Misc. :: Leslie Durso

Archive for Misc.

“Meat”balls

By Leslie · Comments (4) · April 20th, 2013

Just cause they are called “meatballs” doesn’t mean I can’t make vegan ones right? These cocktail balls are perfect for your next soiree served with my avocado aioli or my chili-grape sauce. Or if you want to be super traditional, you can serve these with marinara and a big pile of spaghetti!

Leslie’s Meat(Less)Balls

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 15 oz. can of white beans, drained and rinsed

1 onion, minced

5 cloves of garlic, minced

8 oz. mushrooms, finely chopped

1/2 cup oats

1/2 cup cooked brown rice

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

2 tbsp. nutritional yeast (optional)

1 heaping tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. salt

1-2 tbsp. red wine

With a potato masher or your hands, smash the beans in a large bowl until most of the beans are smashed. Add in all of the other ingredients.

Mix well! Roll your meatballs into 1-1 1/2 inch size balls. Now you can either bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes flipping halfway through

You can cook these in a frying pan sprayed with just a little bit of cooking oil on medium high heat until browned all around.

Enjoy!!

ps you can roll these balls and refrigerate overnight or even freeze!

Comments (4)

Categories : Misc.

Baby It’s Cold Outside

By Leslie · Comments (0) · January 19th, 2013

Between the cold weather and the CDC’s confirmed Flu Epidemic sweeping the nation, I thought I’d direct you to my hot soup feature on Mother Nature Network … it may be a year-old, but I’d say it’s steamy with relevance! Just click the pic for all the recipes and stay well!

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Categories : featured, Misc., Soup, Vegan, wellness

World Water Day

By Leslie · Comments (0) · March 22nd, 2012

Some of you may have known it is World Water Day today and some of you may not have. As I sit here writing this I realize I unintentionally set a large glass of water next me… After reading about what’s happening in the world I feel so privileged to be able to have not only this glass of water, but a glass of water whenever I’d like one. Let me share a few shocking statistics with you.

-3.575 million people die each year from a water related disease.

-The human body contains from 55% to 78% water, depending on body size. To function properly, the body requires between one and seven liters of water per day to avoid dehydration.

-884 million people lack access to clean water.

-Today every 20 seconds a child dies from a water related illness.

-People living in the slums often pay 5-10 times more per liter of water than wealthy people living in the same city.

With the help of organizations like water.org and UNICEF hopefully these statistics will eventually be a thing of the past. I urge you to go to their websites and see what you can do to help in your own community and around the world.

*Photos were taken from water.org and statistics from water.org and wikipedia.

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Categories : eco style, featured, Misc.

From the Pantry to the Beach — Hail Merry Saves the Day

By Leslie · Comments (2) · March 2nd, 2012

For three days, Leslie Durso sought out vegan tasting food at SOBE Wine & Food, but all she found was some Mojito Mint, courtesy of VeeV, and the Hail Merry Snacks she packed for an emergency, which clearly this was!

Leslie Durso on Roof Deck of Cosmpolitan of Las Vegas Hospitality Suite at South Beach Wine & Food Festival

Comments (2)

Categories : featured, Misc., the pantry

Easy New Years Eve Cocktails

By Leslie · Comments (1) · December 30th, 2011

Happy early New Years! For today’s post, I’m going to direct you to Mother Nature Network’s site. It’s a site I started writing for and I just posted “6 cocktails for however you celebrate New Years”. Definitely spend some time on MNN.com. It’s a really cool website!

Cheers!

Comments (1)

Categories : Misc.

Rustic Tomato Sauce

By Leslie · Comments (2) · December 16th, 2011

There are a lot of Italians in this world and I’d say just about every single one makes their gravy (tomato sauce) a little differently. If you are looking for traditional check out my Tomato Sauce Recipe. If you want to try something is a slightly different texture, try this rustic version. It’s delish! It’s fabulous served over pasta, polenta, or quinoa, and is also fab on some toasts as a super easy appetizer.

Rustic Tomato Sauce

Serves 6

What you’ll need:

1 medium onion, halved and sliced

olive oil

1 28oz. can of whole san marzano tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

a pinch of sugar

a stem of fresh basil, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

What you’ll do:

In a large frying pan over medium heat, saute the onion in some olive oil and a pinch of salt until soft. Add in the can of tomatoes, stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes. Using a wooden spoon break up the tomatoes. Add the sugar and garlic and simmer another few minutes. Stir in the basil and serve over pasta, polenta, quinoa, etc.

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Comments (2)

Categories : gluten free, Misc., recipes, Vegan

A "Leftover" Tart

By Leslie · Comments (3) · November 25th, 2011

Ah, the age old question of what to do with Thanksgiving leftovers… Well, aside from the obvious reheating and eating as it, there are a few options. Mashed potatoes make fabulous gnocchi, I love stirring cranberry sauce into muffin mix and you can turn baked sweet potatoes into my sweet potato skins. This Thanksgiving I decided to turn three leftover items into a tart.

I had an extra sheet of puff pastry from an appetizer I made, leftover spinach and a little leftover corn. I sauteed the spinach, corn, some garbanzo beans and garlic in a frying pan. I then poured it all onto a puff pastry sheet, leaving room for the edges and toped it with a little cheese we also had leftover. Into a 400 degree oven it went for about 15 minutes and voila a fabulous little tart that tasted fab. So good I actually think I’ll intentionally make this again!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! What are you doing with your leftovers?

Comments (3)

Categories : Appetizers, Misc., recipes, Vegetables: Corn, Vegetables: Spinach

Happy Thanksgiving!

By Leslie · Comments (2) · November 24th, 2011

From my family to yours, I wish you all the happiest Thanksgiving! I feel like I have so much to be grateful for this year!

I can't wait to hear what you all made! Please share your pictures and recipes! I love hearing about them! You can share on the facebook page that you can find, by clicking that tab to the right

And if you have any questions about my recipes or others today, please feel free to email me. I'll keep my phone close by.

Enjoy your day!

Comments (2)

Categories : Misc.

Pass the Gravy…

By Leslie · Comments (5) · November 21st, 2011

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I spent the better part of this weekend trying to come up with a new gravy recipe. Don't get me wrong, I have dreams about my mushroom gravy that I always serve, but this year I thought I would try to come up with something new. I have to say… I got nothing… This mushroom gravy recipe is still by far my favorite! I hope you enjoy as well

Mushroom Gravy

Serves 4 – 6

What you'll need:

1 small to medium onion, halved and sliced

1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp. butter (or earth balance to make it vegan)

1 medium portobello mushroom, chopped

4 oz. wild mushrooms, sliced (these could be crimini, shitake, oyster or whatever you like)

2 tbsp. flour

1 tbsp. cornstarch

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp. soy sauce

salt to taste

What you'll do:

In a large frying pan, on medium low heat, melt the butter and add in the onions, portobello mushrooms and garlic. Add a pinch of salt. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add the wild mushrooms and saute for another couple minutes. Add the flour and mix until dissolved.

Add in the vegetable broth and cornstarch. Stir to dissolve all the cornstarch. Let cook for another couple minutes and add the soy sauce. Taste and season.

Enjoy with my buttermilk mashed potatoes

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Comments (5)

Categories : Misc., recipes, Vegan

Napa Film Fest Dinner Party

By Leslie · Comments (5) · November 16th, 2011

What a weekend. Oh right, that was 3 days ago. Guess it’s taken me a bit to recover from the sensorial experience known as Napa Valley Film Festival. We were there to promote the new indie film Answers To Nothing, starring Dane Cook with a cameo by yours truly. It’s out in theaters December 2nd, so be sure to see it!

As befits a festival set in the heart of California’s wine country, the focus was as much on the feasting and imbibing as it was on the films! And of course, Veggie Dreamgirl felt right at home. The people of Napa and the organizers of #NVFF couldn’t have been more welcoming! They put us up in this fabulous house (a special thanks to the Witt family for opening their gorgeous home to us) and entertained us all weekend. As soon as I walked into the house and saw the kitchen – it was craaazy gorgeous, modern, huge and rustic – I I knew I had to create. So we invited over the film’s writer/director, producers and actors and hosted a casual-luxe, Napa-inspired dinner party! Half the fun was hitting the local markets to source every local ingredient I could find.

K, now for the menu deets: 3 local cheeses served with locally grown globe grapes. Olives from a local farm. Pan roasted acorn squash with a raw kale salad served with a balsamic glaze and marcona almonds. And with a nod to my new bud Mario, a luxurious black truffle risotto. And because not everyone has hopped on the Veggie Dreamgirl train, guests also enjoyed filet mignon served atop a bed of garlic chard and dressed with a port wine reduction sauce. Dinner concluded with today’s feature recipe and a fitting tribute to Napa: Shiraz poached pears with a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Shiraz Poached Pears

Serves 6

What you’ll need:
6 Bosc pears
1 bottle of red wine (preferably shiraz or zinfandel)
1 heaping tbsp. of cinnamon
1/2 cup of sugar
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
vanilla bean ice cream (or vegan vanilla coconut ice cream) to serve with

What you’ll do:

Peel the pears leaving the stem attached. If the pears are not standing up straight, slice just a little off the bottom so they will stand up in your dish. In a large pot combine all the ingredients but the pears and stir until the sugar dissolves. Stand the pears up in the pot, cover and cook on medium for about 10 minutes. Turn all the pears on their sides so they are submerged in the wine. Cook another 5 minutes and then rotate the pears again. Cook for a final five minutes. Remove the pears carefully with tongs and place them on your plates. Cook the wine for another 7 minutes until it reduces. Add a scoop of ice cream to your plate with the pear and then drizzle a couple spoonfuls of the reduced wine sauce over the pear. Serve immediately.

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