Steamed cod with ginger

I typed this up from an old issue of Everyday Food (magazine), and accidentaly published the post. Looks like it was a popular item though, so I'll leave this post up - even though I haven't made this yet!

Let me know how it is!

4 scallions, white and green parts separated and sliced
2 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp red-pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
coarse salt
4 skinless cod fillets (6 oz each)
(rice to serve..)

1. In a shallow 2 quart microwave safe dish with a lid, stir together scallion whites, ginger, vinager, oil, red pepper flakes and sugar. season with salt. marinate cod in dish 20 min, turning once.

2. Cover and microwave on high 5 minutes, let stand, covered until fish is opaque throughout, 5 minutes. top wiht scallion greens. serve fish with rice if desired.

Back to blogging and baking?

You might have noticed that I'm trying to post more... more recipes that I make, more meals out, more easy ideas, more vegetarian meals, and more cakes!

Let me know if there are any requests. Now that I have this thing called "time", I hope to be cooking more often! and baking more wedding cakes too.. bellesbouchees.com

Black Bean Burgers

We made up gigantic pot of black beans earlier in the week, so we wanted to make something to use them up. Black bean burgers it was!

I pulled out the food processor and mixed up the ingredients. Had to add some more almond meal after I saw that the first ones I fried up were too mushy... fry them up one or two at a time, so you can play with the consistency and do what works for you. If you are making them to be served on buns - you might need to add more almond meal to thicken them up.

Ingredients
2 cups cooked black beans

1 Tbsp dijon mustard,

1 Tbsp minced garlic

2 Tbsp minced onions

2 Tbsp minced cilantro

1 cup (ish) almond meal

1 egg

serve with:

butter lettuce leaves

tomatoes, sliced

red and yellow peppers, roasted

onions, super thinly sliced

hot sauce

dijon mustard

Instructions

1. Roast off the peppers first. Put peppers directly over open flame on stove (if you don't have a gas stove.. put on burner?? I don't know what to do in that case..) Once the peppers are good and charred, place them in a bowl and put plastic wrap on top, OR put in a brown paper bag. Basically you are just trying to trap the steam as the peppers cool, which helps the charred skin be peeled off of the pepper flesh. mmmm...

here are the peppers roasting.

2. Place all ingredients to make burgers (black beans, mustard, garlic, onions, cilantro, almond meal, egg) in food processor. Pulse until well mixed.

3. Form patties and place in oil in a medium fry pan that is over medium-high heat. Fry on both sides for a few minutes. You'll have to play around here with the right amount of heat, oil, time, etc...

4. Serve burgers with lettuce (topped or topless) and all the fixin's.

Stuffed Red Peppers

Our take on stuffed red peppers: tofu and almond meal in the filling and plenty of chives - that we grew (!!) on top.

These were super quick and easy to make, yet something I like to jokingly call "dinner party worthy". Some of our quick weeknight dinners leave something to be desired in the looks category, but this one I would gladly serve to guests!

Ingredients

1 pack Tofu (1 lb)

1/2 cup Almond Meal (blanched, not blanched, whatever)

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

2 Tbps Pesto

1 small-medium onion

italian spices (oregano, thyme, red pepper, etc..)

2 - 4 Red Peppers (one per person)

1 bunch Chives

Instructions

note: we made this a few weeks ago, I hope these instructions are accurate enough!

-preheat oven to 375 deg-

1. Mince up the onion and sauté until translucent.

2. Take the tofu, cut it up into small pieces (about 1/4"). Toss in a big bowl.

3. Add the onions, the tomato paste, pesto and almond meal to the tofu in the bowl. Stir it up. Add a little salt, pepper, oregano, thyme, red pepper, etc.. to your taste preferences.

4. Take the tops off the peppers by cutting around the stem with a paring knife. Pull out the center with the white part and seeds. Use your hands to remove any that stayed behind.

5. Fill the peppers with the stuffing mixture. Put stuffed peppers in a pyrex dish or whatnot

6. Bake until tops are uber golden (if I recall it took about 45 min?!) Top with chives and serve!

note: this filling made way more than enough for two peppers... we filled reusable silicon muffin cups with the filling, and baked it for about 20 min - until golden. Those were super good reheated later in the week, almost like vegetarian meatballs!