Meatless Meals | The Humble Onion

Greek Panzanella + Notes from a Lake Kitchen

July 27, 2019

We’re spending a month by the lake in our new (to us) camp about an hour north of Portland, Maine, near Sunday River and it has made me think a lot about food. We’ve had the house since January, but then it felt more like a ski house kitchen, and I had crock pots of short ribs and spaghetti and meatballs on heavy rotation. This summer we’re here for a whole month because our kitchen and floors are getting redone after we had a leak (and why this blog is so silent lately!). It definitely feels like the longest vacation we’ve ever had, which has been lovely and the days are passing like caramel melts in your mouth, sweet and slow.

I wasn’t sure this would be the case. A summer version of The Shining did cross my mind when I was packing my six kids to come up here. But walks by the lake every morning, swimming and reading every afternoon have given us such great family time and enough structure without any stress which feels…amazing. As Winnie the Pooh says in the recent Christopher Robin movie, “doing nothing often leads to the very best of something.” And of course he is right.

When you’re on vacation, you want to eat delicious food but don’t want to clean up. Going out to eat is how many people resolve this but going out to eat with the twins gives me indigestion and makes me want to take a nap immediately, so we avoid it.

At home we rely on our pizza delivery place, but here they a) don’t deliver and b) don’t always know what the difference is between 30 minutes and 75. So we’ve been making our own. It’s swayed us mightily since they are always easy and good. I’m somewhat obsessed with the margherita pizza we’ve been making and I don’t see that obsession going away anytime soon, though sautéed Brussels sprouts with pancetta is a close second.

For breakfast I’ve been living off of avocado toasts (the twins love it) and my favorite mushroom and goat cheese fritatta.

For dinners I wanted to try out a few new recipes and promptly realized why a stocked pantry is so necessary to cooking. Buying all the asian condiments like hoisin sauce and fish sauce and rice wine vinegar will add to your bill considerably. And may make you wish you did in fact go out to eat. But still this 30 minute Asian beef bowl – which was born from my 13-year olds craving a dish he had had on vacation one time – was worth all the condiments, and it was really good with some broccoli and red peppers sautéed with soy sauce and sesame oil drizzled on it. And this thai chicken flatbread pizza was so good too.

It’s the rhythms of food that always appeal to me, and that stands out so much here. Chopping an onion, mixing a vinaigrette, turning yesterdays meal of roast chicken or grilled veggies into something delicious. Forming these little rituals that will become ways to connect us to our time here through the years. And that’s what seasonal eating is, just relishing the present moment with all its delights. When our neighbor, Bobbie, who has a camp right next to us invited me over for a visit, she offered me some raspberry pie with her fresh raspberries picked from her patch at home. It was like summer sunshine exploded in your mouth. And another friend and her mom were here for a visit and she made raspberry jam that we’ve been spreading on toast. It’s making me want to go home and plant as many raspberry bushes as I can fit into our yard.

I love finding treasures offered up by the local food stores. The road to the ski mountain Sunday River is loaded with wonderful markets and organic offerings, and I found Miso and fresh greens and the best rosé in a can which fits perfectly into the stroller cup holders. I also found great asiago bread at the store in town and toasted it’s delicious – it’s a lot like the cheese bread we get in Pemaquid, Maine. They also have great ciabatta bread and another bakery sells pain au chocolat too. These are the beginnings of our food memories here, and they’re making me so happy.

I turned the leftover bread into panzanella salad this week and decided to make it a greek version – I have a long standing love of Greek salad and could eat it for lunch every day so I always have the makings on hand.

And I don’t know about you but I can’t get enough cucumbers and tomatoes in the summer, preferably with some kind of vinegar.

So much goodness in one bowl. I love the briney olives with the creamy salty feta and chewy bread that’s absorbed all the vinegar.

In short, eating on vacation in July is the essence of simple. And the best part is all the walking and swimming and playing in the sun keeps you feeling great.

Next week I’ll be back in my newly refurbished kitchen and taking all the inspiration from this month with me. Stop back here if you want to see what it looks like!

Well, I just heard a splash that means the kids are swimming and I think I’ll go join them. They made up a new game that involves racing off the dock, and that’s pretty much what we dreamed of when we bought this place.

Happy Eating, xoxo Katie

Greek Panzanella Salad

Ingredients

1 small French bread or ciabatta loaf, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 large, ripe tomatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes

1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and sliced 1/2-inch thick

1 orange or yellow bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 large shallot, diced or 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

8-10 large basil leaves, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup Greek olives (or more if you love them like me)

8 oz. feta cheese, cubed or crumbled

For the vinaigrette:

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

4 tablespoons Red wine vinegar

1/2 t. dried oregano

1/4 cup good olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Make the vinaigrette, then mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and pour vinaigrette over them. Toss to coat, and enjoy!

Rosemary Polenta with Morel Vinaigrette and Roasted Veggies

May 8, 2019

It’s that glorious time of year when flowers are blooming, the sky is filled with lacy branches of trees sprouting blossoms and buds, and New Englanders can finally start eating things that are growing near us. I just planted my lettuce and herb gardens (with a few jalapeño plants to load up the top of Asian noodle bowls). And we can’t get enough of the birds singing, its the most beautiful music.

One of the most exciting signs of spring for foodies around the world is when morels pop up in forest floors and on the edges of a forest. (If you’re curious about hunting for them here is a great guide.) You can dry them and reconstitute them if you can’t use them all, which is what I used for this recipe.

I recently saw a picture of roasted veggies on top of polenta somewhere and I wasn’t able to get it out of my mind. It just seemed the perfect combination of creaminess and flavor and textures.

Turns out I was right.

Two things surprised me about this dish –

1) Just how good rosemary is in polenta! It perfumes the dish and is wonderful. You can use other herbs too of course but I loved the rosemary with the parmesan and the veggies.

2) The vinaigrette that I found from Bobby Flay. Who knew a vinaigrette would finish this off perfectly? I even played around and tried straight balsamic on some, and some balsamic cream, but the vinagrette was the best. I also used all olive oil since I didn’t have walnut oil, and I didn’t sauté the morels though I wish I did! Somehow missed that in my excitement to pile up a bowl of all this deliciousness.

This is a very versatile dish – use whatever veggies and herbs you love. I hope you try this, it is so easy and yet assembled feels very fancy. Here’s to morels and spring and good food in our farmers markets!

Happy Eating! xoxo Katie

Rosemary Polenta with Morel Vinaigrette and Roasted Vegetables

For the roasted vegetables:

1 eggplant, cut into 2 inch pieces

2-3 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces

1 red onion, cut into wedges

(Optional vegetable: parsnips, potatoes, sweet potatoes)

3 T. Olive oil

1 t. Salt & ½ t. Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss to combine, then place in hot oven for 20 minutes or until fork tender, turning half way through. (Cooking time will depend on size of vegetables).

For the polenta:

4 cups chicken stock, preferably homemade

1 cup yellow cornmeal, preferably stone-ground

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 t. fresh rosemary or 2 T. dried rosemary

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving

2 tablespoons (¼ stick) unsalted butter

Place the chicken stock in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low and gradually whisk in the cornmeal until it’s combined and there are no lumps. Add the salt, pepper, and rosemary and simmer, stirring almost constantly, for 10 minutes, until thick. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan thoroughly while you’re stirring. Off the heat, stir in the Parmesan and butter. Taste for seasonings and serve hot with extra Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top.

For the Morel Vinaigrette: ( from Bobby Flay):

¼ cup aged sherry vinegar

1 small shallot, chopped

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon walnut oil

3/4 cup pure olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound morel mushrooms, washed thoroughly and dried (can use reconstituted morels).

In a blender, blend the vinegar, shallot, and mustard until smooth. With the motor running, slowly add the walnut oil and 1/2 cup of the olive oil until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour into a medium bowl and set aside.

Heat the remaining 1/4 cup of oil in a large saute pan over high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove the mushrooms from the heat and coarsely chop them. Fold the mushrooms into the vinaigrette. Spoon the vinaigrette over the grilled polenta.

To serve, spoon each element into a bowl – polenta, then veggies, then vinaigrette plus any herbs you like and grated parm.

Enjoy!

Ciabatta Sammies (2 Ways)

March 25, 2017

What happens when you tweak one of your favorite Ina Garten sandwiches to make it vegetarian?

Good things. Good, good things. I actually LOVE pouring through vegetarian cookbooks and visiting vegetarian cafes, because despite what your kids may tell you, vegetables are delicious. Finding new ways to use them and bring out there surprising flavors is one of my favorite kitchen adventures.

So when I started to think about some of our favorite meals, and how we could make them meat-less, I turned to one of our favorite Ina Garten recipes. I saw her make these chicken tender sandwiches on her show years ago, with sweet peppers and onions, and goat cheese for a tangy kick. Since then it has become an easy quick week-night dinner that my husband loves, but it also makes a great go-to party food recipe, since it is easy to assemble and feeds a crowd. Preparing a long sandwich and slicing it on a cutting board looks rustic, tastes delicious, and clean up is easy.

When I went to go look for the original recipe online, I couldn’t find it, but luckily it is so easy you barely need one. When I whipped it up recently for dinner for the kids, who don’t love goat cheese, I used shredded Monterey Jack Cheese instead. But my husband and I love it with goat cheese.

But it got me thinking, based on my love of portabellas to replace meat these days, wouldn’t this sandwich be delicious with sautéed mushrooms too?

For the chicken version, you just get 2 skillets heated with oil, and let them cook:

But why not make that second skillet mushrooms? They don’t love a crowded pan so two sliced portabellas should fit easily in one large skillet.

The result was super delicious. I almost prefer it to the chicken version, especially when you drizzle a little of this balsamic creme reduction on it (available in most grocery stores right next to the balsamic vinegar section. If you don’t have it you can just drizzle a little balsamic on the bread, or make your own reduction buy reducing it like this.

This was so, so good! Sometimes stores carry Ciabatta rolls instead of loaves, and they taste just as delicious, let me tell you.

Not sure a recipe can get any easier, or more flexible. But the results are always delicious!

Happy Cooking! xoxo Katie

Ciabatta Sammies 2 Ways (printer version here):

1) Chicken, Peppers & Onion Ciabatta Sandwiches

4 T. olive oil, divided

1 package of chicken tenders (usually between 1 and 1.5 lbs)

2 peppers (I used red and orange for color)

2 onions, sliced

Salt & pepper

1 loaf of ciabatta or 4 ciabatta rolls

2-4 oz. goat cheese or other favorite shredded cheese such as montery jack

Directions:

Heat 2 T. oil in 2 large skillets on medium high heat. Season chicken with 1 t. salt and ¼ t. pepper. When hot, add peppers and onions to one skillet with 1 t. salt, and chicken tenders to the other. Cook chicken until cooked through, about 4-5 minutes per side. Cook peppers and onions until tender, stirring frequently, about 10-15 minutes.

To assemble sandwiches, slice ciabatta, and arrange peppers, onions and chicken on bread. Add cheese on top, replace top of loaf, then slice and serve.

2) Vegetarian Version with Sliced Portabella Mushrooms

Instead of cooking chicken tenders in second skillet, slice 2 portabella mushroom tops, season with salt and pepper, and saute until soft, about 8-10 minutes. Assemble sandwiches as above, and use Balsamic Reduction, or sprinkle top of loaf with ½ t. Balsamic vinegar, if desired.

Creamy Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms

March 8, 2017

CREAMY STUFFED PORTABELLA MUSHROOMS

This poor food blog is so neglected you may be wondering, does she even care about us anymore? Does she even care about food?

The answer is yes, and yes. But if you haven’t heard yet, I’ve been distracted by a certain book release next month and some other news that I will share soon! We also went north for New Hampshire’s February break to go skiing and I forgot my laptop. Turns out the break was really needed – I’ve been glued to it and it was nice to take a real break, and to connect with family and friends in the flesh after we’ve been hibernating all winter.

Since the last time we’ve chatted, Lent snuck up on us, as it always does (except for the Mardi Gras part, which totally gets our attention because hello, party). The one thing I do every Lent that I usually stick with 100% is giving up meat on Friday. Because of this, I thought I would come up with a few recipes that use meatless ingredients but still feel like a meal. Today I am giving you my favorite new recipe: Creamy Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms.

I love portabella mushrooms. In the summer, I soak them in some balsamic, olive oil, s&p and diced garlic clove in a zip lock bag, and then grill them. Inside two hamburger buns, with some blue cheese or lettuce and tomato, you hardly even notice you don’t have meat in your meal.

But this recipe – I’ve made it a few times, and every time I love it more. You know how good stuffed mushrooms are as hors d’oeuvres? Well, imagine sitting down with a knife and fork to a plate of these all your own.

You start by roasting the portabellas with garlic, salt and pepper. Then you start make the filling by sautéing smaller mushrooms with garlic and butter.

You add these dairy beauties:

The ideas is to create a thick creamy sauce, and ricotta does that in a jiffy, along with the melted fontina. You can use milk to thin it out but the cream (I have made it with half and half but this time I had whipping cream) is what gives this dish its decadence, I think. If you don’t have ricotta, you can easily make a sauce starting with a roux, which is roughly whisking 2 T. butter + 2 T. flour for a few minutes, then mixing in 2 cups of milk, plus the cheese but it takes longer and I think the flavor is much better with the ricotta. Also this sauce would be amazing mixed with some pasta for another meal idea.

Then, you add the remaining cheese and broil it until the cheese is browned, about 5-7 minutes.

Creamy Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms (printer version here):
Creamy Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms:

4 Mushroom Caps
2 T. olive oil
s&p
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 T. butter
½ t. tarragon
2 cloves diced garlic, divided
½ cup ricotta cheese
¼ cream or half and half (or milk)
1 cup grated fontina, gruyere, or monterey jack (good melting cheese), divided
2 sprigs of thyme (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place Portabella caps on cookie sheet, drizzle with olive oil, 1 t. salt and ¼ t. pepper and 1 diced garlic clove. Roast in oven for 20 minutes.

While those cook, heat large frying pan on medium high heat. Add butter and melt. Add mushrooms, garlic and ½ t. salt, ¼ t. Pepper, being careful not to crowd pan or they will steam – use two pans if needed. Saute until fragrant and soft, about 10 minutes.

Add ricotta, cream, and ½ cup shredded cheese, and stir until combined and cheese is melted, about 5 minutes.

Take mushroom caps out of oven and let cool for 1 minute.

Add creamy mixture to mushroom caps, then cover with remaining ½ cup cheese and a few thyme leaves. Broil for 3-5 minutes or until cheese is browned to preferrence. (I love the cheese when it is very cooked).

(Serve with pasta or wild rice and peas.)

Swiss Pumpkin

October 20, 2016

Now that the leaves are starting to look like the color of pumpkins, I am so excited to share this recipe that I actually guest posted on the Ella Claire Blog last year. It is so so good.

I found this recipe in Ruth Reichl’s food memoir Comfort Me with Apples (a sequel to Tender at the Bone). I am a big fan of food memoirs at the moment since I am writing one of my own about growing up in a big Irish family in Chicago (I am one of eight) and we had a huge passion for food. In Comfort Me with Apples, one of the lasting images I had was how her husband said he wanted a divorce, and all she could do was make Cream of Mushroom soup. I just feel like food does that healing thing. She ended up being the editor for Gourmet Magazine and remarrying and having a son. So her story ends well.

Happily, when I made this recipe it was a great story. I made it for my husband for a date night at home. The smell when you take this out of the oven is like nothing else – a mix between pumpkin pie, creamy squash soup, and French onion soup. The fragrance will transport you. After we took the first bite, we just looked up at each other, silent, the fire roaring, and then in unison went, “mmmmhhh”. Or something close to blubbering adults. It warms your insides like nothing I have ever had – the pillow soft pumpkin, creamy buttery soup, and nutmeg infused bread tastes like heaven, all mixed with the saltiness of the gruyere cheese. It is such a special dish. The best part? I wrote all this a year ago, and I can still go back to that exact moment we tasted this and I am there.

This dish is perfect for Holiday parties or special family winter dinners. I’m not hosting Thanksgiving this year but if I was, everyone should start with a little Swiss Pumpkin on their plate. But it also seems like something you could easily bring to a family with an illness or a new baby since it has its own (disposable) transporting vehicle.

I hope you get to taste it. Or at least read Ruth Reichl. Happy fall everyone!

xoxo, Katie

Savory Baked Pumpkin (serves 4)

**Slightly altered from Ruth Reichl’s original recipe.

2 small pumpkins (about 6 – 8 inches in diameter)

Sliced French bread; several pieces, toasted

Grated Gruyere or Swiss cheese (about 4 oz)

Half and half, about 2 cups

2 eggs

1 1/2 t. salt, 1 t. pepper

1/4 t. freshly grated nutmeg (makes all the difference)

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut the top off of your pumpkin leaving the stem intact. With a spoon, scrape out the innards of the pumpkin and discard. (You can reserve the seeds if you like for a latter use.)

Next, rinse the pumpkin both inside and out and pat dry. Place a layer of your toasted bread on the very bottom of the pumpkin cavity. If you need to break up your toasted bread to fit, that is fine. You just want a light layer; you do not need to pack it in. Over the top of your bread sprinkle a bit of your cheese; just enough to cover the bread. You will want to repeat this until you fill the cavity of the pumpkin to its rim, about 2-3 times.

Then, pour the half and half mixture over the layered bread and cheese and into the pumpkin cavity. I like to do this slowly to be sure the half and half is filling in the crevices and not ready to overflow the pumpkin filling. Place the pumpkin top you cut off back onto the pumpkin and place on a baking sheet.

Finally, place the pumpkin on the baking sheet into the center of your oven for about 2 hours. Your baking time will depend on the size of your pumpkin and how much you fill it, so I always check it after one and a half hours of baking. You want to bake it until a knife can easily pierce through the flesh of your pumpkin. Remove the pumpkin from the oven and wait about 15 minutes before serving.

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