Delish Your Dish

“You Roll Me Over”- Eggplant Rollatini with Garlicky Spinach and Arugala

Ever get that craving for some good ol’ “mom and pop” style Italian food?  The type of dishes that are just bursting with that amazing fresh garlic flavor?  Well, that’s what I’ve been craving the past few weeks.  I’m in search of that kind of restaurant here in Los Angeles, but until I find it, I’ll have to try and create my own delish Italian favorites!

What You Need:

For the Rollatini:

1 Medium Eggplant (sliced lengthwise, 1/4” thick)

1 Pkg. Firm Tofu (drained)

2 Large Portabello Mushrooms (fine dice)

2 Shallots (fine dice)

1/4 Cup Marsala Wine

3 Cloves Garlic (minced)

1/4 Pkg. Tempeh (crumbled and toasted)

5 Meatless Meatballs (defrosted)

Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (if Vegan, use Daiya brand cheesel)

Salt/Pepper/Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

Marinara Sauce (fresh is best, but store-bought is fine too)

Olive Oil (for pan)

For the Spinach/Arugala:

2 Cups Fresh Spinach Leaves

2 Cups Fresh Arugala

Lemon Juice (to taste)

2 Cloves Garlic (thinly sliced)

Salt/Pepper/Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)

Olive Oil (for pan)

Preparing the Rollatini:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Lay the sliced eggplant onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Set the eggplant aside and allow the salt to draw out the moisture.  Meanwhile, heat a saute pan on medium and add olive oil to lightly coat the bottom.  Once the pan is heated, add the chopped mushrooms.  Allow the mushrooms to cook until soft.  Add in the shallots and saute until the shallots are tender.  Next, add the marsala wine to the pan.  Allow the liquid to cook off and season to taste.

2. Next, add the tofu, meatless meatballs, 2 tsp. chopped garlic and mushroom mixture to a food processor or Vita-Mix blender.  Blend until fully incorporated and season to taste (you may need a little liquid to get the Vita-Mix working, so just add drops of water to the mixture).  Set mixture aside.

3. Next, wipe the saute pan clean with a towel.  Lightly oil the pan and set it on medium heat.  Once the pan is heated, add the eggplant slices.  Do not over crowd the pan.  Cook the eggplant on both sides until it is tender, but not over cooked.  Set aside to cool.  Then,

4. Prepare your baking dish by placing a light coat of tomato sauce on the bottom of a casserole dish.  Once the eggplant is cooled enough for you to work with, begin to fill your eggplant rollatinis.  Place a dollop of mushroom filling on one end of the eggplant.  Add in a sprinkle of cheese then begin to roll the eggplant until if forms a perfect roll.  Place the filled eggplant seam side down into the casserole dish.  Top with tomato sauce.

5. Once all of the eggplant rolls have been set into the casserole dish, place the tray in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. When there is about 5 minutes left, sprinkle mozzarella cheese, tempeh and remaining garlic on top of the eggplant rolls.  Continue baking until the cheese has melted.

Preparing the Spinach and Arugala:

1. Wipe the saute pan clean and lightly coat the bottom with olive oil.  Heat on medium-high.  Next, toss in the sliced garlic.  Allow the garlic to saute (but not brown) for about 1 minute.  Then, toss in the spinach and arugala.  Allow the greens to wilt, but do not overcook.  Just before serving, add lemon juice and  salt/pepper/red pepper flakes.

“Pauley Walnuts”- Walnut Tuiles (Butter Wafers)

This past weekend, I spent two glorious days in Sacramento, celebrating the Walnut Harvest.  I have tons of great pictures, recipes and fun walnut related facts to share with all of you!

Since I’ve been on such a walnut kick, I figured I’d share some amazing walnut themed recipes. This wafer cookie recipe is ridiculously simple, delish and fun!  Fun?  Yes! It’s fun, because you can create fun and abstract shapes with the cookie batter!

What You Need:

1 Cup Walnut Flour (1/3 Cup Ground Walnuts, 2/3 Cup AP Flour)

1 Cup Butter (melted)

1 Cup Egg Whites

1/2 Cup Sugar

Melted Chocolate (optional)

Powdered Sugar (for dusting)

Heat oven to 275 degrees.

1. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients except for the chocolate.  Mix until there are no lumps and all of the ingredients are well combined.

2. Next, place a silpat onto a baking sheet (or just us PAM to grease your baking sheet).  Use an offset spatula to spread your batter into a thin layer, then bake for 15 minutes.  Experiment with designs.  Here’s a cool suggestion: spread the batter into a long rectangular shape.  Bake for 15 minutes then carefully remove the shape from the baking sheet.  Immediately drape the baked cookie over a wine bottle (that is on its side) so that it molds to the shape of the wine bottle.

3. You have to work fast so that the cookie doesn’t cool before you’re done shaping it.  Then, melt a chocolate of your choice and dip your cookies into the chocolate.  Allow to cool (if you can wait that long) then enjoy!!  Dust with powdered sugar.

“Delish Detector”- Old Soul Coffee Company

This is a first ever traveling post for Delish Your Dish (thank you iPhone).

I am currently in Sacramento with fellow foodies and journalists celebrating California’s Walnut Harvest.

I plan on giving you all the Delish details of the event when I get back to Los Angeles, but I couldn’t resist telling you all about the beautiful breakfast we enjoyed at Old Soul Coffee Company in Downtown Sacramento.

To start, we indulged in fresh baked Banana Walnut Bread, Candied Walnut Scones and Croissants. We were in baked good heaven!

Then, out came breakfast. A gorgeous spinach, walnut and goat cheese quiche with a side of fresh fruit and potatoes. Now, that’s a breakfast of champions!

We enjoyed the beautiful meal on the outside patio, shaded by the gorgeous trees.

It was a delicious way to start the day!

“Bonus “Squash” Pit II”- Roasted Vegetable Primavera with Spaghetti Squash

During my weekly adventure through the farmers market on Sunday I was in squash heaven.  Everything from kabocha squash to acorn squash were quite abundant.  I grabbed a beautiful spaghetti squash to accompany the array of veggies I had already bought and headed home to cook up this delish dish.

What You Need:

1 Spaghetti Squash (seeded, roasted and filling scooped out), Set Aside

1 Eggplant (medium dice)

2 Small Zucchini (medium dice)

1 Red Pepper (seeded and medium dice)

1 Tomato (seeded and medium dice)

White Balsamic Vinegar (to taste)

Salt/Pepper (to taste)

Nutritional Yeast (to taste)

1/4 Cup Basil (chiffonade)

2 Cloves Garlic (crushed)

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Place a silpat onto a baking sheet.  Then, combine all of your chopped vegetables and garlic into a medium bowl.  Salt and Pepper the veggies, toss to combine.  Spread the veggies onto the baking sheet and place into the oven for about 25 minutes or until veggies are tender.

2. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and toss the veggies back into the medium bowl.  Add the balsamic vinegar, basil, crushed red pepper and nutritional yeast to the mixture.

3. Next, fold in the spaghetti squash to combine with the roasted veggies.  You can then serve immediately, or place the mixture into a casserole dish and allow the dish to bake.

*Feel free to make the roasted spaghetti squash a day in advance.  Allow the squash to cool before storing it in the fridge.

**Can you guess what I’m referring to in the title?

“Love is in the Heir(loom)”- Roasted Veggie and Heirloom Tomato Napoleon with Ricotta-Feta Pesto and Balsamic Reduction

Tonight at work, my fellow Sous Chef’s and I got a chance tp create some of our own dishes for our class participants.  I searched through the kitchen to get inspired and came across some gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, eggplant and red peppers.  The colors were so beautiful together, I couldn’t resist putting them together in a delish dish.

What You Need:

For the Veggies:

2 Heirloom Tomatoes (1/4” half-moon slices)

1 Large Eggplant  (1/4” half-moon slices)

2 Roasted Red Peppers (triangular shaped cuts)

For the Cheese Pesto:

1/2 Cup Prepared Pesto

1 Cup Ricotta

1/2 Cup Feta

Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese (to taste)

1/4 Cup Chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley

Salt/Pepper to taste

Balsamic Reduction

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

1. Spread the eggplant onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake the eggplant until tender and set aside to cool.

2. To roast the red pepper, place the pepper on an open flame on your stove.  Rotate the pepper every so often to evenly char the outside of the pepper.  Once the entire pepper has roasted, place the peppers in a bowl and wrap in plastic wrap (this will help in removing the charred layer of pepper).  After about 5-10 minutes, slice the pepper on one side, remove the seeds and lay the pepper so that it is flat.  Use your knife to scrape off the charred parts of the pepper.  Then, cut into triangular shapes, season with salt/pepper and set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, combine the cheeses, pesto, parsley and salt/pepper to taste.  Then, scoop mixture into a pastry bag or ziplock (with corner cut to create a pastry bag).

4. Begin to build your stacks, layer a slice of tomato, a squeeze of pesto mixture, pepper, pesto, eggplant, pesto, pepper and pesto on top.  Create as many stacks as needed.  Then, just before serving, drizzle balsamic reduction and high-quality olive oil on top of each stack.  Garnish with chopped parsley or basil.

“Niche Quiche”- Vegan Quiche with Carmelized Onions, Leeks and Mushrooms and Millet Crust

Last week I had cooked up a recipe for a friend of mine out of one of her favorite cookbooks.  I had never had vegan quiche, let alone cooked it, but I’m pretty good about trying anything once.  The quiche was phenomenal! I couldn’t wait to get into my own kitchen and cook up my own batch. This time I added a few different veggies and baked the millet crust before putting in the filling.  The quiche was so delish, that I unfortunately only have 1 piece left for tomorrow…if it lasts until then.

What You Need:

2 Onions (1 diced, 1 thinly sliced)

Fresh Thyme (to taste)

1 Clove Garlic (minced)

Salt/Pepper/Cayenne (to taste)

2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp. Tahini

2 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast

1 Large Leek (cleaned and chopped)

1 Cup Mushrooms (sliced)

1 Cup Millet (rinsed and drained)

1 1/2 Blocks Tofu (I used silken and firm)

3 Cups Water

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

1. In a greased, medium/large pot, sweat the onions and garlic until the onions are translucent.  Add a pinch of salt and chopped thyme.  Then, add the millet to the pot and saute for about 1 minute.  Then pour in the 3 cups of water.  Bring the millet to a boil, then turn it down to a simmer until all the water is absorbed.  The millet should be slightly chewy.

2. While the millet is cooking, blend together the tofu, soy sauce, tahini and 1 tbsp. of nutritional yeast until smooth.  Set aside.

3. When the millet is cooked, press it in to a greased baking dish or tart pan.  Place the tray into the oven for about 10-15 minutes or until millet crust is crisped slightly.

4. While the crust is baking, toss the leeks and onions into a greased saute pan.  Slowly carmelize the veggies, then toss in the mushrooms.  Add in chopped thyme to taste.  Saute until mushrooms are tender.  Then, combine the veggies and tofu mixture in a medium bowl.  Fold the ingredients together until well combined.  Season to taste.

5. Then, remove the crust from the oven and fill the crust with the tofu/veggie mixture.  Top the quiche with the remaining nutritional yeast and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Allow to cool slightly before cutting into it.

What’s Cookin’, Good Lookin’- Vegetarian Awareness Month

Happy Vegetarian Awareness Month!  That’s right kids, a whole month dedicated to vegetarians!  For those of you who are already a vegetarian/vegan, this month celebrates you and your dedication to a vegetarian diet and lifestyle.  For those of you who are “flirting” with the idea of becoming vegetarian/vegan, now would be a great time to take that first step towards becoming a veggie!

Already a Veg? Help your friends, family, co-workers learn more about being a vegetarian.  Cook them a few delish veggie meals to show them how amazing a vegetarian meal can be!

Interested in becoming a Veg? On the World Vegetarian Day website, you can pledge to go Vegetarian for a day, week or month and win up to $1000!  The idea of becoming vegetarian may seem tricky to some, but there are a ton of resources to help you out!  For example, Vegetarian Times has a free online starter kit to help you take that first step.

Also, I’ve been a vegetarian my entire life, so I have 25 years of vegetarian experience to help you with any questions you may have!  Got a favorite recipe you want me to make vegetarian or vegan?  Just shoot me an email and I’ll make a recipe for you!

Have a Veggie-licious Vegetarian Month!!!

“The Sophisticated Jell-O”- Coconut and Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta (Vegan)

Last week at work we made some amazingly beautiful Panna Cotta desserts.  I spent half of the time drooling over the wine glass filled dessert, yet I was unable to indulge.  Why?  Well, that’s because Panna Cotta is made with gelatin (which is not veggie friendly).

Since the dessert let down last week, I’ve had Panna Cotta on the brain.  Thanks to my well-stocked cubbard and a little research, I was able to make some delish vegan and vegetarian Panna Cotta this evening.

What You Need:

1 Tbsp. Agar Powder

1 1/4 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk (you can sub this for coconut milk or soy milk)

1 Tbsp. Vanilla Bean Paste

1 Tsp. Coconut Extract

1/2 Banana (sliced)

1/4 Cup Sweetened Shredded Coconut (feel free to toast the coconut)

1/4 Cup Sugar (and more to taste)

1. Combine the sugar, agar powder and milk to a pot.  Stir the mixture to combine.  Then, bring the mixture to a simmer for about 5-8 minutes, or until the sugar and agar powder have dissolved.  Remove the pot from the heat and add in the vanilla bean paste and coconut extract.

2. Pour the liquid into your serving dishes.  Wine glasses, martini glasses and ramekins make for great presentation.  Garnish with sliced banana, toasted coconut and a dash of cinnamon.

*This recipe was inspired by Enlightened Cooking.  For her vegan panna cotta she added soy yogurt, which is an option for you as well.