Food Glorious Food - The Cooking Thread

[batmom]

I was a vegetarian for 10 years in my teens and 20s and started eating meat again when I got married, but I tend cook vegetarian at least half the time (all the time when I'm alone.) I usually scan pinterest for inspiration. Some favorites:

- sheet pan gnocchi. I love this one because packaged gnocchi is easy to keep on hand and peppers go on sale regularly and the whole thing comes together in no time. You can also substitute the cheese for cream cheese for a different texture.

- Buffalo chickpea taquitos - this one is a big hit even with non-vegetarians. The fact that I serve it with a cheese sauce doesn't hurt.

- Slow cooker risotto butternut squash Beautiful comfort food. I know that the point of this thread is to save money, in which case a regular squash is great, but if you want to spring for frozen squash, it comes peeled and cubed and it makes this so quick. Or, know that you can buy squash in season for cheap, the peel and dice and freeze.

[prisma]

I forgot to suggest Buddha bowls--I do these a lot because it is easy to throw stuff together rather than actually prepare something from a recipe. There are a zillion variations. I have one that is my go-to for lunch that hits in the easy but delicious sweet spot.

[Nysha]

Thanks for these recipes, prisma! I can't wait to try the sheet pan gnocchi all of them. I've been doing a lot of fresh salads and stir fry because I haven't been in the mood for meat and these will be fun to add to my meal rotation.

[mojogirl]

I have a good friend who's vegetarian. I want to make her some Thai food, but I need a vegetarian "fish sauce" (in quotes since obviously a vegetarian version would not actually be "fish" sauce.)

I googled and they seem to exist, but I can't find one at H-Mart, and I'd like a rec on a good brand to order online.

For my own cooking I generally use either 3 Crabs or Red Boat brands.

[prisma]

I follow the Viet Vegan, and she has this recipe for fish sauce that looks fairly simple to make. I may try it myself!

I was invited to a dinner tonight and brought these Nashville hot tofu nuggets with me and they were well received! A couple of people tried them not realizing they were tofu and they were shocked when they found out that's what was inside. I pressed the tofu and it was almost like mozzarella once it was breaded and sauced up.

[batmom]

It was my boyfriend's birthday on Saturday and we were having a co-birthday party at his place for him and two friends with birthdays. I was baking a black forrest cake for him (the first time I've made one) and pumpkin tarts for one of the friends (third friend just likes candy so he got a candy bowl). I measured out all the dry ingredients at my place and brought them over, premixed, in tupperware to minimize the disruption as I baked at his place.

So I start with the black forrest cake, whipping up the 6 eggs with sugar into a beautiful froth. Then I gently shake the dry ingredients into the mixer. And as the last bit of powder sinks into the batter I get the whiff of nutmeg. And I realize that I have poured in the dry ingredients for the tarts. How my dumb ass couldn't tell that I wasn't pouring in COCOA POWDER I don't know. So I have a wee snit and start over. But I couldn't bring myself to throw out what I'd started. So when the black forrest cake was safely in the oven I decided to double down on my mistake (that's how I stayed married for almost 20 years!) and I added pumpkin and some flour to the mix, poured into a pan and said "what's the worst that can happen?"

Turns out it was pretty damn good. The birthday girl even took some home with her. The only thing I would have done differently if I'd done it on purpose was to make a cream cheese frosting for it (I served it with whipped cream).

[mojogirl]

I'm apparently channeling my inner Oliver Putnam, I want to have a fall cocktail party with all dips.

I made this feta dip this weekend, served it with cucumber slices, cherry tomatoes, and Trader Joe's pumpkin cranberry crisps, and it was delish! I halved the amounts because I so often have half a block of feta on hand after using it for crumbling over another recipe, and it filled one dip bowl, perfect! I also used Aleppo pepper rather than crushed red.

I just got the Turkey and the Wolf cookbook from the library and I want to try his white bean hummus with chile crip peas, I already have a favorite recipe for Israeli hummus, and of course everyone loves a classic 70's Lipton Onion Soup mix dip.

[scarlet]

May 16, 2017 12:11:31 GMT -4 mojogirl said:

of course everyone loves a classic 70's Lipton Onion Soup mix dip.

It's a classic for a reason! Man, grew up on that stuff--nothing like it!

[Carolinian]

I'm trying to support a friend who is on a keto diet. His birthday is next week, and I've been thinking about a sweet-flavored treat that is low in carbs. Has anyone here tried sugar alternatives for baking like monk fruit, erythritol or xylitol? I was thinking of making a small chocolate custard tart (almond flour crust) with whipped cream. The custard is cooked so I want a sweetener that will tolerate heat.

[prisma]

I have not tried it but I have a friend who has said positive things about monk fruit.