Pasta with Vegetable Sauce

Mmmm… homemade pasta!

We make the best pasta right in this tiny German kitchen.

Topped with tomato sauce absolutely loaded with fresh, CSA veggies, this meal hit the spot!

CSA Tomato Sauce

Feel free to alter the vegetables depending on what you have on hand.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 shallots, finely diced

2 celery stalks, finely diced

2 carrots, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely diced

1/4 cup red wine

1 zucchini, diced

6 crimini mushrooms, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

2 dried chili peppers, crushed

dried basil, oregano, marjoram, salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Heat a large sauce pan over medium high heat with the olive oil. Add the shallots, celery and carrots. Cook until the shallots begin to release their liquids. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 2-3 more minutes.
2. Stir in the red wine and cook until the liquid reduces by about half.
3. Add the zucchini, mushrooms and tomatoes. Continue to cook until the vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, dried chilies and herbs. Bring to a simmer then reduce the heat to low.
5. Continue to cook over a low heat until the sauce thickens to the desired consistency. Taste then season as needed.
6. Serve over hot pasta with fresh basil and graded parmesan cheese.

I’ve been busy working away at school in an attempt to finish my classroom before going to Budapest.

The school hausmeister is away this week so the projects I needed his help with will have to wait until I’m back.

My biggest project this summer has been to reorganize the classroom library.

I bought two extra book shelves at IKEA and Sebastian helped me put them together this morning. The books are all in their new homes and the labels are designed and waiting to be printed tomorrow. 

I can not wait to have my new and improved classroom library up and running!

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Sourdough Pizza Dough

Yesterday I shared a recipe for sourdough bagels from a book published 8 years before I was born: Sourdough Cookery by Rita Davenport.

Today I’m here to share another recipe from the oh-so-talented sourdough baker, Rite Davenport.

In her book, Rita shared not only her recipe for the dough, but also her pizza sauce recipe and suggested toppings.

You’re going to have to buy her book to get the whole kit and caboodle, but I’m happy to share the sourdough pizza dough recipe.

Sourdough Pizza Dough

Makes 2 very large pizzas

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups sourdough starter

1 cup warm milk

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons cooking oil

2 1/2- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

olive oil for brushing

Method

1. Add the milk, salt, sugar and vegetable oil to the sourdough starter. Stir together. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time. Stir well after each addition. Add enough flour until the dough is too stiff to stir with a spoon. Dough should be heavy but elastic.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead 5-10 minutes.
3. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and set in a warm place, free from drafts and let rise about 2 hours or until doubled in size.
4. Divide dough into two equal parts. Stretch or roll out each part to create a round pizza dough. Create a slight ridge to form a crust.
5. Brush the dough with olive oil and continue to create your pizza as you wish.

Our first pizza dough was used as a base for a vegetable pizza which included tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach and broccoli.

Oh so good!

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Mushroom,Eggplant and Garlic Pizza

Keeping with tradition, tonight was pizza night.

This pizza was so simple to put together.

Faster than ordering delivery and deliciously fresh.

I used a thawed and risen portion of fresh yeast pizza dough as a base.

Topped it with leftover marinara sauce, fresh crimini mushrooms, eggplant and garlic, then used an assortment of cheeses, including fresh mozzarella, parmesan and crumbly goat cheese.

I sprinkled the pizza with Italian seasoning, drizzled the top with olive oil then baked it on my oven’s hottest setting until cooked.

Awesome.

Now I want the leftovers.

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CSA Veggie Stir Fry

I love my weekly box of fresh, organic, local produce.

Oh, have I said that before?

Sorry for sounding like a stuck record, but deciding to receive a weekly CSA delivery is the smallest change, but it has yielded the largest difference.

I am now saving money on groceries, eating healthier, and experimenting with new recipes and produce.

All the while, I’m supporting businesses that I believe in.

A win-win situation.

Here’s how I make the best use of this service.

1. Before Wednesday of the delivery week, I visit my CSA’s online shopping center. There I can see what produce is planned to be included in my weekly vegetable box.
2. Usually I want everything that is scheduled, but sometimes there will be items that I either don’t want or already have left from the previous week’s delivery, take carrots cor example.
3. If I want all but one item, say carrots, I usually keep with the scheduled box but just edit my order to not include carrots.
4. I also have the option to choose a completely different box. Biolandgärtnerei Hüsgen offers 8 different pre-planned boxes for €12.50: Vegetable, Mother and Child, Fruit, Regional Produce,Raw Produce, Single, Quick Cooking, and Full Assortment boxes.
5. If I didn’t want any of the pre-arranged plans, I could create a Wish Box by choosing individual items from the online shop.
6. In addition to the organic produce boxes, their online shop offers almost any other product that can be found in a small organic grocery store. I usually add a box of 6 eggs from Hof Alpermühle.
7. Once my order is placed, I keep my eyes open for recipes that include the items I expect later in the week.
8. I usually plan my meals based on which food items spoil more quickly. The produce with a shorter life-span is cooked earlier in the week than the more resilient veggies. This leads to less waste and better quality.
9. On Friday, my box is delivered to my front door and the real fun begins!

Biolandgärtnerei Hüsgen makes it so simple to choose items and plan my weekly delivery. I rarely need to shop the regular grocery store and as a result, have saved a lot of money.

Although I’m pretty good at planning how to use my weekly veggies, there have been times when my fridge is about to burst with produce that needs to be used.

 

When this happens, I either make soup or stir fry.

My CSA Veggie Stir Fry is less of a recipe and more of a formula for using up any vegetables that linger in the crisper…

This week, my CSA Veggie Stir Fry included pea pods, savoy cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, shallots, ginger, garlic and sesame seeds.

The garlic and ginger were cooked briefly in hot sesame oil before I added the remaining vegetables. This allows the oil to flavor which will later help to impart an even taste amongst the veggies.

Cooked over high heat, I added a bit of water every now and then to help the veggies steam.

Once the vegetables were starting to soften and brighten in color, I added a simple stir-fry sauce made with sesame oil, soy sauce, miring, agave nectar salt and pepper.

Cooked until tender yet slightly crisp, the last step was to add sesame seeds to the vegetables.

Served with jasmine rice, this CSA veggie stir fry was one of the best I’ve made yet.

CSA Veggie Stir Fry Formula

~ Vegan ~ Vegetarian ~

Prepare the Vegetables and Oil

4-5 cups raw vegetables, all cut to a similar size

2 cloves garlic

1/2 inch nub of fresh ginger,

1-2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

Prepare the Sauce to Taste

1 Tablespoon sesame oil

2-3 Tablespoons soy sauce

1-2 Tablespoons mirin (Japanese cooking wine)

1-2 teaspoons agave nectar

salt and pepper

 

Step 1

Heat the wok or non-stick frying pan. Add the sesame oil, heat for a moment then add the garlic and ginger. Cook over high heat until fragrant.

Step 2

Add the vegetables and continue to cook over high heat, stirring frequently. If the vegetables begin to stick, add a couple tablespoons of water.

Step 3

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small cup and whisk well. Once the vegetables begin to brighten, pour the sauce over top and stir to well-coat all ingredients.

Step 4

Continue to cook until the vegetables are tender to the tooth but still slightly crisp when bitten into. Stir in the sesame seeds.

Step 5

Serve the stir fry over cooked rice and enjoy!

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Marinated Vegetable Kebabs

Our tiny electric balcony grill was put into action this weekend.

I came home from work on Friday and made a quick lemon dill marinade, based off of the lemon thyme marinade which was my standby last grill season.

I chopped up a handful of fresh dill, grated the zest of 1/2 a lemon…

added the juice of 1/2 a lemon, some salt, red pepper flakes, olive oil and a dollop of sweet mustard. Once whisked together, I added a bunch of aging vegetables.

Mushrooms, red and green peppers, zucchini and red onions.

Once the lid was on, these veggies were given a good shake to distribute the marinade.

I thought we would have the kebabs for dinner Friday night, but we ended up spending the evening drinking beer and playing in the park by the Rhine.

Josh’s diverse beer collection.

Friday was such a gorgeous Spring day.

The two German boyfriends from our group.

Living in Europe and hanging out with friends in the park after work, who wouldn’t want this life?

 

Monkey see, monkey do.

Lucky for us, Matt and Josh both have adorable little boys who provided most of the entertainment for the evening.

Lucky for them, Jan brought his bike and trailer to entertain the boys.

After detaching the trailer from the bike, the boys took turns pulling one another around. It was a fun, relaxing, simple Friday night.

So, rather than veggie kebabs, I had a falafel sandwich for dinner. While we were out, the kebabs were back home, soaking up the marinade.

On Saturday, after marinating for 20 hours, I finally grilled the vegetables. I was worried that the mushrooms would fall apart so tried to place sturdier vegetables around them. I added a couple of potatoes to the skewers as well.

I turned my little electric grill to high power and added the prepared kebabs.

Keeping a careful eye on the grill, I rotated the veggies as they began to darken.

The charred red peppers were the best!

Eaten alongside garlic herb bread, I pulled the veggies off of the kebabs to enjoy as a grilled salad topping.

Fresh and scrumptious!

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Leek and Mushroom Vegan Pizza

Sorry for the recent absence. The telephone line to my apartment building was cut during construction on Monday and the entire building has been without telephone or internet until today.

It is shocking that it took an entire work week to fix the problem, especially since there are so many single, elderly people living in my building who could require emergency services yet wouldn’t have been able to call for help.

Any who… onward and upward towards the weekend!

It has been a gorgeous week in Bonn. Many of my lessons have been taught outdoors this week and my mood has been made lighter and brighter from the sunshine.

On Tuesday, Sebastian and I continued our homemade pizza tradition. He made a spinach, mushroom, onion, tomato and mozzarella cheese pizza. I went with something a little more rustic.

This vegan pizza tasted so fresh with the addition of kale, leeks and mushrooms.

The last of my almond herb cheese was used to top this gorgeous pizza.

The dough was easy- thawed and re-risen fresh yeast pizza dough from the freezer.

I sautéed the mushrooms and leek in a little olive oil before adding it to the pizza. In total, the pizza had kale, leeks, mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and the vegan cheese.

Beautiful, nutritious and delicious to boot.

Tonight I’m off to an Oriental cooking class with the woman who had the role of my mother in the last play I acted in.

She just returned from an extended trip in India so I can’t wait to hear about that as well!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!

Happy Weekend!

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Easy Mushroom-Spinach Curry

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

and Happy Birthday to my cousin, Ahnamarie!

I kicked off the day with a green smoothie in honor of St. Patty.

Almond milk, frozen banana, vanilla protein powder, 2 handfuls lamb’s lettuce and about 10 mint leaves.

This was no Shamrock Shake, but it was a heck of a lot healthier and still creamy and minty.

This Saturday is Open Day at my school. The community is invited to visit the school and partake in educational activities, games and projects. Although I love showing my classroom off, getting the place in tip-top shape has been keeping me and my awesome assistant busy.

My midmorning snack tasted like a creamsicle.

Vanilla soy yogurt and a clementine.

Fellow bloggers are simply awesome, I’m so thankful for everyone out there who freely shares their knowledge and recipes. I have learned so much from other bloggers and can not thank you enough!

That being said, here’s another delicious recipe from my recipe wish list. I enjoyed this dish for dinner last night and lunch today.

 The inspiration for this recipe came from Vaishali over at Holy Cow! Vegan. I adapted the spices to fit my pantry and taste, and WOW this was so fast and so delicious!

 

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green chili pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 3 cardamom pods, seeds removed and crushed
• 1 pinch fenugreek seeds, crushed
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1 1/2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
• 8 oz. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed
• 3/4 cup coconut milk

Method

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the onions, ginger and chili and sauté on medium heat until the onions begin to brown. Add the spices, stirring to evenly coat the onions.
2. Add the mushrooms, stir until they start to soften. Fold in the spinach until well mixed.
   Add 1/4 cup of water and cook for a few minutes until the vegetables are tender.
3. Add the salt and coconut milk,season to taste. Stir thoroughly and take off the heat.

Thanks to this awesome recipe, I was fueled through all afternoon. After school, I tutored, went to the gym and bought groceries before coming home.

I hope you are all having a fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day!

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Warm Barley Salad with Roasted Tomatoes and Mushrooms

Today was a very busy day at work. Each year my school has a project week. This year, the project week is on art- portraits to be more exact, and I’m in charge of it all.

This is my first experience being responsible for a whole-school project of this scale. It’s been a lot of fun to plan and organize but the actual act of carrying it out is exhausting. Rewarding to see it all come together, but exhausting.

While on break duty this morning, I ate strawberries and blueberries with homemade Greek yogurt and drew chalk portraits with a group of kids.

 

Sometimes I’m amazed at what can be accomplished in 1 day. Today, my students created self-portraits using chalk pastels, they designed and cemented down their Roman-style mosaics and made whole-face masks of each other using plaster casting.

I wish I would have taken a photo of my classroom at the end of the day- it looked like the art cabinet exploded. Exactly how a classroom should look during project week.

The weather today was warmer and the sun came out to play so I went on a walk after school.

I’m also happy to report that Sebastian and I made our own pizza tonight rather than ordering out. We went with one of my new favorites, Black Bean Mexican Pizza from goodlifeeats. Delicious!

I’m off to bed now but before going wanted to share a great recipe I tried this past weekend. Thanks to Andrea at Bella Eats for this recipe, it will become a regular. Another gem from my Recipe Wish List. This simple yet fancy recipe made a fast, warm dinner. Leftover were a lovely change of things as a cold lunch.

 

Full of flavor, texture and healthy food.

Now for your dining pleasure, Andrea’s recipe.

adapted from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen by Jack Bishop
serves 4 as a main course

Ingredients

• 1 pound cremini mushrooms, trimmed and quartered
• 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 4 medium shallots, thinly sliced
• 5 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 quart water
• 1-1/2 cups pearl barley
• 1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
• 6 cups packed baby arugula, spinach, or mix
• 4 oz Pecorino Toscano, feta or goat cheese, diced or crumbled (I used parmesan, shaved over the top of the salad)

Method

1. Move an oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 425*.
2. Toss the mushrooms, tomatoes, shallots and 2 tbsp of the oil together on a rimmed baking sheet.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Toast the veggies, stirring once, until the mushrooms and shallots are browned nicely, about 25 minutes.  Let cool slightly.
3. Meanwhile, bring water, barley and pinch of salt to a boil in a large saucepan.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the barley is tender but still a bit chewy, about 30 minutes.  Drain the barley well in a strainer and transfer to a large bowl.
4. Toss the barley with the remaining 3 tbsp oil until coated evenly.  Add the roasted vegetables and parsley and toss to combine.  Cool slightly and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Divide the arugula or spinach among four large plates.  Spoon warm barley salad over each plate, sprinkle with cheese, and serve.
6. Store barley salad separately from arugula or spinach and reheat for lunch the next day, if desired.

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Vegan Walnut and Mushroom Pâté

On Saturday night I went to my friend Melanie’s house for an impromptu Thanksgiving.

She felt bad that this was my 5th Thanksgiving away from home, and decided to host a special dinner in honor of my missed American holiday.

She’s a good friend like that.

Everyone brought delicious food to share but the hit of the night was the vegan walnut and mushroom Pâté. Erica, the impressive vegan cook, promised the recipe but I was too impatient and decided to attempt the dish on my own.

Besides, I had another Thanksgiving the next day and knew I had to bring the Pâté. Although my version wasn’t spot on to Erica’s, it was still very tasty!

You just need to get over the fact that Pâté looks gross regardless of its contents.

I used more herbs than pictured here.

The soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and vegetable broth were an afterthought, added post picture taking.

Vegan Mushroom and Walnut Pâté

2 cups walnuts, lightly toasted

2 cups brown mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, crushed

1 medium onion, minced

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 handful fresh thyme, leaves picked

1 handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped

1 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. balsamic vinegar

no more than 1/4 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup cooked potatoes (leftover mashed potatoes work well)

Method

1. Heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat and cook the onions and garlic until tender. Add the mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are cooked, about 7 minutes.
2. Place the walnuts, thyme and parsley in a food processor and pulse until a very fine consistency.
3. Add the mushroom mixture and potatoes to the food processor and continue to process drizzling in the remaining olive oil, soy sauce, balsamic vinegar and vegetable broth. Taste the pate and season with salt, pepper and additional spices as desired.
4. Place the pate in a serving dish and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. The flavor will improve with time. Serve with crusty bread or crackers.

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Opening Night

For those of you who do not know me personally, this may come as a surprise.

I am a teacher by day and an actress by night.

Although I’ve not mentioned it on here before, I’ve been rehearsing to perform in a play since before the summer holidays. After many long hours and months of rehearsing, tonight is finally opening night.

I will be performing in the English theatre group, The Bonn Players’ performance of The Importance of Being Earnest.

The dress rehearsal went very well last night and I have a good, although nervous feeling about tonight.

Before heading to the theater, a fast and filling dinner was required.

  Cooked garlic, eggplant and mushrooms with crushed chili flakes.

Italian noodles, given to me as a birthday gift!

Nearly there…

Pasta with Eggplant and Mushrooms

Similar to Pasta alla Norma

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, slivered
• 1 eggplant, spongy parts removed and cut into chunks
• 5 large mushrooms, chopped into chunks
• 1 crushed dried red chili pepper
• 1 can tomato sauce
• salt to taste
• Italian seasoning to taste
• pinch of sugar
• Parmesan cheese… lots of it!
• cooked pasta

Method

1. Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan. Cook 1 clove of slivered garlic until translucent. Add the eggplant and chili- cook over medium heat until partially cooked. Add the mushrooms and season with salt. Cook until the vegetables are tender. Remove from heat.
2. Heat 2 Tbsp. more olive oil in the same skillet. Cook the remaining 2 cloves of garlic until translucent. Add the tomato sauce, Italian seasoning and sugar. Toss in a small handful of parmesan cheese and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens a bit. Taste and flavor as needed.
3. Add the cooked mushrooms and eggplant to the tomato sauce.  Cook through. Add the cooked noodles and toss to coat. Throw in another handful of parmesan.
4. Serve with fresh basil and a sprinkle of parmesan.

I hope my garlic breath doesn’t cause anguish on stage tonight!

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