Asparagus!

Last Saturday I was in my Alvin, TX and stopped by an old favorite place - Froberg's Fruit and Vegetable Market. I picked up some fresh strawberries (which are in season in TX now) and hunted down some other veggie delights. I picked up the last 2 bunches of asparagus... boy was I excited!

Cream of Asparagus and Artichoke Soup
1 lb asparagus, tough ends removed
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic
1 can artichoke hearts
3 cups vegetable stock
1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 TBS freeze dried basil

Combine the asparagus, onion, garlic, artichoke hearts and stock in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add milk, flour and basil. Blend until smooth. Serve!

Sometimes I amaze myself

Lately, I have been trying to eat mostly unprocessed/minimally processed foods. I had some cooked Bulgar on hand and decided to make a tabbouleh style salad with a few extras. It was simply heavenly. Here's what i did:

Vic's Tabbouleh
2 cups cooked Bulgar
1 bunch green onion, sliced
12 yellow cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 small cucumber, seeded and diced
leaves from one bunch of parsley
1/2 cup edamame
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
1 1/2 TBS good olive oil
fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Vegetarian Chili

One of the my most requested recipes is my vegetarian chili. I concocted this recipe by trial and error and combining several elements of different recipes I came across. Enjoy!

Vic's Vegetarian Chili
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large onions, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced

1 TBS tomato paste
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
1 TBS BBQ sauce
1 TBS chili powder
1 1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp season salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder

8 oz mushrooms, stemmed and quartered (sometimes I use 16 oz)
2 green peppers, chopped
2 stalks celery, diced
1 small zucchini, chopped
2 jalapeno peppers, minced

28 oz whole pealed tomatoes, torn apart with juice
3 cans beans (your choice)

hot and spicy v-8

optional: 1 bag morning star crumbles, crumbled tofu

Heat oil, add garlic and onions. Saute for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the next 14 ingredients. Add the mushrooms and seasoning mix and saute until the mushrooms release their liquid and soak most of it back up. Add the peppers, celery and zucchini and saute for another 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook ~30 minutes. Adjust liquid content with v-8. Taste and adjust seasoning. Serve with Frito's and shredded cheese.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Cooked this for dinner tonight and it was so absolutely divine, I had to stop and post before I even cleaned up the kitchen!

Crawfish and Shrimp Etouffee
1 lb shrimp
1 lb crawfish tails
2 large onions
1 stalk celery
2 cloves garlic
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 stick butter
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black and white pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 TBS Slap Ya Mamma Crawfish Boil powder
1 TBS Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco sauce, to taste (I used about 10 shakes)
1/4 cup flour
1 cup hot water

Mince onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic. Melt butter over low heat and saute vegetables slowly until they are cooked well (about 30 minutes). Add spices during the last few minutes. Sprinkle mixture with flour and stir well, cook this mixture for about 3 minutes. Add Worcestershire and Tabasco. Add crawfish and shrimp and cook until the shrimp are cooked (about 5 minutes). Add water slowly and stir well. Simmer for 5 more minutes. Serve hot over rice.

Goodness from the grill

One can only eat so many veggie burgers... I got this idea from the local Kroger store and added my own touch to it.

Grilled Portabella Delight
Portabella mushroom cap
Spinach
Pico de gallo
Italian dressing
Goat cheese crumbles

To assemble, spoon 1 TBS Italian dressing inside mushroom cap and coat the inside. Add a handful or so of spinach to fill the cap. Spoon on desired amount of pico and top with goat cheese crumbles. Grill until spinach wilted and cheese browned and melty. Enjoy!

Beef Stroganoff

This dish was a snap to make, thanks to my butcher! He kindly sliced the meat for me so I didn't have to (I really don't care for handling raw meat). I was so happy I almost invited him to dinner. This got rave reviews from everyone.

Beef Stroganoff
6 TBS butter
1 tsp olive oil
1 lb top sirloin, cut thin into 1-inch wide by 2 1/2 long strips
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 lb sliced baby bella mushrooms
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp habenaro sauce
1 cup sour cream at room temperature
12 oz wide egg noodles, cooked

Melt 3 TBS butter and add olive oil. Brown strips of beef over medium heat on both sides, set aside (may need to do in batches). Add onions and cook until tender, set aside. Melt the remaining 3 tbs butter and cook mushrooms 5 minutes or so. Turn down heat to low and add the salt, pepper, oregano, habenaro sauce and sour cream, stir. Add the beef and onions, stir to combine. Remove from heat. Serve over egg noodles.

Killer Chili

Having perfected vegetarian chili, Mark asked me to work on a meat version. According to him, this is perfection.

Killer Chili
2 lbs top sirloin, trimmed, cubed and browned
1.5 lbs bone-in rib-eye steak, grilled then cubed
2 pkgs McCormick hot chili seasoning
16 oz tomato sauce
15 oz can diced tomatoes with jalapenos
15 oz can light kidney beans
15 oz can dark red kidney beans
1/8 to 1/4 cup Matouk's calypso sauce (depending on taste)
1 onion, diced

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker, stir and cook on low for 8 hours.