2 15-MINUTE VEGETARIAN Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay FAI R WINDS P Ii E S S GLOUCEST E R 'AASSI\C.H JSE l lS Text © 2005 by Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay First published in the USA in 2006 by Fair Winds Press, a member of Quayside Publishing Group 33 Commercial Street Gloucester, MA 01930 All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without prior permission in writing from the publisher 10 09 08 07 2345 ISBN - 13: 978-1-59233-176-5 ISBN - 10: 1-59233-176-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Geiskopf-Hadler, Susann , 195015-minute vegetarian recipes : 200 quick, easy, and delicious recipes the whole family will love / Susann Geiskopf-Hadler with Mindy Toomay p cm Summary: "Vegetarian recipes that can be made in fifteen minutes or less" Provided by publisher Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 1-59233-176-9 Vegetarian cookery Quick and easy cookery I Title: Fifteen-minute vegetarian recipes II Toomay, Mindy, 1951- III Title TX837.G3793 2005 641.5 '636 dc22 2005023970 Cover design by Mary Ann Smith Cover photograph by Allan Penn Book design by Yee Design Printed and bound in Canada TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 10 Chapter One I Ready, 16 Chapter Two I Seasoning, Condiments, and 30 Chapter Three 46 Chapter Four I IS-Minute Appetizers and Snacks 64 Chapter Five I IS-Minute Salads 82 Chapter Six Set, Cook! Simple Sauces I IS-Minute Breakfast Dishes I IS-Minute Soups and Stews I IS-Minute Sandwiches and Wraps 102 Chapter Seven 118 Chapter Eight 138 Chapter Nine I IS-Minute Pasta Dishes 154 Chapter Ten I IS-Minute Grain Dishes 170 Chapter Eleven I IS-Minute Tortilla Dishes 186 Chapter Twelve I IS-Minute Grilled and Broiled Dishes 204 Chapter Thirteen I 218 Chapter Fourteen I IS-Minute Desserts 234 Preparing Frequently Used Ingredients 243 Glossary of Specialty Ingredients 249 About the Authors 250 Index I IS-Minute Sautes and IS-Minute Beverages Stir-Fries INTRODUCTION QUICK VEGETARIAN MEALS? Is it possible to invent over 200 delicious, nutritious, and quick vegetarian dishes? After writing this book, we can answer that question with an unequivocal YES! When we first embarked on the vegetarian path, it seemed we had a luxury of time We set about inventing recipes based on whole, natural foodsgrains and beans, fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts, soy products, organic eggs and dairy products, and a world of seasonings-giving little consideration to how much time they would take to prepare We were passionate cooks and enjoyed spending hours at a time in the kitchen But over the years, our lives became increasingly hectic Along came careers, families, and a multitude of other commitments Sound familiar? Busy as we were, however, we didn't want to give up the pleasures of preparing and sharing healthy home-cooked meals That's why all of our previous collaborative cookbooks (and this is our eleventh!) have included "Almost Instant" recipes that require thirty minutes or less to prepare But could we make great dishes in half that time? Creating this cookbook challenged our quick-cooking skills, prompting us to explore the great selection of prepackaged ingredients now available in supermarkets We found many that offer convenience without sacrificing good nutrition or flavor In these pages, we share our favorite discoveries with you, including plenty of tips that can save you time and trouble in the kitchen Best of all, we provide a wide range of innovative recipes that achieve "from-scratch" results in a flash Now it's time to tie on an apron and enter the new age of quick vegetarian cooking Introduction I pers to a plastic bag, close the bag, and set aside for about 15 minutes When cool enough to handle, peel off the charred skin and discard the seeds, stems, and white membrane Cut into strips or dice, as called for in the recipe Refrigerate or freeze until needed Spinach or Other Leafy Greens, Washed Many greens , including arugula and spinach , are now available prewashed and bagged, making them great convenience foods for busy cooks However, if you grow your own or shop at the farmers' market, the fresh greens must be washed and bagged at home Fill the kitchen sink with cold water If the greens have thick or long stems, twist or cut them off and discard or compost them (or rinse them well and save them for your next batch of homemade vegetable broth; see the recipe on page 239) Place the greens in the water, gently swirling them around with your hands Allow them to soak for about minutes so any dirt will settle to the bottom of the sink Lift the greens from the water into a colander If using the greens immediately, spin them dry in a salad spinner If refrigerating them for later use, drain briefly or shake to remove most of the water, but don't dry completely Roll up gently in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel and seal in a plastic bag Store in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator and use as needed Heads of lettuce can be handled in a similar way They tend to be less dirty than spinach, so they don't need to be submerged in water Simply rinse them well, shake off most of the water, and roll in paper towels or a clean kitchen towel before sealing in a plastic bag and refrigerating 242 I 15·MINUTE VEGETARIAN GLOSSARY OF SPECIALTY INGREDIENTS Some of the ingredients used in this book may not be familiar to every cook, but are available in most large supermarkets If you can't find these items in your local supermarket look for them online or have a talk with the store manager, who will probably be willing to order them for you If you live in a large metropolitan area, shop for ethnic specialty foods in the Asian, Mexican, or Italian districts of town Your local natural food store is another great resource You may be venturing out of your comfort zone, but such shopping excursions will greatly expand your culinary horizons BALSAMIC VINEGAR CANNELLINI BEANS CHAPATI This vinegar is quite distinctive, with These white kidney-shaped beans A chapati is an unleavened Middle a deep, pungent sweetness True are rather nutty in flavor and hail Eastern flatbread that looks much balsamic vinegar is produced in the from Tuscany They can be pur- like a flour tortilla made from whole- Italian province of Modena using chased dried or canned at Italian wheat flour You may use it in any ancient techniques and is aged for specialty food stores and many recipe calling for a flour tortilla many years in wooden barrels supermarkets before bottling CHEVRE CAPELLINI Chevre is the generic French term BASMATI RICE This very thin pasta can be pur- for goat's milk cheese Fresh chevre This aromatic rice is available in chased in dried form at any major is soft and mild, with just a hint of white and brown varieties Briefly supermarket, either coiled or in tartness, and is widely available rinse the rice before cooking for a long strands Fresh capellini is also light and fluffy texture sometimes available CHILI POWDER, PURE Most commercial brands of chili BULGUR WHEAT CAPERS powder include other seasonings Bulgur is produced from whole- Capers are the flower buds of a such as cumin and salt along with wheat kernels that are steam Mediterranean shrub, usually sold the ground chiles Our recipes call cooked , then dried and cracked into packed in brine in glass jars for pure chili powder, which is avail- a coarse, medium , or fine grain Sometimes capers are preserved in able in bulk at natural food stores or salt; in this case, they should be packaged in cellophane bags at rinsed before using in a recipe Mexican groceries and some super- Capers have a unique piquancy that markets You can also purchase it brings a bright flavor note to online Mediterranean- style dishes 244 I 15-MINUTE VEGETARIAN CHIPOTLE CHILES EN ADOBO DRIED TOMATOES ENGLISH CUCUMBER These are smoked jalapeno pep- Also referred to as sun-dried toma- This variety averages about 18 pers, often sold canned en adobo- toes, they have an intense flavor inches (46 cm) in length and is sold a rich sauce made from tomatoes, and chewy texture Dried tomatoes shrink-wrapped in plastic The vinegar, and spices They have a dis- are sold as is or reconstituted in unwaxed skin is very thin and mild- tinctive smoky flavor and are quite olive oil If a recipe calls for the tasting and the seeds are not large spicy, so a little goes a long way dried variety, it should be reconsti- and bitter, so English cucumbers Shop for them in Mexican markets tuted before being added to a not need to be peeled and seeded and well-stocked groceries recipe To reconstitute, place the before you use them dried tomatoes in a small bowl , COUSCOUS cover them with hot water and set ENOKIMUSHROOMS These are tiny beads of semolina aside to soak for about 30 minutes These pale, sproutlike mushrooms pasta, originally from North Africa (or place the bowl in the microwave have small caps that sit atop long, They cook very quickly when for about a minute) Squeeze out leggy stems They have a mild, soaked in boiling water most of the liquid and chop as almost sweet, flavor They are best called for in the recipe used raw or barely heated, as long cooking toughens them CREME FRAicHE This cultured cream is not as thick EDAMAME as standard sour cream, and it has This is the Japanese name for fresh FERMENTED BLACK BEANS a milder flavor It is used extensively green soybeans They may be pur- Fermented black soybeans packed in French cooking Shop for it in chased fresh or frozen, in the pods in salt are frequently used in Italian specialty food stores or or already shelled Seek them out at Chinese cooking They have a dis- Mediterranean supermarkets, or try well-stocked supermarkets, Asian tinctive pungent taste; a little goes a our quick homemade version on groceries, or natural food stores long way ENDIVE, BELGIAN GARBANZO BEANS CURRY POWDER These pale, cigar-shaped heads of Also known as chickpeas, these This exotic seasoning is a mixture of slightly bitter leaves have a texture round tan beans are sold both dried many spices and can range from that is both crisp and velvety They and canned They have a nutlike mild to very spicy, depending on are available in the produce section flavor and firm texture that holds how much cayenne pepper is in the of well-stocked supermarkets up well when cooked page 2l blend The recipes in this book call for a mild curry powder Sample different commercial brands to find one you like, or make some from scratch using the recipe on page 29 Glossary of Specialty Ingredients I 245 GARLIC KALAMATA OLIVES NOR I A pungent member of the onion Sometimes spelled "calamata," Nori is a widely available seaweed family, garlic is available in many these succulent purple-black olives sold in flat sheets in cellophane forms In addition to fresh cloves, are native to Greece They have an packages Purchase nori that is our recipes often call for crushed intense piquant flavor labeled either "roasted" or "toasted" in Asian groceries and garlic, a convenient store-bought well-stocked supermarkets product ready to be measured out MIRIN as needed, and granulated garlic, A sweet form of sake, Japanese rice finely ground dried garlic without wine, mirin is used extensively in ORGEAT SYRUP salt or other additives Asian cooking It is available in Almond is the predominant flavor in Asian groceries and well-stocked orgeat syrup One widely available GINGER, PICKLED supermarkets Dry sherry can be brand is Torani Thin slices of fresh ginger that have substituted in many cases been preserved in a semisweet PARMESAN CHEESE vinegar brine Look for a brand that MISO A fine aged Parmesan is straw- does not contain food dyes Our Miso is a fermented soybean paste colored and has a distinctive flaky recipes call for the pale pink sliced with a deep, savory flavor Different texture and nutty-sweet flavor that variety of pickled ginger, not the varieties are available, some enhance salads, pastas, and many bright red shredded variety intensely salty, others with a mel- other dishes It is readily available, low, sweeter flavor Miso can be either shredded or finely grated, in JALAPENO PEPPERS, PICKLED found at Asian markets and natural the supermarket cheese case, or The pickling process adds a pleas- food stores you may purchase it in a block and ant, piquant note to jalapenos and prepare it as needed We not rec- tones down their intense spicy fla- NOPALES ommend the type of Parmesan vor You can buy them whole or These are the pads of the prickly cheese that is sold in a cylindrical sliced in Mexican markets or well- pear cactus that grows prolifically in container on the supermarket shelf stocked supermarkets; the sliced central Mexico and some parts of the variety are often sold as "nacho western United States They have a PEA SPROUTS sliced jalapenos." You may remove succulent texture and a distinctive These leggy, dark-green sprouts are the seeds if you prefer a milder dish fresh flavor with just a hint of tart- mild in flavor and can be found at ness Fresh nopales are sold year- Asian specialty food stores and round in most Mexican markets some farmers' markets Canned sliced nopales, called nopalitos, are more convenient to use; look for them in jars in the ethnic foods section of your supermarket 246 I 15-MINUTE VEGETARIAN PITA BREAD RADICCHIO RICE WINE VINEGAR Also known as pocket bread, this The radicchio called for in our This traditional vinegar has a deli- round, thin bread is available recipes, radicchio de Verona, comes cate flavor that adds spark to many in whole wheat and white flour in smallish purple heads that are Asian dishes It comes both sea- versions mottled with white It has a pleasant soned and unseasoned The sea- bitter taste and is a popular ingredi- soned variety is intended for POLENTA ent in Italian cooking Radicchio can making sushi rice Our recipes call Polenta is dried corn ground into a be purchased at well-stocked for the unseasoned variety medium-grain meal Italian markets supermarkets, specialty produce and natural food stores sell it stores, and some farmers' markets SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS labeled "polenta," but finely ground These delicious fungi are available American cornmeal is the equiva- RICE, WILD fresh or dried in Asian groceries and lent, and you can substitute it in Technically a grass seed rather than many supermarkets, sometimes recipes that call for polenta Don't a rice, this dark-almost black- labeled "black mushrooms." They use corn flour-it is a different grain has a distinctive nutty flavor have a potent flavor and chewy tex- ingredient altogether and won't and chewy texture It takes a long ture The dried variety should be work in polenta recipes Polenta time to cook but is sometimes avail- reconstituted before using Place is also available precooked, sold able precooked, packaged in vac- them in a small bowl, cover them in plastic-wrapped logs in the uum-sealed bags Check at your with hot water to soak for about refrigerator case of well-stocked supermarket to see if they have pre- 30 minutes (or place the bowl in supermarkets cooked wild rice the microwave for about minute) Squeeze out most of the liquid and chop as called for in the recipe PORTOBELLO MUSHROOMS RICE PAPER WRAPPERS These specialty mushrooms can Edible rice papers, or rice wrappers, measure to inches (10 to 15 cm) available at any Asian market, SOBA across and have a sturdy texture are brittle and wafer-thin Rice Soba are thin Japanese noodles They are widely available in grocery papers are sold in stacks, just like typically made with buckwheat stores and Italian specialty markets tortillas are Soak each paper in hot flour For the best selection water for about 30 seconds to and price, shop for them at an QUESO FRESCO make it pliable before using it to Asian market This part-skim cheese has a mild wrap up savory ingredients flavor and a crumbly texture It is used primarily as a topping rather than a filling, since it does not melt smoothly Shop for it in Mexican markets or well-stocked grocery stores Glossary of Specialty Ingredients I 247 SPROUTED-GRAIN TORTILLAS TAHINI TOFU These tortillas are 100 percent Tahini is a paste made by grinding Tofu is made from soy milk that has flourless making them an excellent raw or toasted sesame seeds It has been coagulated to form curds The choice for anyone with wheat aller- a texture similar to smooth peanut blandness of this high-protein food gies They are higher in protein and butter and a rather bland earthy makes it very versatile as it readily lower in carbs than standard tortillas flavor that is best combined with takes on other flavors Tofu comes Look for them at natural food stores piquant ingredients Tahini is avail- in various textures from soft and able at Middle Eastern markets the silky to dense and chewy each SUGAR, ORGANIC ethnic section of supermarkets and variety suitable for different uses Standard granulated sugar is some- natural food stores If the sesame Shop for tofu at natural food stores times bleached or processed with oil rises to the top of the jar recom- Asian markets and well-stocked bone meal to brighten its color We bine the tahini in a blender before supermarkets buy organic sugar to avoid these measuring for a recipe additives Shop for it in natural food WASABI TEMPEH Wasabi is a fiery-hot horseradish- A dense and chewy "patty" made by based condiment that is best SWEET CHILI SAUCE fermenting whole soybeans some- known for its use with sushi It is This bright-red sweet-and-hot chili times combined with rice or other commonly sold as a dry powder sauce adds a distinctive flavor note grains This high-protein food has a that can be reconstituted with to Asian dishes You can find it in pleasant nutty flavor that combines water or rice wine vinegar to form a glass jars at any Asian market well with Asian seasonings When paste then generally thinned with crumbled it makes a great ground- soy sauce before using as a condi- meat substitute in chili and other ment The powder is sold in small dishes tins at Asian markets and well- stores or other specialty markets stocked supermarkets; prepared wasabi paste is generally packaged in a tube 248 I 15-MINUTE VEGETARIAN ABOUT THE AUTHORS Susann Geiskopf-Hadler and Mindy Toomay have been cooking and writing together for two decades Their ten previous book collaborations include The Best 125 Meatless Main Dishes and The Complete Vegan Cookbook Susann is an avid cook who enjoys entertaining friends and family in her Sacramento Valley home She does cooking demonstrations and occasionally writes seasonal food articles for a local newspaper Her latest cookbook, The Complete Book of Vegetarian Grilling, was released in 2005 Mindy is a writer, editor, and cook who plies the literary and culinary trades in Northern California In addition to her many cookbooks , she is co-author of The Writer's Path: a Guidebook to Your Creative Journey Visit her online at www.mindytoomay.com About the Authors I 249 INDEX A Brewed Coffee with Cinnamon and Nutmeg 214 Almond Espresso Spritzer 214 Chocolate Malted Cappuccino Freeze 232 Aloha Smoothie 33 Chocolate Raspberry Cappuccino 215 appetizers and snacks Coconut Guava Cooler with Rum 209 Artichoke and Parmesan Spread 54 Double Chocolate Shake 233 Black Bean and Corn Salsa with Serrano Chiles and Lime French Roast Ice Cream Float 231 Juice 62 Homemade Soda 211 Black Bean Dip 58 Honey-Streaked Latte 213 Cannellini Bean Spread with Oregano and Cumin 58 Hot Honey Lemonade 211 Dried Apricots Stuffed with Cream Cheese and Walnuts Hot Spiked Cider 215 63 Iced Green Tea with Mandarin Oranges 209 Fantastic Appetizer Buffet 49 Iced Tea with Raspberry Syrup 208 Goat Cheese Spread with Pesto and Roasted Red Bell Lavender Lemonade 208 Pepper 54 Melon and Mint Cooler 207 Grilled Italian-Style Garlic Bread 61 Minted Chocolate Milk Frappe 232 Hummus with Cilantro and Pickled Jalapeno 59 Orange Ginger Cooler 206 Mushrooms with Cumin and Sherry Vinegar 51 Orange Spice Hot Chocolate 216 Proven