Quinoa Chili

It was pure luck that I came across the cookbook called Feeding the Whole Family when my first child was born over a decade ago. It was the first time I'd come across such exotic grains as millet, quinoa and amaranth, and included step by step directions on how to cook them. I may have called it 'keen-wa' for the first few years, but I definitely developed a love affair with this grain from the moment I tried it! And this chili is a family favourite - all of the kids will devour it, it's easy to spice up with hot sauce after the fact, and such a nourishing meal to bring to new moms or sick families:-) And now that the cold weather has arrived, I find we're enjoying it about once a week - with garlic bread, tea biscuits, tortilla chips or on a bed of steamed kale, we love our chili!

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Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

No, I won't torture you by not giving you the actual recipe - that would just be CRUEL!!!!

Red Bean and Quinoa Chili

1 cup dried kidney beans, soaked
1 tsp cumin
3 cups water

Drain soaking water off beans. Place beans in a large pot with cumin and water; bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat, covered, until tender (50-60 minutes) or pressure-cook using 2 cups of water (45 minutes) OR.....for those who don't have a lot of time (me me me), buy one can of organic kidney beans.

2 tsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tsp sea salt
1 large green pepper, chopped (I often use red or orange, and add carrots or cauliflower here)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp cayenne
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed in warm water and drained
1 cup fresh or frozen corn (Ry is allergic, so I use peas instead)
1-2 cups organic tomato sauce
1 cup water

Heat oil in skillet on medium heat. Add onion, salt, garlic, pepper, and spices; saute for 5-10 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and stir in. Add corn, tomato sauce, and water to onion/quinoa mixture. Simmer together 20 minutes. Add cooked beans to other ingredients; simmer another 10 minutes.

ENJOY!

Oven-roasted Broccoli

S'nice cafe in Park Slope had the most beautiful looking roasted broccoli the other day. I was inspired to make some. So easy. And infinitely better than plain old simple steamed broccoli (though I admit I like that too)!
The ultimate test will be when my parents visit and I try to feed this to my dad. Until then, it's unclear whether I'm just a vegetarian nut or whether broccoli can in fact be for everyone. I'll keep you posted....


Oven Roasted Broccoli


1 head of broccoli
4-5 tblsp. extra virgin olive oil
salt
pepper
4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced


Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the broccoli into relatively large pieces. In a bowl, use your hands to toss with the olive oil. Spread out on a sheet pan.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and with the sliced garlic.
Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Optional: Grate some fresh parmesan on top or sprinkle with nutritional yeast.


P.S. : If you have a super-thoughtful friend who brought you Himalayan rock salt with its own grater as a house-warming gift, then your broccoli will taste extra good and full of love!!

Hurricane Irene Moussaka

Hurricane Irene blew through New York over the weekend.

We had a leak in our ceiling and some leaves came down, but otherwise it was pretty uneventful for us. The subways were shut down, so it gave us an excuse to cuddle up at home and and do homely things. Like cook. And read George R.R. Martin. And watch TV.
Well, on Saturday night we got lazy and cooked a frozen pizza, sat on the couch and watched movies. On Sunday my three shiny, purple eggplants were looking at me reproachfully, so I made vegetarian moussaka.

It was more time consuming than I thought, but the outcome was deee-lish and we have several portions left to freeze or eat throughout the week. And now that we have a dishwasher, the mess wasn't so overwhelming either! :)

Moussaka

4-5 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4' slices

3 eggplants, cut into 1/3" slices

2 medium sized zucchini, cut into 1/3" slices

3 red bell pepper, deseeded and cut into bite sized pieces

2 tblsp. olive oil

1 medium sized yellow onion

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tblsp. fresh thyme

1 oz. dried mushrooms of your choice, soaked in red wine

1/4 cup raisins

1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 tblsp. tomato paste

salt and fresh pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Lightly oil 2 half sheet pans or one large sheet pan and arrange the potatoes, eggplants, zucchini and peppers in a single layer. Lightly drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for about 30 mins. or until tender (the potatoes might take longer than the rest of the veggies). Remove from oven and set aside.

Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Drain the mushrooms and chop into bite sized pieces, if necessary.

Heat 1 tblsp. of olive oil in a pot and add onion, garlic, thyme, mushrooms and raisins. When onions become translucent, add the chopped tomatoes and tomato paste. Simmer for at least 15 minutes to thicken the sauce.

Lightly grease a casserole dish. Pour the mushroom sauce into the base of the dish. Arrange the vegetable in overlapping layers.

Glaze

1 garlic clove, crushed

2 1/2 cups tomato sauce from a jar

1 1/2 cups silken tofu

1/2 cup soy milk

salt and pepper 

1 egg (optional)

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and pour evenly over the vegetables. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the top starts to brown slightly. Let cool a few minutes before serving.

Penne with Vegetable Arrabiata Dressing and Spinach Gnudi

It was an all-out Paul Gayler inspired dinner the other night, sticking with the Mediterranean theme, with penne, heirloom tomatoes, olives and spinach. I made two versions of the gnudi (basically ravioli filling, without the pasta around it), one with parmesan, and one with tofu for the vegans and the lactose intolerant.  The tofu ones actually turned out to be more popular!

Vegan Spinach Gnudi


10 oz. frozen. chopped spinach
1 package extra-firm tofu, drained
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
4 tblsp. chickpea flour
4 tblsp. chickpea flour, mixed with 4 tblsp. water
salt and pepper to tast
1 clove fresh garlic, chopped
nutmeg
1 tblsp. chopped parsley


Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until just combined. With more chickpea flour on your hands, roll the mixture into small-ish balls. At this point they can be refrigerated if you don't want to use them till later.
Bring a pot of salt water to boil. Cook the gnudi for 5 minutes. Do not cook too many at a time or they will fall apart or stick to each other. Use a slotted spoon to remove from water. Serve on top of the penne below.


Alternative Non-Vegan Spinach Gnudi


1/2 lb fresh spinach
3/4 cup ricotta, drained
1 egg
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tblsp. parmesan, grated
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste


In a pan, wilt the spinach with a little water. Transfer to a colander and drain out excess water. In a food processor, blend to a puree. Transfer to a bowl.
Add ricotta, egg, flour, parmesan and seasoning and stir. If it seems too dry, add a little cold water.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. 
Form small balls. Bring a pot of salt water to a boil. Cook gnudi until they rise to the surface. Remove with a slotted spoon.


Vegetable Arrabiata Dressing for Pasta


1/2 cup olive oil
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 small dried red chilies, finely chopped
1 large zucchini, finely diced
6 tomatoes, blanched, peeled, deseeded and chopped
2 tblsp. pitted chopped black olives
juice of 1/2 lemon
3 tblsp. chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste


Heat the olive oil in a pan. Add shallots, chilies and garlic and cook for a minute or so. Add the zucchini and cook another 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and olives and cook another 3-4 minutes. Add lemon juice, cilantro and salt and pepper. Add to cooked pasta. 

Summer Vegetables with Avocado Cheese

This recipe comes from Paul Gayler's book "Pure Vegetarian,"with minor alterations. My mother gave me the book a couple of years ago but in my old kitchen these recipes always seemed too daunting because I had no prep space. Now that we have a little more room, they're suddenly completely feasible as dinner options.
That is, when people actually show up to eat. We invited 3 people to dinner. One person came on time, one came 1 1/2 late and the third never showed up at all. What is it about New Yorkers, I ask you?
I do love my friends though, and we did have a good time anyway!
I served this appetizer at room temperature. It's a little tart, with a hint of sweetness from the basil, balanced by the creaminess of the avocado cheese. Gayler calls it "vegetables a la greque", and it definitely has a mediterranean flavor that goes really well with a crisp glass of white wine.

Avocado Cheese


1/2 avocado
1/4 lb feta cheese
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and fresh black pepper


Blend the avocado and feta in the food processor. Add the lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.




Herb Scented Vegetables


4 tblsp. white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, crushed
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. coriander seeds, crushed
sprig of fresh thyme
8 tblsp. olive oil
8 or so baby zucchini, halved lengthwise
one bunch green asparagus, trimmed and cut into pieces
4 tsp. fresh, flat-leaf parsley
2 tblsp. fresh basil leaves
3 tblsp. fresh celery leaves (I left these out and it was still delicious)
salt and fresh black pepper


In a pan, heat 3/4 cup water with the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, coriander and thyme. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15 minutes. Add half the oil. Add asparagus and zucchini. Cook until just tender, but retaining some crunch. Remove veggies from cooking liquid and set aside.
In a food processor, blend the celery, basil and parsley with enough cooking liquid to form a light puree. Add the remaining olive oil, blend again and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Arrange the veggies on plates. Pour over a little of the sauce. Top with avocado cheese and garnish with thyme leaves from the cooking liquid.

Vegetable Coconut Curry

The local organic market had little bags of fresh curry leaves. I only used a small handful, so I can make curry for at least another 50 people with the leaves I have left! Apparently they don't keep for very long when fresh, so maybe I will make an attempt to dry them.

This would have been good with any combination of vegetables and greens! I used seitan, because I had some left over, but you could add tempeh, tofu, or no protein at all.

Serve with wild rice, noodles or potatoes! And it's a one pot meal, perfect for a week night when you don't want to do many dishes.

Vegetable Coconut Curry

1 yellow onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tblsp. fresh grated ginger

2 tblsp. ghee

1 tblsp. olive oil

a small handful of fresh curry leaves

1 tsp. turmeric

cayenne and/or hot sauce to taste

1 can coconut milk

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 tsp fennel

1/2 tsp cumin

salt

black pepper

4-5 cups chopped mixed veggies (I used asparagus, a red bell pepper, carrots and dandelion greens)

1-2 cups seitan (or tofu or tempeh)

Heat the ghee and olive oil in a pan. When hot, add the curry leaves and fry for a few seconds. Add onions, garlic and ginger and stir over medium heat until the onions are translucent. Add coconut milk and vegetable broth. Add spices, salt and pepper to taste.

When the sauce is hot, add the veggies that will take the longest to cook (carrots and peppers in my case). Stir occasionally and add other veggies and protein. Mix in the greens at the end, so that they just wilt, without overcooking.