Recipes as Inspiration (Tomato & Thai Basil Relish)

I recently found myself needing something quick for dinner, so I turned to my beloved cookbook, Vegetarian Suppers. I found a recipe for Skillet Seared Tofu with Tomato and Thai Basil relish. I had tofu in my fridge, gorgeous tomatoes from the farmers market, and thai basil in my garden. Sounded perfect. Then I looked at the rest of the ingredients and I only had about half of them. I took the ingredient list as mere suggestion and got started anyway. The result was pure heaven.

Here's the list of ingredients in the recipe and then what I used instead:

2 medium tomatoes - I had this. Great!

1 small shallot or a few scallions - I used 1/2 sweet onion from my fridge

small handful Thai Basil - I had this. I threw in the amount that looked right.

dozen small mint leaves - I had this in my garden

1 t. roasted peanut or sesame oil - I used garlic-infused olive oil

juice and zest of 1 lime - I had this.

2 t. freshly grated ginger - all I had were dehydrated ginger bits. I rehydrated them in some boiling water and chopped them up. I also chopped up a dried red chile and put it in the boiling water to rehydrate as well.

1 garlic clove - I was out of garlic, so I used a little garlic powder

sea salt - yes

small splash of soy sauce - I only had Hoisin Sauce, a sweet, thick Asian sauce. I used it anyway.

I put everything in a bowl and mixed it up. The soy sauce is really intended for deglazing the pan while you cook the tofu, but I put it in the bowl with everything else. When it came time to deglaze the tofu, I just used some of the juice from the bowl (super yummy).

Here's the basic method

Slice 1 carton of tofu into 6-8 pieces and blot it with a paper towel. I cut it in half long way to make thinner slabs, and then cut the 2 slabs into triangles.

Heat some oil in a skillet and add the tofu. Sprinkle with salt. When it stops twitching around, check to see if it is browned on the cooking side. If it isn't, leave it a little longer. Turn and cook the other side, about 10 minutes in all. Shake on some liquid (like soy sauce or the juices from your bowl of tomatoes and other goodies) and continue cooking until it evaporates and the tofu is seasoned and glazed. I sometimes turn the tofu during this process and sometimes don't. I just try to get the tofu coated with the sauce.

Remove from heat, top with tomato salsa mixture and serve. I served this on a bed of arugula, which was fabulous.

Beet and Tomato Ragout with Twice Baked Souffles

I made this ragout for Christmas dinner, and I loved it. I think everyone else liked it, too. The beets were a little too firm in texture, but the flavor was excellent. Both the beets and the souffles can be prepared in advance, and then reheated when you're ready to eat. This made it easy to have dinner ready when everyone had arrived, eaten some appetizers, and relaxed a little. The twice-baked goat cheese souffles are delicious and easy. If you have leftover souffles, you can rewarm them in the oven by pouring a little cream over the top of them and baking them for 20 minutes. This causes them to puff up again and be really beautiful and tasty.

The recipe recommended serving this with baby bok choy, but I made leeks in mustard vinaigrette instead. I also made brussels sprouts, which my family enjoyed immensely. With all the yummy butter and garlic, it's hard to go wrong.

I wasn't sure how big a large beet would be, so I used 6 medium beets instead of 4 large beets.

Let's get started

First, make the souffles through their first baking. Here's the full recipe for twice-baked goat cheese souffles.

Then, prepare the vegetables for the ragout. Finely dice 1 medium red onion. Peel and cut 4 large beets into irregular 1/2 inch dice. Dice one cup fresh tomatoes with their juices, or you can use 1 can of diced tomatoes, preferably organic. Since it was winter when I made this, I used the canned tomatoes. The recipe said to use 1 cup of canned tomatoes, but I used the whole 14 oz. can. Chop 2 T. tarragon, and 1 small garlic clove.

Melt 1 T. butter in a medium saute pan. Add the onion and cook over medium heat until it starts to color, about 7-10 minutes. Stir in 1 T. tomato paste, 1 T. brown sugar, the chopped garlic clove, a pinch of the tarragon, and 1 cup water. Simmer about 20 minutes until the onions are soft and the liquid is reduced. Add the beets and tomatoes, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook another 25-30 minutes, adding more water as needed so there is a little sauce at the end. Add 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar and 1 T. tarragon. (The rest of the tarragon will be used for garnish at the end.)

Twenty five minutes before you eat, heat the oven for the second baking of the souffles. (See recipe link above.) Reheat the beets. Serve the beets on each plate along with some of the sauce, placing a souffle on top of the beets. Garnish with the remaining tarragon.

Serve with a green vegetable such as bok choy with butter and tarragon, brussels sprouts with butter and garlic, or steamed leeks with mustard vinaigrette.

Cost to prepare

4 large beets - $3.60

1 medium red onion - $.80

2 T. chopped tarragon - $1.00

1 T. tomato paste - $.25

1 T. brown sugar - negligible

1 small garlic clove - negligible

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes - $1.00 or 1 cup fresh tomatoes - $1.00

salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar - negligible

TOTAL cost of beet dish alone - $6.65 for 4 or more servings. There were 5 of us for dinner and we had leftovers, but we also had appetizers and several other dishes for dinner.

TOTAL cost of souffles - $9.80 for 8-10 individual souffles.

When beets are in season from the farm, I will try making this with brown and wild rice instead of the souffles. This is a lovely and tasty dish for company.

Garden Ragout for Midsummer with Marjoram Pesto

This yummy summer stew can be served hot, warm, or cold. It doesn't take long to make, aside from chopping the vegetables, and it is a great way to use some of summer's bounty. It only cooks for about 15 minutes, which leaves the vegetables still crunchy and fresh. The marjoram pesto is bright and flavorful and really makes this dish sing. One of the best things about it is that you can use a variety of summer produce - nearly whatever you have in your garden or can get at your local farm or farmer's market.

This recipe calls for white beans, which I had in my freezer, along with some broth I had made with leftover leeks a few weeks back. You can use canned beans, but be sure to rinse them first, and canned veggie or chicken stock (if you're not a vegetarian). If you cook your own white beans, save the bean broth to use in this recipe in place of the stock.

Here's how I did it:

Cut into small dice 1 new, fresh onion (rather than an old storage onion), 3 small zucchini or summer squash (I used the little yellow ones), 2 medium carrots, and 4 white mushrooms. Tip and tail a handful of green beans and cut them into 1-inch pieces. You can also add a couple small white turnips if you have them - which I didn't. Sliver 2 smallish garlic cloves.

While you're at it, cut up one large tomato or a handful of cherry tomatoes. Have one marjoram sprig standing by.

Heat up 2 T. olive oil in a soup pot. Add the vegetables and the garlic and cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, just to warm them up. Season with salt and pepper, and add 2 cups broth. Bring everything to a slow boil, pull the leaves off the marjoram sprig and add them in, and then lay a piece of parchment paper across the top to keep the veggies on top from drying out. The broth doesn't quite cover all the veggies.

Let that cook for about 10 minutes. While it's cooking, make the marjoram pesto. Deborah Madison recommends making this in a mortar and pestle. I started it that way, but then realized that my mortar was too small to make the whole thing, so I switched to a food processor. Either way, you just keep grinding stuff in.

Marjoram Pesto: Put one small slice country bread, crusts trimmed off, into a bowl and sprinkle 2 T. red wine vinegar over it. Leave it to soak. In your mortar or food processor, add 1 clove chopped garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup marjoram leaves. (I used all the leaves from the whole bunch I bought at the store.) Then add in 3 T. rinsed capers, 1/2 cup pine nuts, and 1 cup chopped parsley. Add the vinegar-soaked bread and 1/3 to 1/2 cup olive oil. Add a little pepper and taste for vinegar.

After the 10 minutes are up, stir in the white beans and a cup more broth. Add the tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes or until the vegetables are a pleasing consistency to you. Don't overcook them, though. Ladle the vegetables into soup or pasta plates and add a big spoonful of pesto to the top of each one.

We had this hot the first night, cold for lunch the next day, and room temperature a few days later. All three ways were terrific. We also had some leftover marjoram pesto which was wonderful on crackers.

We didn't bother making anything along with this, though Deborah recommends starting the meal with crostini, adding a salad, and a nice fruity white wine such as a Dolcetto from the Piedmont region of Italy, and having fruit for dessert.

I realized while I was eating that the whole dish is vegan, since there is no cheese in the pesto. While this isn't technically a soup, it is my current favorite non-creamy soup. The crunch of the vegetables and the zing of the pesto is just a fabulous combination.

Things I'd do differently next time:

I'd use the food processor to make the pesto. I might even make a double batch of it and put half in the freezer for later. It is REALLY good and I'd like to try it on pasta.

I might try making this with some other vegetables in the fall or winter.

Cost to prepare: (I'm really guessing here since most of this came from my CSA box, my garden, and my freezer)

1 new onion - $.25

3 small summer squash - $1.00

2 carrots - $.25

4 mushrooms - $.25

handful of green beans - $1.00

garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil - negligible

1 cup white beans - $.50

Broth or water - $.50

1 large tomato - $.35

TOTAL - $3.85

Marjoram pesto:

1 bunch marjoram - $1.85

a slice of bread and some vinegar - $.20

3 T. capers - $.30

1/2 c. pine nuts - $1.00

1 c. parsley - $.50

1/2 c. olive oil - $2.00

TOTAL - $5.85

GRAND TOTAL - $9.70 for 4 people or for several meals for 2 people