Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Grill in Chill

Earlier this fall, be and i bought a Weber One-Touch Silver 18.5" charcoal grill - which sat on our floor for a month before being locked in our tiny shed for 2 more. Since we bought the grill after the summer season, we couldn't easily find a chimney starter and hardwood charcoal but be lucked out a few days ago and actually found a bag at the local supermarket!

A new grill + a bag of good charcoal + freakingly warm weather + some ingredients = a Grilling Sunday! The menu was comprised of: St. Yves Veggie Skewers, portobello mushrooms two ways (olive oil, basalmic vinegar and herbs; and tahini with soy and sesame), white eggplant slices with a honey & vinegar marinade, salad with oranges and grilled garlic bread. We love the skewers but they ended up being our least favorite item since the grilled vegetables were so excellent!

Without a chimney starter, be started the charcoal with a lot of newspaper and patience. Note you must use real charcoal and not briquettes and lighter fluid! Our glowing coals smelled so good - like a wood fireplace - instead of lighter fluid and toxic fumes.

I'm suspecting we'll be those neighborhood weirdos grilling in the middle of winter or the middle of the night.

PS: Oh yeah, i forgot the poor banana. be grilled one of the two overripe bananas we had sitting around. He claimed it was good but i thought bananas for grilling should be slightly underripe.

posted by beXn @ 12:43 AM 0 comments

Monday, December 11, 2006

Vegetarian Chicken Noodle Soup



I just love this soup! It's enough for many servings and reminds me of the canned stuff i used to eat as a kid.

2 quarts stock (I used 1 qt Imagine No-Chicken, and 1 qt Rapunzel vegan bouillon with herbs)
2-3 T olive oil
1 clove garlic
3-4 carrots
3-4 celery stalks
1 cup Quorn tenders (fake chicken, not breaded)
bay leaf
a few whole peppercorns
1/2 pack egg noodles (I used Manischewitz fine)
white pepper
salt
dill

1) Make the stock from the boullion cubes, if using.
2) Finely chop the garlic, peel and slice the carrots and dice the celery.
3) Heat the oil in a large soup pot, add the garlic, carrots and celery.
4) Meanwhile, defrost the Quorn tenders (I used the microwave) and chop into chunks.
5) Add the Quorn to the pot and stir everything around for a few minutes.
6) Add the 2 quarts of stock, bay leaf and peppercorns to the pot.
7) Bring to a boil and let simmer for 20 minutes.
8) Meanwhile, make the egg noodles according to the package (be sure to undercook the noodles!), drain and set aside.
9) Taste the soup and adjust salt and pepper, add the dill.
10) Add the egg noodles and serve!

posted by beXn @ 7:58 PM 6 comments