Kale and Mushroom Stroganoff

Again, AJ asked that I show him how to make this. And I am so thankful! It's been so miserably cold here and I am so tired that some real comfort food, like my mom used to make, is really what the kind doctor ordered. 

***This recipe IS gluten free and can be made vegetarian**

::if you use vegetable stock or mushroom instead of beef stock

and it can be made vegan** 

::if you also replace the butter for vegan margarine or olive oil, sour cream with vegan "sour cream" or plain yogurt and replace the grated parmesan with nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan.

What you will need:

16 ounces of rice flour rotini (curled) or egg noodles 

4 tablespoons of butter

3-5 medium Baby-Bello or Cremini mushrooms, washed and sliced into thin quarters

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 bunch of kale, I used Red Russian because its so pretty and this is a Russian dish!

3 green onions, chopped thin, with the greens separated from the white part (you will use both but at different times)

1 heaping tablespoon of rice flour

16 fluid ounces of beef, mushroom or vegetable stock

1/3 of a cup of grated parmesan cheese

8 ounces of sour cream (or your choice replacement)

Black pepper

Salt 

With one tablespoon of butter, saute the garlic and the kale until the kale is soft and then set aside over very low heat.

In a shallow sauce pan (or deep saute pan, or a cast iron!!) melt the other three tablespoons of butter over medium low heat, then add the sliced mushrooms and let them slowly turn brown.

Stir your kale occasionally. Also, start a pot of water to boil your rice pasta.

Once the mushrooms turn golden brown, add the light/white end of the chopped green onion and let them cook over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes.

Add one tablespoon of rice flour. Stir until it disappears-- it will stick to the mushrooms and bottom of the pan, about 2 minutes. Then deglaze the pan, adding the 16 ounces of broth and turning the heat to medium. Take your wooden spoon and brush the bottom of the pan so as to remove any stuck flour as the broth begins to simmer.

Let the broth/mushroom mixture cook for about 12 minutes, simmering on medium heat, stirring occasionally. It will thicken as it cooks.

At this point, have your water should be boiling for your pasta to cook, add it and cook for 10 minutes (as package indicates, until al dente) because you area about 10-12 minutes out from everything being ready.

Prep the materials for the rest of your sauce. If you haven't already, chop the "green onion greens"

Grate the parmesan cheese

As your sauce thickens it will begin to look like this:

Small simmering bubbles are good, but if it starts popping, blowing big bubbles or sticking you have it on too high.

Have your finishing ingredients handy, as everything is nearly ready:

Check your pasta, and drain it once it is perfectly cooked. Lightly oil it so that it doesn't stick and cover with a lid to keep it warm until you are ready to serve.

Add the sour cream, green onions, parmesan cheese and black pepper to your mushroom/broth mixture and stir over medium heat for 2 minutes, to meld everything together and heat the sauce.

Serve immediately:

This was seriously the most delicious thing I have had in a while :)

xoxooxo

Creamy Bechamel Sauce Pasta and Veggies

This sauce is actually very easy to prepare as a vegan sauce, but in this case I added cheese to it because I wanted it to be a little more decadent. If you want to make it vegan you can leave out the cheese entirely or add nutritional yeast to emulate the flavor and texture.
I love this sauce because I love alfredo, but it is often too heavy for me. This is a nice, light alternative.


What you will need:

3 tablespoons of butter, margarine or oil
1/3 of a medium yellow onion, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tablespoon of basil
2 cups cups of unsweetened almond milk (or whatever kind of milk you use)
1/4-1/3 of a cup of rice flour
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
**Optional:
Cayenne
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup grated asiago
(or 1/2 cup nutritional yeast if our preference is vegan)

Serve with:
1 lb gluten free pasta
Various vegetables, chopped (today I used zucchini, spinach, onions, tomatoes)

Optional Garnishes:
Chopped basil
Grated parmesan
Truffle oil

Start by melting your butter in a shallow sauce pan on medium.

Saute your onions for a few moments in the melted butter then add garlic. And basil. Allow ingredients to cook and brown.

Once your base has browned, add 1 and 1/2 almond milk and whisk (you will want to use a whisk from this point on)

In a separate bowl, mix the rice flour with the remainder of the almond milk, about 1/2 cup with the whisk. By whisking the flour separately in a bowl with cool milk, you are less likely to get lumps. Once the flour-milk mixture is smooth, add it into the milk mixture on the stove, whisking constantly. It will thicken as it heats up.

Continually whisking allow the sauce to thicken over medium to medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes. Then turn to medium low and add your grated cheese (or nutritional yeast or omit if this is a vegan recipe) and continue to whisk while simmering for about 3-5 minutes.You'll now have a thicker, smoother sauce forming.

Taste your sauce at this point, if you want it to be saltier add a pinch of salt or more cheese (though this will make it thicker) I like mine with a bite, so I had black pepper and paprika, sometimes a pinch of cayenne. Let it remain covered on low heat, stirring or whisking periodically until you are ready to serve.

For the rest of the recipe, boil water for pasta and cook as per the directions.

Saute or roast your vegetables, depending on how much time you have and what types of vegetables you use. Peas, broccoli, greens, carrots, tomatoes, summer squash etc. all make great vegetables to compliment this dish.

In this case, I used onions, zucchini, spinach and tomatoes.

Saute the onions until translucent, then add the chopped zucchini.

Once the zucchini becomes soft, add the spinach and tomatoes, allowing the spinach to wilt over low heat and the tomatoes to release their juices.

When your pasta is through cooking toss the veggies, pasta and sauce altogether in a pan.

Serve immediately, garnish with fresh grated cheese, freshly chopped basil and a sprinkle of truffle oil. MMMMMmm!