes. I added my new favorite grain, kasha to this mixture that provides the perfect combination of complete proteins to get your body the essential nutrients it needs, craves, and wants- minus all the animals. Treat yourself to a great healthy start to the week!

 

Vegan Red Kidney Bean Stuffed Peppers in a Tagine

Recipe by Rina Oh

 

Ingredients

2 cups red kidney beans, cooked

1 cup corn kernels, cooked

1 cup kasha, cooked

1 small onion

1 cup fresh parsley

4 medium peppers

4 small tomatillos

1 roma tomato

2 jalapeno

1 teaspoon garlic ground

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon cumin ground

salt

pepper

 

 

Directions

Combine red kidney beans and parsley with paprika, salt, and garlic powder. Pulse for 30 seconds until mixture is coarsely chopped; transfer to a bowl; add kasha, corn, and toss together.

Using the same processor, combine tomatillos, roma tomato, onion, jalapeno, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Process for about 1 minute on high speed.

Slice pepper tops off leaving about ½ inch. Remove the seeds and discard. Add stuffing mixture and press firmly down midway through. Pour tomato mixture into tagine or baking tray and cover peppers with tops. Cover the tagine with lid or baking tray with foil and bake in the oven for about 2 hours. Remove from oven and divide into four bowls. Serve immediately!

 

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Filed under Food for the Fashion People, Food Porn, Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan, Vegetarian

Feast of the Seven Veggies: Celebrating One Year of Meatless Monday!

Being Korean born and growing up in the US was aberrant when the timely holidays rolled in. Korean holidays are virtually desolate here. My initial Thanksgiving culinary traditions began at fourteen years of age, with the help of a Betty Crocker cookbook purchased at Woolworth’s in Flushing, Queens.

I cooked my first holiday dinner for my parents, aunt, uncle, and cousins. The dishes served were mashed potatoes with gravy, buttermilk biscuits, and stuffed turkey.

Here’s my grownup version of mashed potatoes: Potato gratin. Looking back, I can’t recall serving any green vegetables that year. The tradition continued well into my twenties, where I explored traditional American holiday foods married with my Korean heritage which translated as kimchi on the side.

Patjuk is typically served as a Winter solstice food in Korea (one of very few major Korean holidays).

When I eventually married an Italian American, an entire continent of food emerged and I finally discovered how to enjoy seasonal dishes which included lots of fresh local tomatoes, fresh herbs, and really good cheese. I learned how to adjust my salt in salads according to the season, and pasta went far beyond spaghetti and meatballs. I became versed in fixing up marinara sauce discerning contrasting characteristics between marinara and Sunday sauce. Lasagna had been discovered long before the marriage of two cultures- (I have to credit myself for having perfected it thanks to a handy old copy of a NY Times cookbook I picked up from the Piermont library when I was a teen). In short, I spent the last six years exploring this new and exciting cuisine, discovering porcini mushrooms, risotto, cavetelli, pesto, and an endless repertoire of recipes from family members and cookbooks. I finally began cooking the green vegetables during this time. Our typical holidays included a marriage (literal) of Koreans and Italians. Whether it was Easter, Thanksgiving, or Christmas. It was Italian food with kimchi as its co-star.

Kimchi & soy pajeon, zucchini pajeon.

Cooking Korean food at home meant, there was much tweaking which led to the creation of newly adapted dishes for my big Italian family. I eventually became so involved in cooking that spending six hours in the kitchen seemed conventional and acceptable. To outsiders, it may have looked like I was absolutely manic about food- that’s because I was! I loved food so much that I enrolled into culinary school to really hone my kitchen skills and became a professional chef.

Roasted beets with red onion and champagne vinaigrette.

Last year, I discovered Meatless Monday and when I was asked to submit a holiday post for Food2.com, I ventured into my old handy Betty Crocker cookbook for advise and cooked up American classics with a twist. It was the beginning of a year-long relationship with seasonal vegetables. Here’s a seasonal roasted root vegetables dish: (purple potatoes, heirloom sweet potato, chippolini onions, garlic) below:

This holiday season celebrates my one-year anniversary with going Meatless one day a week! I cooked up a Christmas dinner starring Korean food served up as the Feast of the Seven Veggies! It’s my Korean version of the classic Italian Christmas Eve supper. Christmas for Koreans has become more popularized in recent years and they have a special name for it (seongtanjeol). I made seven main dishes, with matching seven side dishes (banchan) for this special occasion. Some traditional recipes originated from the Royal kitchens of the Joseon Dynasty in Korea. It was a labor of love- the nine delicacies in Gujeolpan were  a tad bit time consuming.

I suggest if you’re going to try this at home, give yourself a few days to make the dinner. Start with Gujeolpan, use the leftover veggies to make japchae, cook your vegetables ahead of time and marinade and dress them right before consumption.  When the feast is finished, you can have the leftover banchan in a mixed rice bowl (bibimbap) the following day.

No dinner is ever complete without a hot spicy soup at the end! Spicy tofu soups and stews are an absolute food staple made with gochugaru, tofu, and garlic, this version includes kimchi.

Here are the seven Korean style side dishes I made!

Acorn Starch Jelly…looks like jello, sort of tastes like jello- except it’s 100% vegan!

Assorted mushrooms with crushed sesame seeds…

Baby Bok Choy with perilla seeds and sesame oil…

Mung bean sprouts…

Braised Korean peppers with garlic…

Marinated spinach…

What kind of Korean meal is complete without kimchi?! None!

For dessert, I made Songpyeon. A sweet and savory rice cake. It’s typically served up during Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving according to the Lunar calendar). I’m currently working on finishing up a round up of all the dishes I’ve conjured up this past year for a vegetarian cookbook! Recipes are coming shortly, stay tuned…

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Filed under December 2011, Holidays, Hot on the Blog, Korean Food at Home, Meatless Mondays

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Pancakes

The last twelve months have been an amazing food adventure. Going meatless every Monday meant putting those creative bugs to work, utilizing ingredients I’ve never used before and thinking outside of the box.

I’ve sourced local produce directly from farmers more often than I’ve bought it from a supermarket, and realized it’s always better and often cheaper buying local and seasonal.

I’ve truly become a Meatless Monday advocate, convincing friends, family and animals to go meatless one day a week. Yes — even animals! I fed my dog tofu several times this year and started including local root vegetables and rice in his diet. Thanks to the folks here at Food2, I’ve gone from amateur food writer to pro.

I’m sad to hear that the end is fast-approaching for the site. I will miss all the irreverant quirkiness! And where am I to go next? I’ll still be going meatless on Mondays, still continuing to make Korean Food at Home (the other food I love, the food I’ve spent countless hours cooking this past year).

I’m off to writing and illustrating a superhero comic book. This isn’t the last you’ve heard from me — I promise there will be more coming soon. Until then, stay tuned. I’ll be back!

Vegetarian Pancakes

Ingredients
1 cup Chinese Chives, sliced into 2″ strips
3 Korean peppers, sliced on the bias
2 California carrots, diced
1 cup sweet rice flour
pinch salt
1 cup water
2 eggs
4 eggs, beaten

Directions
Sautee vegetables in a skillet with two tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook for about two to three minutes, remove and set aside.

Mix batter in a mixing bowl: add flour, salt, water and eggs. Whisk until it’s nice and creamy. Reserve four eggs beaten for finishing the pancakes at the end.

Return cooked vegetables to the skillet with some vegetable oil. Pour about batter over veggies, pour beaten egg (about 1 egg per pancake).

Flip pancake over using spatula. Continue cooking for 2 minutes on each side. Remove, slice and serve!

Food2 Farewell
I’ve decided to prepare a holiday special and given the craziness that comes from shopping, re-organizing, and traveling, most individuals, including myself, don’t want to spend an entire day cooking on that special day. So I’ve started to prep my holiday meal ahead of time, by slowly purchasing groceries, cleaning, and pre-cooking them. To kick it off, I found these cute baby radishes and California carrots last week.

I blanched them in boiling water for a few minutes, threw them in an ice bath and into a ziplock bag for the freezer. I’ll see you soon little vegetables…to be continued…

Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under December 2011, Food2, Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, Pancakes, Rina's Food2 recipes

Meatless Monday: Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach and Cocao Nib Grissini

Growing up, I never imagined I’d be able to eat chocolate with my favorite soup and bread. That is, until I came across the incredible versatility of the cocoa nib. It’s what chocolate looks and tastes like before it is ground into a paste – not quite as sweet, not quite as chocolatey; perfect for savory dishes. For this recipe, I used Pure Dark Caramelized Cocoa Nibs. It’s a pairing you’ll fall in love with, just as I have.
Butternut Squash Soup with Spinach & Cocoa Nib Grissini

Ingredients
For the Soup and saffron potato garnish:
1 butternut squash, oven roasted
1 medium white onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 quart vegetable stock
1 cup water
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon all spice
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup heavy cream
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
a pinch of saffron

For Grissini:
2 cups All Purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 package dry active yeast, proofed in ½ cup warm water
1 cup fresh spinach, blanched and rinsed in cold water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Cooking spray

Directions
In a large stock pot, place olive oil and onions and allow to cook on a low simmer until onions are translucent for about five minutes. Add garlic and continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes.

Deglaze with vegetable stock, add butternut squash and spices. Season with salt and pepper to taste and continue cooking for 15-20 more minutes. Stir in heavy cream. Blend soup in batches until it’s nice and creamy.

Place potatoes in cold water with pinch of saffron and allow to cook for about 10 minutes in medium heat until they are tender. Set aside.

Place spinach in a food processor and pulse with a tablespoon of olive oil until nice and creamy.

Combine flour, olive oil, salt and yeast mixture and gently knead for about 5 minutes. Add creamed spinach and continue kneading mixture for another 2-3 minutes.

Place dough in a greased bowl, covered for about 20-30 minutes and allow it to rise.

Grease baking sheets with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Section dough into small strips, roll out with fingers and gently twist at one end.

Place cocoa nibs on top, spray cooking spray on top. Place in preheated oven and bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

Remove and serve with butternut squash soup!

Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, November 2011, Rina's Food2 recipes, Soups

Meatless Monday: Thanksgiving Dinner Edition

If you’re not in the mood to chow down on a turkey this year, or simply want to, well, trim down a bit on all the trimmings, try going Meatless on Thanksgiving. Worried you’ll miss the meat? I put together a menu replete with super easy, super fast and super delicious vegetarian recipes that won’t have you missing that holiday bird one bit.
Vegetarian Thanksgiving

Herbed Aioli Vegetable Platter 
Serves 4-6 persons as an appetizer

Ingredients
Vegetables:
1 bunch small California carrots, peeled, sliced and blanched
2 cups cauliflower florets, blanched
1 large fennel, trimmed and cut into batons and blanched
1 cup fingerling potatoes, boiled until tender, and peeled
½ cup pickled vegetables (I used pickled peppers)
1 cup white asparagus, peeled, trimmed and blanched
1 cup fresh radish, quartered

Herbed Aioli:
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of water
1 cup canola oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoons fresh dill
salt

Directions
Make your basic mayonnaise combining egg yolks and lemon juice with a whisk in a large bowl. When the egg yolk emulsifies (turns into a nice pale yellow color), drizzle in canola oil, very slowly. Adjust thickness with a drop of water and stir in garlic and fresh dill. Serve with cooked and fresh vegetables!

TIP: Use the aioli vegetable scraps to cook yourself a nice vegetable stock instead of buying one from the store for the next recipe!

Stuffed Cabbage
Yields 6 Servings 

Ingredients
1 medium head of Savoy cabbage, about 10-12 leaves peeled and trimmed
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup oats soaked in water for 8-10 hours
1 cup adzuki beans soaked in water for 8-10 hours
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt

Directions
In a medium saucepot, place oil and shallots and allow to cook in a low simmer until translucent. Add vegetable stock, oats and beans. Cook uncovered stirring often for about 45 minutes in medium to low heat.
Place two tablespoons of oats and beans mixture inside a cabbage leaf, and fold into an envelope so it looks like an egg roll. Repeat steps for the remainder of cabbage.

Place inside a bamboo steamer and steam until cabbage is tender for about 12-15 minutes.

Creamy White Asparagus with Porcini Mushrooms 
Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish

Ingredients
½ cup dried porcini mushrooms, hydrated in water for an hour
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups white asparagus, trimmed, sliced and blanched
½ cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
In a medium skillet, melt butter and add porcini mushrooms and asparagus. Saute for about two minutes in medium heat. Deglaze with heavy cream and allow liquid to reduce by half (about 5 minutes). Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Grape Tomato and Fava Bean Salad
Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish

Ingredients
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup fava beans, blanched and peeled
1 medium avocado, chopped
½ small red onion, finely chopped
juice of ½ lemon
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Combine vegetables in a medium bowl. Stir in lemon and olive oil and season with salt and pepper. You can make a lemon vinaigrette or just spoon in the juice and oil.

Caramelized Brussels Sprouts
Yields 4-6 servings as a side dish

Ingredients
2 cups brussels sprouts, outer leaves peeled and center halved
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
Blanche halved brussels sprouts in boiling water and cool in an ice bath. In a medium skillet, place 2 tablespoons of olive oil and brussels sprout leaves. Allow leaves to slightly caramelize, cooking for about two minutes on high heat. Remove, set aside and repeat steps for the halved brussels sprouts.

Mustard Greens and Gruyere Cheese Casserole
Yields 6 servings

Ingredients
2 bunches of mustard greens, blanched
2 cups grated gruyere cheese
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup plain bread crumbs
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh dill, chopped

Directions
Place cooked mustard greens in a casserole dish lined with two tablespoons of heavy cream. Layer in mustard greens, top with grated cheese forming about 4-5 layers of vegetable and cheese. Pour in heavy cream.

Mix bread crumbs with olive oil and stir in dill. Top casserole with bread crumb mixture and sprinkle a little more cheese. Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

 Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under Holidays, Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, November 2011, Rina's Food2 recipes

Meatless Monday: 10-Minute Rice Pudding with Powdered Chocolate Nibs

I love rice pudding, but usually don’t have the patience to wait for the rice to cook. Then a few years ago I discovered Poha rice at a Bollywood video store. Essentially flattened, raw Indian rice flakes, I brought them home and spent a few weeks contemplating what I was going to do with them. When I ran out of medium grain rice, I had no other choice than to take the plunge. Someone had asked me to make rice pudding that very day, so plucked the Poha rice from out of the pantry and got to work.
I never imagined the rice pudding would result turn into such a creamy and delicious dish. I haven’t gone back to the medium grain rice since.

You can top your rice pudding with cinnamon, chocolate bits, dried fruit or anything else you prefer. I paired mine with some chocolate powdered nibs by sprinkling them on at the very end. Also, a little secret I like to share about Poha rice: you can eat it raw by mixing in water or milk and watching it expand to 4 times its size. It’s great for any type of diet, even raw vegan!

Rina’s 10-Minute Gourmet Rice Pudding with Powdered Chocolate Nibs
Yields 4 Servings

Ingredients
2 cups (500ml) milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or ½ vanilla bean, scraped
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 cup flattened rice flakes
1 teaspoon powdered chocolate nibs

Directions
Place milk with vanilla and half of the sugar in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Add flattened rice flakes and cook until tender for about 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.

TIP: Flattened rice cakes cook like instant oatmeal and are great for quick and easy recipes! Try them in a savory application and you’ll be amazed at how fast you can cook up rice!

Place egg in a mixing bowl with the remainder of sugar and whisk until it turns pale yellow and foams. (This is called blanchir in French cooking)

Temper milk and rice mixture into egg and sugar. If you used a vanilla bean, remove before tempering.

TIP: Ladle small portions until the temperature is adjusted and do this slowly. Otherwise your egg will curdle and it won’t look or taste pretty.

When you’re done tempering your egg with milk, return the mixture to the same saucepot and cook at a low heat for about 3-4 minutes until it thickens.

It should look something like this when the pudding is ready.

Get your ramekins ready. Place pudding inside, garnish with cocoa nibs, stir for a few seconds and serve!

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Filed under Dessert, Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, November 2011, Rina's Food2 recipes

Meatless Monday: Sweet Potatoes in a Nest

I can’t tell you how nice it is to have sweet and savory snack appropriate for any time of the day. Late morning, early afternoon or night; you’ve got sometimes delicious and easy to munch on. Sweet potatoes are one of my favorite foods. In fact, when I’m back visiting the Korean markets in the colder months, there’s usually a man standing outside smoking sweet potatoes, selling them for a few bucks. It’s not just a vegetable side dish — it’s its own phenomenon to Koreans who like to bake pastries with it.

I thought to bring it up a notch and bake my own mouth-watering version. Boy did it result in a tasty, buttery and satisfying snack. Enjoy it with tea, or indulge in morsel all by itself. Just be warned; you’ll likely find yourself coming back for seconds, and thirds.
Sweet Potatoes in a Nest

Ingredients
1 package of 
Kaitaifi (shredded pastry dough) thawed out
2 sticks butter
2 medium size sweet potatoes, oven roasted
1 cup honey
½ cup sugar
1 cup jujubee, chopped
1 teaspoon cinammon
¼ cup sliced almonds
Butter flavored cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin mold.

Mash peeled sweet potatoes using a potato masher. Add sugar, jujubes, honey, cinnamon, and mix well.

With the Kaitaifi (shredded pastry dough), make a nest by taking strips and swirling around, then place inside greased muffin tray. Drizzle about a teaspoon of honey on top of each nest. Scoop a tablespoon of sweet potato mixture inside. Brush all edges with melted butter, lots of butter.

Top with more honey and almonds. Brush with butter on top.

Place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Remove, and serve!

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Filed under Dessert, Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, November 2011, Rina's Food2 recipes, Sweet Potato

Meatless Monday: Pumpkin Soup

Not only is it October, but it’s Halloween and high-time for pumpkins to come out and play. Before they’re all sacrified to the jack-o-lantern gods, get your hands on a few because boy do they make for some mouth-watering fall soups. Simple, easy and surprisingly good even when warmed up the week after, I’ve got just the pumpkin soup to get you started.
Pumpkin Soup
Yields about 6 cups

Ingredients
For Pumpkin Soup:
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet pumpkin
2 tablespoons butter
1 white onion, chopped
1 quart vegetable stock or water
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon salt

For Garnish:
½ cup shaved pumpkin
½ cup small pumpkin dice
½ cup grated gruyere cheese

Directions
For Pumpkin Soup:
Place pumpkin on an oiled baking sheet and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove from heat and scoop out pumpkin chunks with a spoon. Set aside.

In a large stockpot, melt butter and cook onions in low heat for about 5 minutes until they are translucent. Add vegetable stock, salt, nutmeg and pumpkin.

Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for about half an hour and blend in batches. Season to taste with salt.

For Garnish:
Reserve about 1/2 cup of raw pumpkin with skin removed. Using a vegetable peeler or mandolin, shave the pumpkin into strips. 

Heat deep fryer at 375 degrees and immerse pumpkin strips for about 2 minutes. Season with salt immediately.

Use the other ½ cup of pumpkin for the pumpkin dice. Add into salted boiling water, cook until tender for about 2 minutes, remove- immerse into an ice bath to cool and then let air dry.

Pour soup into bowls, add pumpkin dice and top with gruyere cheese and fried pumpkin!

 

Rina Oh is an artist, writer and chef and a Meatless Monday advocate. For the last year these Meatless Mondays recipes have appeared on Food2.com, a website that is owned and operated by Scripps Networks. These posts are copyrighted material and any photographs, illustrations or written material are forbidden to be used or reposted anywhere without permission. For more information on Meatless Monday, please visit meatlessmonday.com

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Filed under Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, November 2011, Pumpkin Soup, Rina's Food2 recipes, Soups

Meatless Monday: Trick-or-Treat Rice Balls

In Korean culture, you’ll often find glutinous rice cakes cooked into stews and soups, but what you really want to keep your eye out for is when they’re served up for dessert. In the next few weeks I’ll be experimenting, and concocting every type of rice cake you can think of. Here’s my starter: an easy version made with orange veggies and lentils. Seasonally appropriate, these Halloween-inspired rice balls may look a bit like bon bons, but don’t be fooled! They’re actually pretty good for you.
Trick-or-Treat Rice Balls
Yields 20 rice balls 

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
½ acorn squash, seeds removed
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 shallot, finely chopped
1 cup split black and white lentils
2 cups water
salt to taste
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup shredded toasted seaweed laver, shredded
3 cups glutinous white rice, cooked

Directions
In a preheated oven at 350 degrees, place a tray lined with vegetable oil and acorn squash. Cook until very tender, about an hour. Remove from heat, and scoop out the squash with a spoon.

In a medium sauce pan, place olive oil and shallots, allowing them to cook until they are translucent without coloring them for about 3 minutes on low heat. Stir in lentils and deglaze with water. Continue cooking on medium heat for about 40 minutes until the lentils are tender but not mushy.

In a medium saute pan, add two tablespoons of olive oil and carrots. Saute for about 4-5 minutes in low heat until carrots are tender. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium mixing bowl, add ¾ cup of rice, and ½ an acorn squash. Mix well with a spatula. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Form into small 1 ½ inch balls.

With the remaining rice, form into 1 ½ inch balls pressing firmly to compact the rice. Gently roll in mixing bowls filled with carrots, then squeeze in your palm to set the vegetables. Repeat steps for lentils and seaweed.

And then….. Boo! Enjoy.

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Filed under Hot on the Blog, Meatless Mondays, October 2011, Rina's Food2 recipes