Grilled Veggie Sandwiches with Garlic Spread

With summer here, it means I actually have time to cook.  And not just frozen chicken nuggets.  Real cooking.  With real food.  Summer also means a lot of great produce.  Sadly, I was too busy this spring to get my garden going, so I'm relying on neighbor Jerry's generosity and the WinCo produce section.

This week I loaded up on vegetables.  Thursday's dinner was grilled veggie sandwiches with homemade garlic spread.  Last night we had my dad over for dinner and threw some hot dogs (ok, that's not real food, but it was fun) and veggies on the grill.  Afterward, we let the kids roast marshmallows.

I don't really have a recipe for grilled veggie sandwiches.  I buy whatever vegetables are reasonably priced.  This time I ended up with onions, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, and tomatoes.  I really like red bell peppers, but at over $1 each, I can do without.  The eggplant cost more than I like to pay for produce, but I knew it would be so good.

The veggies would be best cooked on the grill, but I usually stick them under the broiler.

Kimiko made a similar sandwich a few years ago.  You can find it here.

Roasted Veggie Sandwiches

Veggies (onions, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, squash, tomatoes, etc.)

Oil for brushing (I use vegetable)

Salt and pepper

Bread

Garlic spread

Slice veggies and place on broiler pans.

April helped me cut the zucchini and squash.  Otherwise,
I would have cut it lengthwise to fit better on the
sandwiches.

Brush both sides with oil; season with salt and pepper.  Place under broiler until veggies start to turn golden.  Turn; brush with more oil.  Return to broiler until second side is cooked as desired.

Meanwhile, toast sandwich bread and make Garlic Spread.  When veggies are done, spread garlic spread on toasted bread and top with veggies.

Garlic Spread

2 ounces Neufchatel cheese, softened (softened cream cheese will work)

1 clove garlic (more or less as desired)

Pinch kosher salt

2-3 Tbsp. mayonnaise

In a small bowl, cream Neufchatel; set aside.  On cutting board, finely chop garlic.  Add a pinch of kosher salt.  Using side of chef's knife, press down and drag knife toward you over garlic to pulverize.  Run knife blade through garlic.  Wipe off knife and pulverize again.  Repeat process until garlic is a smooth paste.

Mix into creamed Neufchatel.  Mix in mayonnaise until smooth.  Yield:  makes about 3 sandwiches with spread on both pieces of bread.

Sautéed Green Beans

A few weeks ago, we went for a play date with one of the boys’ preschool friends.  When we left, they sent us with a bag of green beans from their garden!  Yay!  I love summer produce!

Out of all the ways I could have prepared them, I chose to sauté them.  I think this is the easiest and tastiest way to cook most vegetables.  In my experience with my kids and with other kids, they tend to like veggies more when they are sautéed than when they are prepared other ways.

I sauté green beans just like I sauté other vegetables, except I like to add sliced almonds.  The nutty flavor goes great with the beans, and they add great texture.

If the beans are long, I snap them each in two or three pieces to help them cook more evenly.  Try to have the beans as dry as possible before adding them to the pan to prevent spattering.

Sautéed Green Beans
Vegetable oil
Green beans, cleaned and snapped in half or thirds
Slivered almonds
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Add oil.  When oil is hot, add green beans.

I've been using this handle thing from my Grandma--I love
it!!  Thanks, Grandma!

Sauté, tossing occasionally until almost done.  Add slivered almonds; continue to sauté until beans are done and almonds are toasted and golden.

Remove from heat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Frozen Asparagus

Last week Save Mart had asparagus on sale for $0.99 per pound!!  Seeing as I love asparagus and we rarely get it for such a great price, I bought about eight pounds of it!  I probably would have bought more if I’d had the freezer space.  As I was paying, the checker and I were talking about what a great deal it was and she inquired about freezing it.  I had already planned on writing this post, but that solidified in my mind that I needed to do it now.

The first step to freezing asparagus is choosing good asparagus at the store.  You want to make sure the flower is tightly closed and not actually starting to flower.  It is edible once it starts to open up, but not as tender and tasty.  If the produce department is doing a good job, they will keep the asparagus in water to help keep it fresh.

When you get it home, you’ll either want to work with it right away or return it to some water until you can get to it.  When I buy a lot at one time, I like to use my cake pans to store the asparagus.  If you only have one or two bunches, a pitcher will do.  One to two inches of water will suffice.

When you are ready to prepare your asparagus for freezing, rinse it under cold water.  You’ll need to get rid of the tough end by snapping it off.  Don’t cut it off as you will not know where the tough part ends.  By snapping it, you will always remove the tough part and be left with the tender part.  You can see photos of this here.

Cut the asparagus into one- to two-inch pieces and dry on a tea towel.  The key to ending up with individually frozen pieces of asparagus rather than an asparagus ice cube is to remove as much of the water as possible.  Transfer all the cut and dried asparagus to a zip-top bag, remove as much excess air as possible, and store in your freezer.

You can cook this frozen asparagus just like you would cook fresh asparagus.  Just be sure to increase the cooking time.  My favorite way to prepare it is sautéing.  Olive oil, salt, pepper, and a little garlic powder—so yummy!  This lemony version is great too!

Now, one thing to consider when choosing fresh verses frozen is the cost of edible vegetables once the waste has been removed.  Out of about five pounds of asparagus, I had two pounds of waste after I snapped the bottoms (this included a little water weight from washing).  That means I actually paid $1.65 per pound for frozen asparagus.  Wondering how that compares to buying frozen asparagus, I checked out WinCo’s prices yesterday.  They sell a 12-ounce bag for $2.35.  That comes out to $3.13 per pound.  I saved $1.48 per pound by freezing it myeslf!

And those rubber bands that come with the asparagus?  Don’t throw those away!  Those are my favorite kitchen rubber bands.  I use them for all sorts of things, but mostly to close partially used bags of frozen veggies.

February Flashback Fridays: Sumiko's Meatless Comfort Soup

Since Near to Nothing has been going for over a year-and-a-half, and our readership has grown tremendously, we thought we'd revisit a few "old" recipes.  If you've been with us the entire time, you may have forgotten about some of our originals.  If you're new to Near to Nothing, you may have missed some really great dishes.  So every Friday in February, we'll be reposting a previous recipe.

I thought I'd kick it off with a soup.  Yesterday morning Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow.  As the legend goes, that means six more weeks of winter.  In my book, that means six more weeks of soup!  (Of course, we here in the Bay Area are still watering our lawns, waiting for winter to come.)  So, without further ado, Sumiko's meatless comfort soup from last winter.




A few weeks ago I posted about Auntie Laurel’s comfort soup.  While I really like it, I’ve developed my own version.  One way I try to save money on food is by making meatless meals so I omitted the Italian sausage.  I also added brown rice to complement the garbanzos for a complete protein and to boost the fiber.

This recipe makes a lot of soup but can be easily cut in half if you don’t want such a large batch.  I tried freezing it once, not expecting it to work.  Surprisingly, it did!  The zucchini ended up a little on the mushy side, but not too bad.

Sumiko’s Comfort Soup

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 large onion, diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

6 c. water

3 Tbsp. beef bouillon

1 tsp. dried basil

3 c. cooked brown rice

28 oz. diced tomatoes

1 qt. garbanzo beans, drained

3 zucchini

1-2 tsp. salt

Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in 5-qt. stock pot; sauté onion and garlic over medium-high heat until onions begin to turn translucent.

Add remaining ingredients and increase heat to high.  Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until zucchini is tender, about 5-6 minutes.

Serve with Parmesan cheese.  Yield:  about 4 quarts.

If you don’t have leftover cooked rice and don’t want to make any just for this soup, you can start with uncooked rice.  Increase water to 8 cups.  After sautéing onion and garlic, add water, bouillon, basil, and 1 c. dry brown rice.  Simmer until rice is almost done, about 35-40 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients and continue as above.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are one of the most misunderstood vegetables out there.  They've gotten a pretty bad rap, but I'm out to try to fix that.  I love Brussels sprouts and so does my 3-year-old daughter.  My suspicion as to why people don't like them is because they've never had them prepared in a way that makes them shine! The key to a good Brussels sprout is to roast it.  Sumiko wrote about roasting vegetables a while back, but I want to revisit it, since Brussels sprouts are in season and I've been finding them on sale (88 cents/lb)!  Next time you see them on sale, buy a few and give 'em a try!

My 3-year-old waiting for the Brussels sprouts to roast.  

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Brussels sprouts, cleaned and outer leaves removed
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread Brussels sprouts out on a pan with sides.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.  Place pan in preheated oven and roast for 20-35 minutes (depending on size), or until tender in the center.  Several times throughout the roasting time, shake the pan around a little bit.  

Eat and enjoy!

Seasoned and ready to go into the oven!

These aren't burnt!  You want the bits of brown on these.

A poor, misunderstood Brussels sprout.

New Year's Tempura

If you haven’t yet figured it out by our names, we are Japanese—well, half Japanese.  Our dad is full Japanese and our mom is as Caucasian as you can get.  That’s why all our children have light hair and the girls have blue eyes.

Unfortunately, however, we aren’t very culturally Japanese.  Our great grandparents came to America from Japan, so a lot of the culture has been lost through the generations.  But once a year, we dig deep down inside and pull out all the Japanese culture we can find.  Every New Year’s day, we host a big open house and serve Japanese food—sushi, tempura, chashu, teriyaki chicken, fish cakes.

The tradition actually started years ago with our dad’s Aunt and Uncle.  We spent every childhood New Year’s day at their house, eating Japanese food and playing with cousins.  When both of them passed away, our parents took it up and hosted it for many years.  Three years ago we moved it to my (Sumiko’s) house because we have more room than our parents.  Our parents pretty much do all the food, with a few exceptions.

My favorite food that we serve at New Year’s is tempura.  I just can’t get enough of it!  For those who are unfamiliar with Japanese food, tempura is vegetables and shrimp that have been battered and fried—so yummy!  This is one of the dishes that my parents delegate to someone else.  Our good friend Sandy has been our tempura cook for quite a few years now.  She faithfully arrives early so she can mix up the batter and start frying.  Hours later she’s still in the kitchen, making sure everyone who comes gets fresh tempura no matter what time they show up.

Tempura is not hard, but it is messy and time consuming.  All the ingredients can be found in most major grocery stores.  Panko is Japanese breadcrumbs.  Thanks to panko’s growing popularity among celebrity chefs, it is now widely available.  WinCo carries it in the bulk bins!  Memmi sauce may be harder to locate.  Our mom buys it at a Japanese market we have in the area, but I have also found it at Safeway (Vons), Ralphs, and Raley’s (Nob Hill/Bel Air).

Cleaning and deveining shrimp is a lot of work.  My parents usually do that well in advance so as to minimize active prep on New Year’s day.  Simply lay your deveined shrimp in a single layer on a plate.  Place a sheet of wax paper on top, then add another layer.  Wrap the entire plate in plastic wrap and place in the freezer.  The morning of cooking, move the plate from the freezer to the fridge.

Because frying is a messy process, and Sandy ends up frying all afternoon and into the evening, we minimize the need for deep cleaning by covering the stove and adjacent counter with foil.  We also wrap cardboard in foil and lean it against the backsplash.

Tempura Batter

2½ c. flour

2 eggs

Water

Yellow food coloring (optional)

Ice cubes

Measure flour into medium bowl; set aside.  In small bowl, whisk eggs to break down.  Whisk eggs into flour as much as possible.  Gradually add water until batter is the consistency of pancake batter.  Stir in food coloring, if desired.  Just before using, drop in a few ice cubes.

Tempura

Oil for frying (we use canola)

Vegetables, cut/sliced to bite-sized pieces (mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, sweet potatoes or yams)

Shrimp, cleaned, shelled (tails left on), and deveined

Tempura batter

Panko bread crumbs

Heat oil in large skillet over medium to medium-high heat.  Test for proper temperature by dripping some of the batter in—batter should immediately start sizzling and bubbling.  Be sure vegetables and shrimp are dry.  Dip vegetables in batter and fry until golden brown; drain on paper bag, paper towels, or cooling rack.  Dip shrimp in batter then dredge in Panko.  Fry until golden brown and drain.  Serve with tempura dipping sauce.

Tempura Dipping Sauce

Memmi sauce

Water

Mix one part memmi sauce with four parts water.

Doris's Sweet Potato Casserole

Remember my Near-to-Nothing grandmother’s cousin Doris?  She’s the one who makes the cranberry-orange relish I shared before Thanksgiving.  Well, she also makes a very popular sweet potato casserole that would make be the perfect accompaniment to your Christmas meal.

Now, I’m not much of a sweet potato person.  The only way I really like them is as tempura (hopefully to be posted after New Year’s).  But Robbie loves this casserole.  And it’s so easy to make!  You can even assemble it ahead of time and bake it when you are ready.

To address the sweet potato/yam confusion, I’m going to direct you to my baby food post where I discussed it earlier this year.  And henceforth I will continue to call this dish “sweet potato casserole” regardless of the fact that I used “red garnet yams.”

Before baking

Canned sweet potatoes or yams (not candied) will do, though I always start with fresh ones.  The recipe calls for 3 cups of mashed sweet potatoes which is about 1¾ pounds.  Considering skin waste and water loss during cooking, you will want to start with about 2 pounds of fresh sweet potatoes or yams.  If you have a little more than 3 cups, just throw it all in—a little extra won’t affect it.

Baked Sweet Potatoes or Yams

Pierce each potato or yam with fork multiple times; place on foil-lined baking sheet.  Bake at 400° for 45-60 minutes or until soft.  Let cool until able to handle; peel off skin.  Place flesh in large bowl; mash with potato masher.  Can be frozen.

Doris’s Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potatoes

3 c. mashed sweet potatoes

1 c. sugar

2 eggs, beaten

½ c. evaporated milk

½ tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Topping

1 c. brown sugar

½ c. flour

¼ c. butter

1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 400°.  In large bowl, combine all sweet potato ingredients; stir until well-combined.  Spread into 9”x13” pan; set aside.

In medium bowl, combine brown sugar and flour for topping.  Cut in butter until crumbly; stir in nuts.

Spoon topping over sweet potatoes.  Bake 30-40 minutes, until top is golden brown.

It really does look a lot better than this.  The sun had gone
down and I was shooting under my awesome
fluorescent lights.