Quicklinks: the recipes I use regularly edition
Posted by kathryn in Vegetable recipes and Main courses
I thought I’d do something a bit different with today’s Quicklinks. Usually I post a round-up of what I’ve been reading: new information, recipes and resources. However instead today I thought I’d link to a group of recipes I use all the time.
I enjoy cooking and love trying out something new. However we also have our staples. Recipes which are used over and over and over again. And in amongst these are a number written and published by other bloggers.
I’ve probably linked to most of these before, when I first saw them. However since then I’ve tried them out and really liked them. Plus more significantly, I’ve found they fit our food needs and lifestyle. So, over time, they’ve become part of the standard repertoire of meals in our house.
So the list below is what I’ve found to be the most useful Quicklinks:
- Brilliant Broccoli: I make Heston Blumenthal’s broccoli first spotted on The Wednesday Chef all the time. It’s the simplest of recipes, but some crazy alchemy occurs in the pan and the results are brilliant. So much more than the sum of it’s ingredients.
- Black bean burritos: We’re having this less often as we move into summer, but during winter Wendy’s black bean and sweet potato burritos were at least a fortnightly occurrence. Since Wendy guest posted on Limes & Lycopene on making stock her egg drop soup has also become a favourite.
- Pickled radishes: It’s another simple idea and a side dish rather than a meal, but I’m in love with Lucy from Nourish Me’s version of Kylie Kwong’s pickled radishes. I’ve made them with both radishes and baby turnips. And I’ve been considering trying a beetroot version. They’re a useful food, which really bumps up the flavour of a meal.
- Huevos rancheros: If I’m working from home I often make a version of Smitten Kitchen’s huevos rancheros. It’s the kind of recipe you don’t have to follow exactly, and I can put together with what’s in the house. But I love the central idea of cooking the egg on the tortillas.
- Soy bombs: I was sceptical at first. Even had a few problems with the technique, but I can’t believe how good Cindy’s soy bombs are. Once you have the knack they’re quick and easy to make. The flavour is full and they have this wonderfully light texture. They are on high rotation in our kitchen and I think would suit even the tofu avoiders out there.
- Caramelised onion sauce: You know I’m a fan of tahini, so it should come as no surprise that I often make Cassie from Veggie Meal Plans’ caramelised onion and tahini sauce. It makes a plain meal into something special and so far I’ve matched it with fritters, falafels, salads and frittatas.
- Tofu scramble: I’ve always thought tofu scrambles to be just a bit too vegetarian, until I tried Johanna from Green Gourmet Giraffe’s version. She couples it with roasted vegetables and the results are pretty darned good. It converted me anyway, and now we have this regularly.
What are the recipes that you cook regularly?
Photograph by Greenhem.
21 November, 2008
Comments
The recipe I cook the most is red lentil soup with sweet potato. It’s so easy (I do it all in one pot) and its sweet, blandish taste is so comforting.
Hi Kathryn, while it’s not cooked, your tahini salad dressing with the shoyu and mustard has been a regular for me ever since you first shared it. I often use it for lunch salads with chickpeas, roasted veggies and loads of spinach. Variations of glazed tofu, broiled tempeh, lentil or mung bean soups and various dals are also regulars for me.
I’m mighty pleased that the soy bombs have won you over too!
We’ve recently added ‘recipes we use regularly’ section to our blog – our list of trialled recipes has grown so long that it’s good to have a reference to the highlights! It’s a mixture of comfort foods (vegetarian ‘meat’ pies and ‘sausage’ rolls) and quick weeknight favourites (tostadas piled with salad, Indian-style chickpeas, fried brown rice and vege burgers).
I’ll be bookmarking a few of your favourites for future use too. :-)
I am pleased to see a few of these are ones that I have made and loved – I don’t really make lots of food regularly but I think once I like something I make versions of it – which is what I seem to have done with the scramble. At the moment i keep making versions of falafels when I feel out of energy.
BTW I like this variation on quicklinks – usually find something interesting in your links and this is another good way to see what works as a regular meal
I’m like Johanna – I make loads of version with the tofu scramble. Lately I like to do it with carrots, peas, tomato, basil and parsley. It’s one of my favorite easy meals, especially when I’ve got a fresh loaf of no knead bread to go with it.
The carmelized onion and tahini sauce sounds heavenly. Reminds me that I haven’t made falafels in a while. I must change that!
I, too, love tofu scrambles and often make them with leftover salad dressings as a binder (much quicker and tastier than having to mix up all the spices/tahini/water/etc.). Lke Johanna, I always include lots of veggies! Our favorite salad at home is the raw kale and avocado salad—I really can’t eat it too often, and it comes together in under 5 minutes.
Cassie: the other thing I make regularly, which I didn’t include here are breakfast bars. Either my version with tahini or one of your bars.
Cindy: thanks for letting me know about your regulars section, I’ll take a look.
It’s interesting that tofu scrambles seem to be popular. As I mentioned, I’ve avoided them in the past. I’ve always thought of them as a scrambled egg replacement and given I eat eggs, didn’t see the point.
But I liked Johanna’s because of all the vegetables. However it seems many of you do that anyway. I see I shall have to do some more experimenting. And Ricki – adding a dressing, what a good idea.
Good idea for a round-up Kathryn. We have Smitten Kitchen’’s Huevos Rancheros on heavy rotation in our house too, as well as yours and Cassie’s tahini bars
Thank you for compiling all these delicious links in one place, Kathryn. I want to try all of them and think I’ll start with black bean burritos and tofu scramble.
Ratatouille is one of my staple recipes. Here’s my favourite version – because it’s simple, quick and tasty – from “Simply Great Food” by Dietitians of Canada:
Prep time: 20 minutes/Cooking time: 30 minutes
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F
16 by 12 inch shallow roasting pan
4 tomatoes, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 small Italian eggplants, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
2 large zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 large red onion, cut into chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 small bunch fresh basil, roughly torn
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1. In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, eggplants, zucchini, red pepper, yellow pepper, and red onion. Add olive oil and toss to coat. Transfer to roasting pan and season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Roast on the top rack of a preheated oven for 15 minutes. Stir and roast for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are just soft and tinged brown on the edges.
3. Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in basil. Sprinkle with cheese.
Serving idea: Serve warm over whole wheat spaghetti with grated Parmesan cheese.
What a lovely, lovely recipe Elaine. In fact I was just looking at the slightly fading zucchini and eggplant in my fridge, wondering what to do with them both. And this is perfect.
I’m going to have to say; some type of BBQ’d meat, a salad with baby beetroot and a starch of some kind – spuds, bread, couscous etc. This is the quickest and most user friendly food for a fussy 3 yr old, a ravenous 1 yr old, a busy, hard working dad and a very tired working/studying mum!
I just tried the broccoli! Superb!!!!! So simple too…will be using that one again…
I’m loving the look of the soy bombs… one of my all time favourites is to just stir fry everything I’ve got with noodles or cooked rice.
I’ll be trying that broccoli recipe for sure!
One recipe that I always turn to, especially if I’m in a hurry is pasta carbonara. It’s simple, quick and delicious, plus I normally have all the ingredients on hand.
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