Recommendations for Recipes Sought

[gnomi]

So, for Shabbat dinner, we're hosting a bunch of folks, and I've started doing the cooking because there are a lot of things to be made from scratch. However, I think I may have slightly overbought a couple of ingredients that won't last forever (in other words, produce). The things I know I have that are extra are celery (can't just buy the three or four stalks I need for the recipes, alas) and green pepper (I didn't know until I'd chopped all of it that I probably have about 1/2 c. too much).

I also have extra can (14.5 oz) of diced tomatoes and a bunch of other random ingredients in my pantry.

So, I turn to you lovely folks. Can anyone suggest a recipe that incorporates the above ingredients (not necessarily the diced tomatoes, but for sure the perishables) and that isn't overly time consuming to make?

Thanks in advance.

Comments

[crwilley.livejournal.com]

Celery, green pepper, and tomatoes says to me "Cajun." I think you could make jambalaya with only chicken, or chicken and a beef sausage - it's one of those foods that was originally intended to just use up whatever meat or seafood was on hand.

You could also make Alton Brown's lentil soup - add the peppers in with the onions, celery, and carrots.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Jambalaya, alas, won't work with this meal, as I'm doing dairy, but it's definitely a thought for a later meal.

And Alton Brown's lentil soup looks *yummy*. Thanks for the recommendation!

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

http://www.pinkwater.com/pzone/diet.html

This is the Daniel Pinkwater Ratatouille recipe. It is not in my recipe file, but this is one of my basic standards when I have had vegetarian guests or a dairy meal.

[somehedgehog.livejournal.com]

Do you have lentils? If so, saute up that celery and pepper with some onion, throw in water, lentils, and the can of tomatoes and your favorite spices. I'm partial to cumin, lots of it, black pepper, salt, chili flakes, and lemon juice.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, that sounds yummy (and I do have lentils). Am I aiming for a soup consistency or am I doing this in a large pan and serving it as a side dish?

[somehedgehog.livejournal.com]

I was thinking a soup consistency, but only because that's where I have lentil experience.

[somehedgehog.livejournal.com]

Speaking of which, have you heard of my new band, The Lentil Experience?

[beadattitude.livejournal.com]

Salsa? Soup?

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was thinking about soup, but I couldn't figure out what soup.

It's good soup weather.

::nods decisively::

[dpolicar]

Sure sounds like soup to me. Heck, just make some vegetable broth and freeze it.

[malkaesther.livejournal.com]

That is what I was thinking.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Great minds think alike. :-)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, I could do that (though that would likely be a Sunday project rather than a pre-Shabbat project due to lack of sufficient large pots). Thanks for the suggestion!

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

http://be-well.ilk.org/~knorwood/recipes/cookbook.html

Link to my on-line recipe file. I think that you have the beginnings of either the salsa (add cilantro, vinegar, and hot sauce) or the gazpacho. Gazpacho needs cucumber. The tricky part is the celery. Cut into sticks and serve with the salsa or dice VERY fine and add it to either recipe. Celery does not preserve well. I only buy it for crudite platters or for chicken soup.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Oh, cool! Thanks for the link!

[pale-chartreuse.livejournal.com]

Check out the Browned Eggs recipe sometime. It is a Sephardic dish that I make every Passover. Actually, most of my Passover/Thanksgiving/Potluck recipes are in this file.

[aunt-becca.livejournal.com]

I agree! It's soup weather in Boston. And if you have leftovers, I can take them off of your hands for you. Because that's the type of friend I am. Unselfish. I will eat your leftovers and take a nap on your couch :)

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

I love how magnanimous you are, willing to take any and all leftovers off our hands. :-)

[aunt-becca.livejournal.com]

what can I say? Selfless and not the least bit selfish.

[gilana]

Delicious Gumbo! It works fine as just vegetarian, or with fish.

2/3 cup flour
2/3 cup oil
2/3 cup minced onion
2/3 cup minced celery
2/3 cup minced bell pepper
2/3 cup minced scallions
1 package frozen chopped okra or fresh okra
1 can stewed tomatoes (optional)
5 cups broth or stock
10 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp. salt
4 bay leaves
thyme
cayenne
ground red pepper
fish, chicken, beef and/or sausage (optional)
tabasco
file' powder
cooked white rice

First, chop the veggies.

Then, make the roux:
In a glass container (we use a glass loaf pan) microwave the oil and flour for 6 minutes, stir, and cook another 30-60 seconds if necessary until the roux is a mahogany brown. It will smell like burned popcorn.
Stir in the "holy trinity" of cajun cooking, minced bell pepper, celery and onion with some garlic.
Mix it well into the roux and microwave on high for 5 minutes.
If there is oil on top, pour it off. Add 2/3 cup hot water and stir until smooth.

Alternately, we have found that by using less flour and oil (only 1/2 cup of each), there was nothing to pour off. Also the addition of the hot water seem unnecessary in this case.

Next, the soup:

Heat the five cups of stock (we often use a vegetable stock or faux chicken broth so that we can serve this dish to our vegetarian friends) -- include in this five cups any juice run off from the canned tomatoes or other ingredients. Stir in the roux, tomatoes, okra and remaining garlic. Then add the bay leaves, thyme, cayenne and red pepper. You will have to find the right blend of seasoning for your taste.

If you are adding fish, cook the gumbo for 45 minutes, then add the fish and cook for 15 more minutes. With chicken or beef, add the meat right away and cook for one hour. With sausage, you're on your own. If the stock was salty enough, you may omit it, otherwise, add it now.

As with many soups, this one can be served right away, but is much better if allowed to sit refrigerated over night. When you are ready,
first fish out the whole bay leaves. put a handful of cooked rice in each bowl, and then sprinkle with some file' and chopped scallions.

For leftovers, throw all the rice in the pot and save the whole lot.

[crwilley.livejournal.com]

The idea of making a roux in a microwave seems to go utterly against the order of the universe, and yet I can see how and why it works. Am I right to say there's little to no risk of actually burning it? Can you make a lighter roux by microwaving for less time?

[gilana]

Yeah, I know it seems wrong, but it is a heck of a lot easier! It is possible to burn it -- I tend to stir it every 30 seconds after the first 6 minutes. Never tried to make a lighter roux; it doesn't seem to get the right smell before it starts getting dark.

[thesilia.livejournal.com]

i agree with you, in principle. i'm a roux purist, but i adore making it in the microwave. it's just so darn much faster. i draw the line at using roux from a jar. :) often, however, after microwaving the roux to near-doneness, i'll transfer it to a pan and finish it in the traditional way so that i can add my trinity. once the onions are translucent, i brown any sausage or uncooked meat/poultry that's going into the gumbo. if you don't use smoked sausage, you really want to add some smoked paprika to the soup to give it that rich flavor.

i agree with gilana that you can burn it, and you can also do it lighter by cooking for less time. for example, if you wanted a blonde roux to put in a bechamel sauce or something like that, you'd just shorted the initial cook time to 3 or 4 minutes.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Sounds yummy! Not going to have time (most likely) to make it for this Shabbat, but definitely a recipe to keep in mind. Thanks!

[42itous.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you asked this question, because I was just wondering the same thing (i.e. what am I going to do with all the celery and the green pepper from the organics box?)... I also have too much broccoli and some nice potatoes.. maybe soup is in order.

[tapuz.livejournal.com]

Heh. I actually *do* just buy the few stalks!

Anyway...

celery -- load it with peanut butter and call it a snack
pepper -- 1/2c isn't really that much. I'm assuming that you can't just add it to what you are making. Since it's already chopped, spice it up with cumin, chili powder and garlic and melt it with cheese in a tortilla, or on rice. If you had more time, then saute it with onion and the above.

(I wrote that and then checked the responses -- are you looking for stuff to use them with to use them, or stuff to use them with to serve for the specific dinner?)

[(Anonymous)]

Sofrito.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Explain, please?

[(Anonymous)]

Finely chop the celery, green pepper, and tomatoes with onion and garlic.
Add cilantro and cubanelle pepper; or lemon and cumin; or oregano, parsley, basil, and rosemary; or cayenne, paprika, and black pepper.
Add salt as needed.
Saute in olive oil.
Cook rice with it, start soup with it, top potatoes with it, prepare eggs with it, etc.

What is the rest of your planned menu?

[rivkaesque.livejournal.com]

Well, how about pureeing them all together with some spices, maybe some garlic and leek, S&P, and serving hot as a hearty soup course topped with pareve sour cream? (I know tofutti does one...) I did something similar with veggie leftovers for a succos meal, and got great compliments.

[lisatheriveter.livejournal.com]

Green peppers and celery both freeze well. I commonly keep bags of each chopped in the freezer to add to things like stir frys and soups.

[(Anonymous)]

Braised celery in butter might make a nice milchig vegetable dish.

The green pepper could be further minced if currenly only roughly chopped and sprinkled as a garnish on something or saved in the freezer for the next time you make scrambled eggs.

Also, check out this soup recipe: http://www.theculinaryreview.com/food/ItemID=11931739933013

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

All of those sound yummy. And thanks for the link!