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How to Seed a Pomegranate
Cooking Techniques

How to Seed a Pomegranate

by Rob

There are different ways to get the seeds out of a pomegranate, but this is the only way I’ve seen to preserve all the seeds without making too much of a mess. I would advise wearing a dark-colored apron when doing this to avoid possible spatter of the juices.

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 How to Seed a Pomegranate
0 Weight Watchers Points
Cuisine vegan, vegetarian
Keyword Absolute 0, WW0
Servings
Ingredients
Cuisine vegan, vegetarian
Keyword Absolute 0, WW0
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Using the blade of a sharp knife, cut about 1/4 inch deep into the skin of the pomegranate, careful not to cut through the seeds. Cut all the way around the perimeter of the pomegranate.
  2. Twist the halves of the pomegranate apart. If they don't separate, cut around the perimeter again - slightly deeper - until they do.
  3. Hold one half of the pomegranate over a bowl with the seeds facing down, and firmly tap the back of pomegranate with a meat mallet or something similar. The seeds will start to fall into the bowl. Rotate the pomegranate to get as many of the seeds as possible out as you do this.
  4. Remove the white membrane from inside the pomegranate half to loosen the remaining seeds. Also remove any membrane fragments that fall into the bowl. Repeat with the other half of the pomegranate.
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Portabella Mushroom Soup
Appetizers & SidesSoups, Stews, and Chowders

Portabella Mushroom Soup

by Rob

When some people want to thicken a soup, they add flour or cornstarch. Others might add milk or cream. I prefer to add more of the main ingredient: I use probably double the amount of mushrooms here compared to what you’ll see in a “normal” recipe. The sheer volume makes the soup thick without adding anything that’s bad for you. Best of all, it adds even more mushroom flavor.

I went heavy on the garlic in this recipe because I wanted to be able to taste it. This is still a very mushroom-forward dish, but the roasted garlic notes are unmistakable. Use half as much garlic if you want the garlic to be more subtle.


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Portabella Mushroom Soup

0 Weight Watchers points per 8 ounces.

Course Soup
Cuisine vegan, vegetarian
Keyword mushroom, WW0

Servings


Ingredients

Course Soup
Cuisine vegan, vegetarian
Keyword mushroom, WW0

Servings


Ingredients


Instructions
  1. Scrape the veins on the underside of the portabella mushroom caps off and set mushroom caps aside. If you're making your own stock, add the scrapings to the stock mixture.

    If you're using store-bought stock, add the scrapings to the stock and heat for 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve to remove the particles, and set stock aside.

  2. Heat a large pot to medium heat. Add butter and grated garlic. Stir to coat, and add thyme. Heat for about a minute, stirring constantly, until slightly browned.

  3. Chop portabella mushrooms and all but 3 ounces of white mushrooms into chunks. Reserve the remaining white mushrooms - uncut - until later.

  4. Add mushroom chunks to the pot. Stir thoroughly to coat.

  5. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cook for at least half an hour, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking and stirring until all the mushroom pieces are softened. This process extracts the moisture from the mushrooms and concentrates the flavor.

  6. Add stock to the pot and mix thoroughly. Cook for another half hour on medium heat.

  7. Pour soup into a blender, working in batches, and puree the soup. Return to the pot. Add salt and pepper, adjusting to taste.

  8. Cut remaining white mushrooms into thin slices. Ladle soup into bowl, and place a layer of mushroom slices on top of each bowl. Serve immediately.


Recipe Notes

Refer to How to Make a Stock to make your own stock for this recipe.

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Carrot Bacon
Appetizers & Sides

Carrot Bacon

by Rob

 

If someone ever offers me “vegan bacon”, I’ll try it, but probably dread the taste. But, this is something that intrigued me immediately. There’s no meat here: just carrots and seasoning. Obviously, this is fully vegan.

If you close your eyes and take a bite, you’d swear…well, you’d know you weren’t eating real bacon, but I have to say it’s delicious.

The only thing missing is the mouth feel: this doesn’t have a texture like bacon. I think there’s a sweet spot between under-cooking, which comes across like a baked carrot, and overcooking, which is crunchy like a cracker. The dark patches you see were the latter: while tasty, it doesn’t conjure up bacon. On the other hand, it’s still tasty, and much lower in calories than the real thing.

Recipes I’ve seen have the cook only last 15 minutes or so. This doesn’t yield the look or feel that I want, but maybe it’ll work for you.

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 Carrot Bacon
1 Weight Watchers point
Course Side Dish
Cuisine vegan
Keyword bacon, carrot, vegan, WW1
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Course Side Dish
Cuisine vegan
Keyword bacon, carrot, vegan, WW1
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 320° F (160° C).
  2. Wash carrot. Using a mandoline set at 1.5 mm, cut the carrot into strips. I used a cut-proof glove so I could get every bit out of the carrot.
  3. Combine garlic salt, paprika, and oil. Brush on both sides of the carrot strips and place each on a baking sheet.
  4. Bake for 15 minutes. Flip over each piece (just like bacon in a pan!). Cook for 10-15 more minutes, or until pieces curl up like bacon.
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Oven Dried Tomatoes
Appetizers & SidesCooking Techniques

Oven Dried Tomatoes

by Rob

Once I figured out how to make these myself, I stopped buying sun-dried tomatoes. At my local fruit and vegetable market, I can get a 10 ounce container of cherry tomatoes for less than a dollar. For a few pennies more, I can make something just as good as sun-dried tomatoes, for a fraction of the cost (and the calories!)

And, it’s not hard to do. As the ingredients list shows, please get creative with your seasoning. You can have perfectly good oven dried tomatoes with just salt, but consider adding Cajun seasoning, garlic powder, sumac…whatever you try, it will probably be great!

Print Recipe
 Oven Dried Tomatoes
0 Weight Watchers points
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian, vegan, vegetarian
Keyword tomato, WW0
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Servings
Ingredients
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian, vegan, vegetarian
Keyword tomato, WW0
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Servings
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 250° F.
  2. Cut tomatoes in half. A serrated knife – like a steak knife – works best.
  3. NOTE: overly ripe tomatoes get mushy, and make a mess when you try to dry them out. Discard any tomatoes with seeds that fall out when you cut them in half.
  4. Toss tomato halves in a bowl with olive oil. Alternately, if you have an empty butter spray bottle, put oil in there and spray the baking sheet.
  5. Dump the tomato halves onto a baking sheet, and flip all of them with the cut side facing up. If using a spray bottle, spray the tops of the tomatoes. Sprinkle salt and any other seasoning you like over the top of the tomatoes.
  6. Bake in oven for 3 hours. Check the tomatoes, and extract any that are shriveled up and dry. Continue cooking, checking every 10 minutes or so, until they are done to your satisfaction. Four hours total is typical.
  7. Scrape any remaining oil and seasoning from the baking sheet, and mix it into the container with the oven dried tomatoes.
  8. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator. The oven dried tomatoes will keep for at least 2 weeks.
Recipe Notes

You can also save yourself a lot of calories by not having the finished tomatoes swimming in oil: the amount of oil on the pan is sufficient.

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