July 6, 2015

We moved! We’ve been in the Hudson Valley for 3 months now. Our view is amazing, we have a yard, access to fresh air and trees and all sorts of new things, but last weekend was one of the first we’ve had to enjoy it in full. Once we moved, it took us a lot of focus and energy to get into our groove (which is sometimes still hard to do.) Chris has been commuting into NYC for work 4 days a week and I went straight into wedding season after we finally unpacked. But now… NOW it’s quiet for a couple of months before the Fall busy season. If you want to see what I’ve been working on with Modern Kicks, please follow me on instagram (and say hi while you’re at it!) I’ve also been working on a fun project in Stone Ridge, helping develop Hasbrouck House, a boutique hotel that will reopen under new ownership this Fall.

I’ve had less time to focus on The Bored Vegetarian than I’d like, and have been been thinking about what this blog should become moving forward. I’ve been having more urges to write in recent months, so I may begin using this space for that, as well as recipes and photos. Stay tuned… In the meantime, try this really tasty Tuscan Kale Salad with Avocado, Toasted Pistachio, Gorgonzola & Lemon Tahini Dressing. I’ve made it multiple times in recent weeks, so it must be a keeper.

Have I mentioned that we have natural light in every room of our apartment? No more lighting food with things I have to plug into the wall!

Tuscan K

Ingredients

– 4 cups Tuscan Kale, large stems removed, leaves chopped into ribbons
– 1/8 cup Toasted Pistachios
– 1/2 Avocado
– 3-4 Tbsp Crumbled Gorgonzola (or other bleu cheese)
– 2 Tbsp Tahini Sauce
– 1 Tbsp Fresh Lemon Juice
– 2-3 Tbsp Water
– 1 tsp Garlic Powder
– Salt & Pepper to taste

In a small bowl, whisk tahini and lemon juice. The tahini will thicken, add 2-3 Tbsp water and whisk until the dressing is smooth and slightly runny. Whisk in garlic powder. In a large bowl, drizzle dressing over the kale and toss until leaves are coated. Cut the avocado into cubes and gently toss with the kale, along with the pistachios and gorgonzola. Season well with salt & pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl. Serves 2-3 people.

Comments

1 Comment


December 13, 2013
Shiitake and Kale Grilled Cheese by The Bored Vegetarian

Have I mentioned that I’m going vegan for January? I have about two and a half more weeks to eat all of the cheese…

Ingredients

– 2/3 cup Shiitake Mushrooms, chopped
– 1 cup Dinosaur Kale, stems removed, greens chopped
– 2/3 Cup Fontina Cheese, shredded
– 2 sliced Bread
– 1-2 Tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Butter
– Salt to taste

Heat olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add shiitake mushrooms and season with salt. Toss as the mushrooms begin to brown. Add kale and continue to saute until the kale wilts and starts to crisp. Set aside. Spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. Add half of the cheese to an unbuttered sides of one of the slices. Add the mushroom and kale mixture and top with the remainder of the cheese. Top with other slice of bread, butter-side up. Heat a pan over low/medium heat and add sandwich to the pan. Grill until golden brown on one side. Flip and grill the other side as well. Let rest for a minute or two and then cut and serve immediately.


April 30, 2013

Ingredients

– 1 small head of Cauliflower, broken into florets
– 3 cups raw Kale, large stems removes, leaves chopped small
– 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– Juice from half of a Lemon
– Salt & Pepper to taste
– Toasted Sesame Seeds (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. On a baking sheet, toss florets in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes until cauliflower is soft and begins to brown (toss about halfway through to brown on different sides). Fill a soup pot or large sauce pan with an inch or two of water and place over medium/high heat. Place a vegetable steamer in the pot and add the kale. Steam the kale until tender. Remove cauliflower from oven and let cool until you can handle it. Chop up cauliflower into very small pieces. In a bowl, toss with steamed kale and season with salt and pepper. Add to a serving bowl and squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Can be served warm or room temperature.


April 27, 2013

Serves 3-4

Ingredients

– 1 cup Quinoa
– 2 cups Low Sodium Vegetable Stock
– 3 cups Sweet Potato, peeled and cut into small cubes
– 2 cups Dinosaur Kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
– 1 cup Chickpeas (recommend that you use dried and follow cooking directions on the bag)
– 1/8 cup Green Onion, chopped (white/light green only)
– 1 1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– 1/3 tsp PaprikaSalt & Pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and drizzle with about a tablespoon of olive oil. Toss to coat. Season with salt and sprinkle with paprika. Roast in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft, tossing halfway through. In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of vegetable stock to a boil. Add quinoa and stir. Cover and reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked through and the liquid has mostly evaporated. In a saute pan, saute the kale and chickpeas in remaining olive oil. Add quinoa and sweet potato and toss everything together. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon into a serving bowl and top with green onion. Serve warm. 


November 30, 2012
greeneggs-1

While I have your attention, have you liked The Bored Vegetarian on fb? You should! It’s a lot easier to interact that way. Almost like real life, except not at all.

Ingredients

1 Egg
2 cups fresh Kale, chopped well
1/2 Lemon
2-3 Tbsp Asiago Cheese, finely grated (Bear Flag and Vella Cheese make rennet-free asiago)
1/2 Shallot, chopped in rounds
Cooking oil
1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

In a bowl, whisk together 1 Tbsp juice & zest from the lemon with the olive oil. Toss with the kale until coated evenly, seasoning to taste. Pile into the bowl you’re going to serve it in. In a pan, heat cooking oil to between 365 or 375 degrees. Toss in shallots and fry until they begin to crisp and brown. Carefully remove (I used a fork, not the safest method) and place on a paper towel or paper bag to drain some oil off and cool. Next, follow these instructions to poach an egg! Once egg has been drained, place on top of kale. Season with salt & pepper and top with a pile of crispy shallots. Serve immediately.

Comments

Comments Off


November 11, 2012

There are a few different name variations for “egg-in-a-hole” : Egg in a basket; Bird’s Nest; Frog in a Hole; Moon Eggs; Gas House Eggs.. the list goes on. What did you call it growing up?

Ingredients

– 1 slice good Bread
– 1 Egg
– 1/4 cup Sundried Tomatoes, chopped
– 3 cups fresh Kale, stems removed, leaves chopped
– Juice from 1/2 Lemon
– 2 Tbsp Crumbled Goat Cheese
– Salt & Pepper to taste
– 1/2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
– 1 Tbsp Butter

Directions

In a sautee pan, heat olive oil. Add kale and toss. Salt & pepper to taste. As you continue to cook the kale on low/medium heat, melt butter in another sautee pan. Cut a round circle in your slice of bread and add to the pan. As it’s browning, crack an egg into the “hole” in the middle. Salt & pepper to taste. Add sundried tomatoes to the sauteed kale and toss. After a minute or to (or whenever the egg starts to firm) gently flip the egg-in-a-hole to cook the other side. The goal is not to break the yoke, so take your time. Let the other side of the egg firm up a little before removing from heat. Place on a plate, with the yolk side up. Squeeze lemon juice onto kale & tomato mixture and make sure it’s seasoned to your liking with salt & pepper. Spoon kale mixture onto the egg-in-a-hole and sprinkle with goat cheese. Serve hot.

I’m headed out to LA on Wednesday to visit some friends for a few days and though we have some plans already (Disneyland!!), I would love any advice on where to eat, drink and explore. I haven’t been to that area since I was a kid, so I have zero idea of what to expect… perhaps I can recreate this 20 years later:

If you have advice, please send me a tumblr message or email theboredvegetarian@gmail.com.

Comments

Comments Off


April 3, 2012


Fresh Beet, Kale & Lime JuiceMy credit card points were never going to amount to a free flight to anywhere, so I used them towards a juicer instead. I’m usually in too much of a hurry to make breakfast in the morning, so hopefully 2 minutes with the juicer will help me avoid eating too many breakfast sandwiches from Court Street Grocers
This made enough for about 6oz of juice. It’s sweet & tangy with a little earthy undertone. 1 medium-sized Beet3 cups fresh Kale1 limePulverize in a juicer. Stir a little. Drink.


June 4, 2010

Last night was so lovely that Emma and I decided to meet up in McCarren after work for some chit chat and a light picnic.  Luckily, my dear Danish house guests had brought me some mangoes earlier in the day, which gave me the idea to make my mom’s Mango Salsa.  It’s sweet and refreshing, perfect for the hot weather.  I’d also been itching to try out a recipe I scooped at Whole Foods while in Chicago last week.  Kale Butter is earthy and super easy to prepare – it’d be great for a party.  We sat in the park talking and snacking until it was dark.  It was a great way to spend a Thursday night.


Mango Salsa
2 mangoes, peeled and chopped (mangoes are such a pain to cut.  That giant seed! I hate that giant seed.)1/2 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half1 small red onion, chopped1/3 cup of cilantro, chopped1 clove of garlic, chopped or microplanedsalt & pepper to taste1 jalapeno, minced (optional, cause some like it hot.)
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Easy as pie salsa! 

Kale Butter1 bunch of kale, steamed1/2 cup of walnuts1/2 cup water (use water that kale was steamed with)2 cloves garlic, choppedsalt to tasteIn a food processor, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth.  Serve on sliced baguette.


May 10, 2010

Sometime between yesterday afternoon and yesterday evening, Brooklyn decided to turn into a chilly windstorm and dropped 20 degrees.  After a week of 75+ degree weather, it was highs of 55.  OOF.  This dashed any dreams I had of breezy summer salads and cold cucumber soups for dinner tonight.  Instead, I was craving something hearty and filling… luckily I had a few friends in the same boat.
I built tonight’s dinner around a white bean soup, basing it off of this interpretation of an Ina Garten recipe. 
 
White Bean Soup with Rosemary
Ingredients:
250 (8.8oz) grams white beans 4 cans of white beans, rinsed3 Tbs olive oil1 large onion, chopped1 clove of garlic, minced1 branch fresh rosemary1.5l (3 pints) chicken or vegetable stock1 bay leaf2 tsp salt1/2 tsp pepper
Soak the beans overnight in a big bowl. (Open up the cans of beans and drain them because that’s so much easier.) Heat olive oil and sauté the onions for 10-15 minutes, till soft and translucent.  Add garlic and sauté for another 3 minutes.  Add the drained beans, rosemary, bay leaf and stock and simmer for an hour (you don’t have to simmer this long since we are using pre-cooked beans) or until the beans are very soft.  Remove the bay leaf and the rosemary branch.  Process in a food processor till smooth or coarse depending on your preference (I used my awesome hand blender until it was smooth, adding more stock until it was the consistency I wanted). Return the soup to the pot to reheat and season with salt and pepper.  Serve garnished with pumpkin oil, pepper and chives. (I used kale chips!! More on that below..)
Servings: 5ish
Originally I had planned to just add a swirl of white truffle oil on top of the soup and have the kale chips separately, but as I got tired of transferring things in and out of that stupid convection oven of mine and just decided to do one batch of the chips to garnish the soup.  It added a nice salty crunch and was super easy to make!
Kale Chips (via alwaysorderdessert)
Ingredients1 bunch Lacinato (dinosaur) or regular kale, rinsed and gently patted dryOlive oilsalt (I like Celtic sea salt, but at least try and use Kosher)Desired seasonings (optional)Special Equipment: 2 parchment-lined cookie sheetsDirectionsTear the leaves off the thick stems of the kale. Toss in a bowl with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. If you’re adding any additional spices, add them now. Toss to make sure the leaves are well coated. Arrange in a single layer on parchment paper-lined cookie sheets.Bake in a 250 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the leaves are dry and crisped. Let cool for 1-2 minutes before removing from the parchment paper. Serve and enjoy immediately
To go along with the soup, I decided to create a simple grilled brushcetta (this picture sucks.. everyone was ready to eat, including me.  No time for fancy pics!!)

Roasted Vegetable Bruschetta
Ingredients:1 loaf of good bread, sliced thick3 red peppers, chopped1 red onion, chopped2 yellow squash, chopped1 large ball of fresh mozzarella olive oilthyme (fresh is best, but I used dry.)salt & pepper to taste
Toss vegetables in olive oil, thyme and salt & pepper and throw in the oven at 375 until they started to roast/caramelize a bit.  It will smell delicious. 
Drizzle bread with olive oil and throw into the oven until it starts to brown.
Pile a bit of the grilled vegetable mixture onto the toasted bread and layer sliced mozzarella on top.  Put back in the oven until the cheese melts (make sure to watch it so that it doesn’t melt all over your oven and in a panic to remove it, you drop a piece and make a mess out of everything.)
As an over-achiever, I decided that I needed one more dish to make certain that my guests were properly satiated, which is where the roasted tomatoes came in, quite possibly the stand out star of the night. 

Stuffed Tomatoes (via Tuscan Recipes)Ingredients8 almost ripe tomatoes (I used four, and they were probably too ripe. Live and learn)2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 Tbsp chopped parsley ½ Tbsp chopped basil 1 tsp olive oil ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
¼ cup bread crumbs 1 tsp dried oregano (optional) salt and ground pepper Cut tomatoes in half (I cut the tops off,) with a spoon carve out the pulp and seeds and collect pulp in a bowl. Lightly salt the inside of the tomatoes and turn them, cut side down, onto paper towels.

Combine the chopped garlic, parsley and basil with the tomato pulp and seeds. Add the olive oil, grated cheese, bread crumbs and salt and pepper to taste. Add the oregano if you want. Mix well to combine. Take tomato halves and stuff with mixture. Take a wide skillet and slightly cover bottom with olive oil and some water. Place tomato halves side by side, and cover. Cook covered for about 30 minutes over low-medium heat, adding a little bit of water to the skillet if necessary. Tomatoes are done when the bottom of the tomatoes feel soft; check by sticking a toothpick through the center of the center tomatoes.
I failed to take a picture of the finished tomatoes, cause they sorted of mushed when I moved out of the pan and into the serving dish (I only like pretty things!!!!), but they were delicious. 
All-in-all the meal received rave reviews (thanks to Brooke, Mads, Emma and Jeff for helping me eat it) and I learned that sometimes a little slaving over the hot stove pays off in flowers!