Ingredient cooking challenge, Final week: fresh basil and/or pumpkin
We are going to do an ingredient cooking challenge, starting after the blog recipe cooking challenge is completed. This will be a great opportunity to try some new ingredients, new dishes with ingredients, and just to have fun with cooking, and talking about food. There are 13 weeks/13 ingredients, and the last week will be a surprise challenging ingredient. Try to make dishes that have the ingredient as the star, or one of the main ingredients. Get recipes from books, blogs, wherever! Come back, and talk about them.
Feel free to discuss where you've found your ingredients. Some things might be harder to find in certain areas.
1. okra (Jan.25-31) (look in fresh produce, frozen)
2. quinoa (Feb. 1-7) (look with grains, bulk bins, "health" food)
3. kale (Feb. 8-14) (look in fresh produce)
4. plantains (Feb. 15-21) (look in fresh produce, ethnic markets)
5. avocado (Feb. 22-28) (look in fresh produce)
6. edamame (Mar. 1-7) (look in frozen)
7. jackfruit (Mar. 8-14) (look in ethnic aisles, markets)
8. barley (Mar. 15-21) (look in grains, bulk bins)
9. wild mushrooms (Mar. 22-28) (look in fresh produce, spices (or wherever dried mushrooms can be found)
10. collard greens (Mar. 29-Apr. 4) (look in fresh produce)
11. tarragon (Apr. 5-11) (look in fresh produce, spice aisle, bulk bins)
12. nuts and seeds (Apr 12-18)
13. basil and/or pumpkin (Apr. 19-26)
no it tastes like chocolate!
i just found this while researching my bacon question:
http://www.channel4.com/food/recipes/occasions/dinner-parties/come-dine-with-me/baked-avocado-on-a-bed-of-asparagus-with-vegan-bacon-recipe_p_1.html
The Consciuos Cook has a couple really great looking quinoa and avocado recipes. Also, 500 Vegan recipes has Avocado Spring Rolls and Avocado Cilantro Hummus. If only my avocado would ripen so I could try any of these.
Well, I definitely failed on the avocado challenge. I didn't do anything challenging! I did enjoy them, however...
Edamame ideas? I bought some, but I *challenged* myself and bought the ones in pods..I usually just buy the beans. Ha.
I ate so much edamame last night at this sushi place.
I keep doing the challenges in a lazy, unchallenging way.
Oh, I forgot to "review" my avocado challenge. I made the chocolate avocado pie http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6811.0 , filling only. My avos were kind of small, so with 2 of them I used 3/4 bag of chips (I started with 1/2, but then it was too avocado-y and not chocolatey enough). It's kind of weird because, at first I taste the avocado, but then as I eat it it's just like chocolate. I think it's almost too dense to be a pie filling, more like a ganache. Maybe silken tofu + avo + chocolate would work for a pudding pie?
Anyway, my boyfriend would not try it because it sounded so weird, but eventually he did and, unfortunately for me, he liked it. We still have some left, and it's almost been a week (and we can eat sweets...).
Dude! I just made a bag of frozen edamame! Why oh whyyyy did I eat it all normal-like instead of doing something cool with it.
I usually put them in Asain-style dishes like fried rice, stir fry, lo mein, etc. My 4-yo daughter loves them and eats them and the mushrooms first.
I don't understand buying them in the pods? When I bought them, I thought that the pods would be edible/ok to eat, but they aren't. Why buy them in pods (to take them out of the pods), when you can just buy the beans? Anyway, that was annoying, but I put them in a stirfry with veggie and gardein beef. We are taking care of P's brothers, and Zach asked, "what are these beans? are these lima beans? mmmmm" ha! They never eat veggies.
If anyone is interested, you can make a pesto out of edamame (definitely more low fat, but I prefer nuts..), and I'm going to try an edamame hummus one of these days.
I have a bag of frozen edamame, and I have no idea what to do with it....I don't think I'm a huge fan though.
I don't understand buying them in the pods? When I bought them, I thought that the pods would be edible/ok to eat, but they aren't. Why buy them in pods (to take them out of the pods), when you can just buy the beans? Anyway, that was annoying, but I put them in a stirfry with veggie and gardein beef. We are taking care of P's brothers, and Zach asked, "what are these beans? are these lima beans? mmmmm" ha! They never eat veggies.
If anyone is interested, you can make a pesto out of edamame (definitely more low fat, but I prefer nuts..), and I'm going to try an edamame hummus one of these days.
They're served steamed & salted in the pods as an appetizer at sushi places & often other Japanese restaurants, and you pop them into your mouth and discard the pod. I guess they sell them in pods so you can have it that way at home too, but if it's going in a stew or stir-fry... podless is the way to go.
Hmmm. I'll have to see what you guys come up with. I'm currently at college with no cooking facilities :(
I usually just eat them in salads, so it'll be fun to try something new.
TJs sells edamame hummus... is that cheating?
(I know, I know, it's cheating)
I don't understand buying them in the pods? When I bought them, I thought that the pods would be edible/ok to eat, but they aren't. Why buy them in pods (to take them out of the pods), when you can just buy the beans? Anyway, that was annoying, but I put them in a stirfry with veggie and gardein beef. We are taking care of P's brothers, and Zach asked, "what are these beans? are these lima beans? mmmmm" ha! They never eat veggies.
If anyone is interested, you can make a pesto out of edamame (definitely more low fat, but I prefer nuts..), and I'm going to try an edamame hummus one of these days.
my little chihuahua mix doggie loves edamame....he runs over to steal a pod then holds it in his paws as he pops the peas out 1-by-1..it is the cutest thing ever! other than this there is probably no reason to buy it in pods.
i like it in the pods to eat as a side dish instead of something like french fries or chips.. you can salt them and squeeze the beans out with your teeth. i used to like to squeeze the insides of the french fry out like that, too so it was obviously meant to be for me to move on to the edamame pod.
but - yes, for stir fries or salads is better to buy them shelled because aside from it being easier it's also cheaper. the bags are usually the same price and sold by weight and so you end up getting more beans and not paying for the extra weight of the pod that you don't eat.
I made the carnitas from The Urban Housewife's blog(Melisser on ppk). They are delicious. She doesn't give exact measurements on spices, so I would recommend being heavy handed. The jackfruit has no taste, so you can really spice it up!!
i made the bbq jackfruit awhile back.. super easy in the slow cooker. i had a meat eating guy freak out over it, eat almost the entire batch and ask for the recipe. it was so good!
I'd never heard of this one. I just Googled it and now am fairly certain I've never seen one. Where is this found? Do you buy it fresh?
you can buy it fresh or in cans. I bought cans. Most ethnic, especially asian stores carry it.
Okay, I'm gonna try The Urban Housewife Jackfruit tacos...inspired by Pure Luck in LA! Have any of you been there? So good! They also do a this taco with whipped cream on it. It works, trust me!
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