Nouveau rouladen

Rouladen is a German dish made of a spiced stuffing, typically with ground meat, and stuffed into cabbage leaf. Applying similar concepts, a vegan makeover was in order. The stuffing was made of sauteed onions, carrots, toasted ground caraway and fennel seeds, savoy cabbage, green peas, parsley, ground tempeh, and risotto style rice all rolled into brick dough and baked. Served atop a pool of crimini mushroom lager sauce (crimini mushrooms, Köstritzer Schwarzbier, porcini stock, and a cornstarch slurry) and simply roasted white and green asparagus, the once-bland looking rouladen got a major upgrade. For better or worse, that is for you to judge.

Vodka sauce sans cream

Vodka pasta sauce, the sauce with the pinkish hue, is creamy, tomato-ey, and absolutely delicious. In the vegan rendition, the good-old cashew "cream" comes to the rescue. It's important to soak the cashews for at least 4 hours so that it blends smoother. Add a bit of lemon juice and salt to create the slightly sour taste that cream has. The sauce started with a saute of garlic, shallots, and vodka-soaked red chili flakes. I added a bit of sherry wine to impart a sweetness and cooked until the wine reduced. Tomato paste and canned tomatoes with basil were then stirred into the pot and simmered, after which the sauce was removed from heat and blended until smooth. Meanwhile, saute asparagus and allow the water to cook out a bit. Stir in the blended sauce and allow to simmer so that the subtle tones of the asparagus infuses the sauce. Lastly, stir in the cashew cream. toss with your favorite pasta and garnish with chopped roasted cashews and parsley.

Fettuccine in fava bean sauce

Fava beans definitely have a unique flavor. There are people who like it and those who could do without it. I am of the latter population. When mature, the beans must be removed from the inedible rough pod, as well as the thick outer sheath that envelopes each bean. There is a lot of prep for something I am not too fond of. However, thank goodness for frozen prepped fava beans. That is how I was able to make a fava bean sauce for the pasta.

Fettuccine in fava bean sauce with roasted white asparagus and French green lentils

The sauce was made by browning chopped garlic in extra-virgin olive oil. Adding the fava beans and red chili flakes and saute until nicely browned. Stir in the Italian parsley and fresh basil leaves along with vegetable stock. Allow to simmer. Puree in a blender until smooth. Finish with lemon juice, s&p, and some extra extra-virgin olive oil. Roast a set of fava beans and fold into sauce and toss with pasta, simply roasted asparagus, and cooked French green lentils. Enjoy with abandon.

Spring vegetable, grain, and bean stew

To simplify a meal, combine all the sources of carbohydrates, proteins, vegetables, and fats into one dish. That is the idea of a stew. And the beauty of it is that the flavor profile of each ingredient melds into each other to form a mystery box of taste.

Spring vegetable, farro, and cranberry bean stew

A combination of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, leeks, fresh rosemary, and red chili flakes met the white wine and sat along with each other until the white wine reduced. Celery then joined along with cooked cranberry beans, white vegetable stock, and cooked farro. In a separate pot, fresh spring artichoke hearts were braising with extra-virgin olive oil, white wine, garlic, and a touch of champagne vinegar until almost done and finished their process in the large medley pot. And right before serving, freshly steamed asparagus was folded in along with some fresh chopped Italian parsley. To garnish, a chervil leaf and simply roasted spring carrots tossed in lemon-infused extra-virgin olive oil.

Baby leeks

Ramps are wild leeks and they are in season for a short while in spring. The beauty of the baby leek is that you can use the entire vegetable, not just the white part. It is very pungent, so to reduce the pungency, cook it, in this case, grill both the white and leafy parts and blend it into a pesto with garlic, roasted almonds, lemon juice, fresh spinach, parsley, marjarom, and extra-virgin olive oil. The lemony ramp pesto goes well with virtually all kinds of pasta, but in this case, it went extremely well with linguine, simply roasted asparagus and sweet 100 tomatoes, and black beluga lentils.

Sunny and not so sunny asparagus

Thus far, I have seen asparagus in three different colors: green, purple, and white. The white asparagus is special as it is protected from the sunlight. As the shoots spring up, the spear continues to be covered and covered until harvest. No sun, no photosynthesis, no green. Playing upon that came the sunny asparagus pesto, a pesto made of garlic, toasted sunflower seeds, red chili flakes, blanched green asparagus (mostly stems), fresh lemon juice, Italian parsley, and extra-virgin olive oil. Tossed with fettuccine, blanched asparagus, thyme-roasted sweet 100 tomatoes, the dish shone as brilliant as the radiant sun. Top garnish, add a bit of toasted sunflower seeds as well as some fresh chopped Italian parsley.

Fettuccine with sunny asparagus pesto

Indian redux

Every day I walk into the work kitchen, the air is filled with the aroma of Indian spices, mostly ginger, garlic, onions, and the ever so popular cumin. And honestly, when you have a fellow neighbor who is Indian or your neighbor is by chance cooking Indian food, the scent of the spices flood hallway. That's just the way it is, and it is beautiful. Taking a softer and more subtle approach to Indian food was the endeavor of today. The spices are there. The ingredients are there. However, let's just say it's Indian nouveau.

Early spring vegetable fricassee, roasted spiced garbanzo beans, and sooji upma

The veggies were super simple: White and green asparagus and sugar snap peas tossed in a bit of fresh grated ginger, a touch of lime juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and salt and pepper and simply roasted at high heat. To add a bit of pungency, julienned spring garlic (yes - it's incredibly pungent) was grilled then tossed into the roasted vegetable mixture as well as fresh cilantro. A drizzle of masala spiced (cumin, coriander, cinnamon, garam masala, cayenne, pepper, and raw sugar) dressing (adding fresh ginger, coconut water, shredded coconut, organic honey, apple cider vinegar, and extra-virgin olive oil) adorned the vegetables. The same masala spice mixture was tossed with chickpeas and roasted at high heat. Some turned out crunchy, some did not. And the upma? It was my first time making it and it was savory. It started off with a fry of cumin seeds, ginger, red onions, Serrano chilies, and curry leaves. Toasted semolina was added and then boiling water. I had to stir in constantly to ensure even distribution of water and to ensure that the upma did not clump together undesirably. After the sooji cooked for about 10 minutes, a blend of toasted cashews, almonds and coconut along with fresh cilantro were folded in.
Indian-inspired? Most definitely.