Balsamic Green Beans

 

 

For this dish, I basically used the recipe from Lemons for Lulu but made some modifications according to what I had on hand - substituted basil for rosemary and canadian bacon for pancetta.  For their original recipe, visit their website. Here is the direct link: https://www.lemonsforlulu.com/balsamic-green-beans/

Health update on my latest cholesterol check: https://www.abundanceofvegetables.com/2019/10/my-inspiration-for-abundance-of.html

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Bacon Vegducken

 

For Thanksgiving, I wanted to make a vegducken, which is the vegetarian version of a turkducken.  The only reason was because I wanted to make a vegetable dish.  I found a recipe, but after reviewing it, I didn't think it would have enough flavor for my liking.  I decided to change it up a bit and added bacon.  Here's my version.

Ingredients:

• 1 package bacon (12 ounces)
• 1 kabocha squash
• 1 zucchini
• 1 black beauty eggplant
• 1 package white mushrooms (8 ounces)
• 1 tsp chili flakes
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 eggs
• dash of salt
• scrunch of pepper
  
• 1 Tablespoon onion powder
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 3 Tablespoons olive oil for stuffing
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  

Instructions:

1. Chop up the bacon and pan fry until crispy.
2. Rinse all your veggies.
   
3. Trim ends of zucchini and eggplant, slice in half, remove centers, and reserve for stuffing.
4. Cut kabocha in half horizontally, remove seeds (trash or keep to make roasted pumpkin seeds later), cut out as much pumpkin flesh from the insides as much as possible, and reserve for stuffing.
5. Pulse veggie centers and mushrooms in a food processor until chopped well. (I also added some extra carrots and brussel sprouts I had laying around.)
6. To a big pan, add olive oil, chopped veggies, seasonings, and stir fry until done.
   
7. Combine breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, and eggs to form a breadcrumb texture.  Add to veggies and mix well to finish your stuffing.
   
8. Melt butter in a saucepan. 
9. Spread butter on inside and outside of pumpkin.  Add stuffing. 
10. Add eggplant.  Add stuffing.
11. Add zucchini.  Add stuffing.
12. Continue the layers in reverse.
    
13. Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1.75 - 2 hours.
14. Let cool for 20 minutes before cutting up.
    
15. Enjoy!

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Zoodle Carbonara Experiment

This was an experiment to use vegetables in place of pasta.  For that, I took a zucchini, cut the ends off  and ran it through a spiralizer.  I made a mistake with miscounting the egg yolks and used processed cheese instead of fresh.  It came out okay, but would've probably been better if I counted correctly and used freshly grated parmesan cheese.  I intend to try this again with those corrections.

Here is the link to the original recipe. https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/simple-carbonara

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IG post of this video: Zoodle Carbonara Experiment (sped up for IG)
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Fried Rice with Bacon and an Abundance of Vegetables

This is one of those dishes where you clean out your fridge and use whatever you have on hand.  I do that a lot and included an entire bag of frozen vegetables.  Frozen vegetables are not my favorite, but I purchased it about a month ago in anticipation of the possibility of food being scarce, due to covid-19.  Certain store shelves (paper goods) have been cleared, but I'm glad food is not scarce.  Here's how my dish was made.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package bacon, chopped
• 1/2 block tofu, chopped into cubes
• 3 cups pak choy, chopped
• 2 heaping spoonfuls minced garlic
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1 bag frozen mixed veggies
• 1/4 c oyster sauce
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon hot chili oil
• 1 cup cooked brown rice (it was a little less than one cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions.

Instructions:

1. Prepare ingredients as described above (chop, mince).
2. Stir fry bacon until cooked.
3. Add garlic, celery, pak choy, mixed veggies, tofu, soy sauce, sesame oil, hot chili oil. 
4. Stir fry.
5. Add rice and stir fry, mixing well.
6. Add green onions.  Mix well.
7. Enjoy.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
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Air Fried Brussels and Bacon

I recently found out that the link I had on my Instagram bio wasn't working.  I don't know when it started being faulty.  Sorry about that.  It should be working now.

I love making things with a small amount of ingredients.  This one just calls for three.  All the flavor comes from the bacon. Mmm, mmm, mmm.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 package bacon
• 2 cups brussels sprouts (rinsed, trimmed, and cut in half)
• 1/4 large red onion, chopped

Instructions:

1. Place bacon in air fryer pan in one layer and air fry for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.
2. Remove bacon and cut into 1/4 inch pieces.
3. Pour bacon fat from air fryer onto brussels sprouts.
4. Add chopped onions and chopped bacon.
5. Toss everything together well.
6. Put it all in the air fryer and air fry for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, shaking halfway through.
7. Serve.

IG: @abundanceofvegetables
IG post of this video: Air Fried Brussels and Bacon (sped up for IG)
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