Miso sweet potato and broccoli bowl

Miso sweet potato and broccoli bowl

From Smitten Kitchen

This dish with roasted vegetables and a savory sauce is a great way to use sweet potatoes and broccoli. Although the original recipe doesn't call for it, we usually add crispy chickpeas (tossed in olive oil and roasted at the same time as the veggies) for extra protein.

Serves 4

For the bowl:
1 cup dried rice (white, brown, red all work)
1 to 2 sweet potatoes (about 1.5 pounds)
1 large bundle broccoli (about 1 pound)
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse or kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1-2 teaspoons sesame seeds - can be white and/or black seeds


For the miso-sesame dressing:
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons white miso
2 tablespoons tahini
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons olive oil

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Cook rice or grain in your preferred way. 

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into 1-inch cubes. Cut tops off broccoli and separate into bite-sized florets. You can peel and chop the stem too!

Coat baking trays with a thin slick of olive oil. Layer sweet potatoes on tray(s) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, until browning underneath. Flip and toss chunks around, then add broccoli to the tray(s), season again with salt and pepper, and roast for another 10 to 20 minutes, until broccoli is lightly charred at edges and sweet potato is fully bronzed and tender. Toss chunks around one more time if it looks like they’re cooking unevenly.

While vegetables roast, prepare sesame-miso dressing: Combine everything in a blender, food processor, or in a pyrex measuring cup with an immersion blender. Taste and adjust ingredients if needed; the miso may seem salty at first but it balances the sweet potato.

Assemble bowls: Scoop some rice/grains into each, then pile on the roasted sweet potatoes and broccoli. Coat lightly with sesame-miso dressing and finish with sesame seeds. Serve with extra dressing on the side.

Fennel and butternut squash soup

Fennel and butternut squash soup

From Justine Snacks: 

Everyone and their mother has a butternut squash soup recipe, usually blended and without much variety in flavor or texture. This one adds crunch and tang with a fennel salad added to the top of the soup. If that idea is too strange, you can also enjoy them side by side.

• 
      1 Large fennel bulb, stalks and fronds included
      2 tablespoons plain greek yogurt
      2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 1/2 of a lemon
      5 garlic cloves, divided
      Extra-virgin olive oil
      Diamond Crystal kosher salt
      1 tablespoon salted butter
      1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
      1/4 pound celery stalks 3 stalks, thinly sliced
      1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
      1 heaping teaspoon nutmeg
      2 pounds butternut or other orange winter squash, cubed into 1-inch pieces
      1 bay leaf
      2 cups vegetable broth
      Freshly ground black pepper

Soup:

• Set a large dutch oven over medium heat and add the butter and six tablespoons of olive oil. Allow the butter to fully melt, then add the onion and celery. Cook until softened, 5-6 minutes.

• Add in the garlic, cayenne and nutmeg. Stir to combine. Add in the butternut squash. Stir to combine and season with salt.

• Cook this mixture down for 20 minutes, or until the squash is fully soft. Stir the mixture every five minutes, covering the dutch oven with a cracked lid in between. When the squash is soft, use your spoon to break up most of the pieces, mashing many and leaving some whole.

• Add the bay leaf and broth and let the soup simmer for 20-30 minutes more. The longer it simmers the more flavor will build. Continue to stir occasionally to break up the squash pieces. The soup should be chunky but thick. Taste, season with salt and pepper, and remove from the heat.

Fennel salad:

• Prepare the fennel salad. Remove the fronds and finely chop them. Discard the stalks. Add the fronds to a large bowl. Mandolin the fennel bulb into razor-thin pieces and set aside

• To the bowl with the fronds, add the yogurt, lemon juice, two grated garlic cloves and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Whisk into a thick dressing and season liberally with salt.

• Add in the fennel bulb pieces, toss to coat in the dressing, and place this in the fridge while you prepare the soup.

Melt in your mouth eggplant with tofu

Need to use your EGGPLANT and GARLIC ? Try this recipe from Smitten Kitchen.

This is absolutely my favorite way to eat eggplant - it ends up with the best texture, and it's so easy to do.

Ingredients:

• 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu

• Neutral oil for roasting (I use safflower)

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

• 3/4 to 1 pound eggplantK

• osher salt

• 3 to 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (the higher amount is slightly more rich)

• 1 heaped cup thinly sliced shallots or 1 medium white or red onion, thinly sliced

• 5 garlic cloves, peeled, crushed

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped ginger

• 1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce1

• tablespoon granulated or brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon crushed or very coarsely ground black pepper, and more to taste

• Rice, for serving

• Chile-garlic sauce, crispy chili oil, or sriracha for serving

Directions

• Heat oven to 425 degrees F.

• Drain tofu and place on a few layers of paper towel with more over it; set aside for 5 minutes, or until needed.

• Drizzle 3 tablespoons oil over your largest baking sheet and place it on the oven to get very hot while you get everything else ready.

• Trim eggplant and cut eggplant into 1-inch pieces.

• In a large bowl toss with 1 tablespoon oil and a few pinches of salt.

• Remove hot pan from oven and spread eggplant over half to 2/3 the pan.

• Cut tofu into 1-inch cubes.

• Toss gently in empty bowl with cornstarch and a couple pinches of salt until coated. Spread on empty part of baking sheet.

• Roast tofu and eggplant in oven for 20 minutes to start. After 20 minutes, use your thinnest spatula to gently separate the tofu from the pan and flip to crisp and brown on the other side, about another 10 minutes. Do the same with the eggplant. At 30 minutes, the tofu should be crisp and browned and the eggplant should be roasted and tender. If needed, cook it for 5 more minutes.

• While tofu and eggplant roasts, prepare the sauce. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium heat and add butter. Once butter melts, add shallots, garlic, and ginger. Reduce heat slightly and cook, stirring here and there, until everything is tender, about 11 to 14 minutes. Add the soy sauce, sugar, and black pepper and cook, simmering, for 3 minutes more. Add roasted tofu and eggplant to pan and stir to coat with sauce; cook for one to two minutes minute together. Serve over or with rice; add extra heat as needed.
  .

BOK CHOY and CILANTRO - Sheet Pan Bok Choy with Tofu and Ramen

Need to use your BOK CHOY and CILANTRO? Try this Sheet Pan Bok Choy with Tofu and Ramen

While this recipe was written for baby bok choy, I've made it with larger choys no problem. It's delicious, super easy, and once you know the basics, pretty easy to riff on. Who would have thought instant ramen noodles could turn out so well!

Ingredients 

FOR THE NOODLES

• 3 blocks instant ramen noodles (about 9 ounces), flavor packets discarded

• 2 tablespoons sesame oil2tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed or vegetable

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)1

• (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, patted dry and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

• 3 baby bok choy, trimmed and sliced vertically into 4 pieces

• Handful of cilantro leaves

FOR THE MARINADE

• 2 tablespoons hoisin

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 tablespoon maple syrup

• 1 garlic clove, grated

• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

PREPARATION

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees and place one rack on the top and one on the bottom.

2. Fill a kettle or medium pot with water (about 8 cups) and bring to a boil.

3. Place the noodles in a heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak for 5 minutes, then drain. Set aside the bowl to use in Step 5.

4. Make the marinade: In a medium bowl, whisk to combine the hoisin sauce, sesame oil, maple syrup, garlic and sesame seeds.

5. Place the noodles on a sheet pan. Add the sesame oil, 1 tablespoon neutral oil, soy sauce and ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Toss to combine, then evenly spread out the noodles.

6. Dip each tofu slice into the marinade, coating both sides, then add them to the sheet pan, pushing the noodles aside so that the tofu touches the pan and doesn’t just sit on top of the noodles.

7. Place on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reserve excess marinade.

8. Place the baby bok choy into the reserved bowl, then add the remaining 1 tablespoon neutral oil and ½ teaspoon kosher salt, and toss to coat.

9. Remove the sheet pan from the oven (the noodles should be crisp on the bottom and at the edges) and add the bok choy to the pan. Return the sheet pan to the top rack of the oven and bake for 4 to 7 minutes until the greens are vibrant with crispy edges, and the top of the noodles are crispy.

10. Drizzle with the remaining marinade, top with cilantro leaves and serve.

Roasted Carrots Harissa Creme Fraiche

Need to use your CARROTS and CILANTRO?

Try one of our member’s favorite carrot recipe from eSerious Eats.

Kenji Lopez-Alt did piece on serious eats about the best way to roast carrots and recommends par-cooking them in salted water until barely tender, and then roasting them (at 375 for ~40 minutes) - I've found this is a great way to get super tender, flavorful carrots, whatever you're planning to do, but can definitely recommend his suggestion to toss them in harissa and oil before roasting, and then dress with creme fraiche and cilantro (or yogurt!):

Ingredients

2 pounds (900g) medium carrots, ends trimmed, quartered lengthwise and cut into 3-inch segments

Kosher salt

1/4 cup (60ml) crème fraîche

2 tablespoons (30ml) harissa paste (see notes)

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup (60ml) extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

Adjust oven rack to center position and preheat oven to 375°F. Place carrots in a large pot, cover with water, and season heavily with salt. Heat over high heat until boiling. Reduce to a simmer and cook until barely tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and allow to dry for 5 minutes. Set aside. Season crème fraîche with salt to taste and refrigerate until ready to use.Combine harissa, cumin, black pepper, and olive oil in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt. Transfer half of mixture to small bowl and set aside. Add carrots to remaining mixture and toss to coat. Transfer to foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and spread out in an even layer. Roast until caramelized, about 40 minutes, turning once or twice during roasting. Transfer carrots to a large bowl and toss with cilantro.Spread crème fraîche on serving platter. Top with carrots and drizzle with remaining harissa mixture. Serve immediately.