Things green and spicy

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Today, better success with the roasted brussels sprouts! I steamed them for over 10 minutes--until they were effectively completely cooked. Only then did I toss them in olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast (this time in the toaster oven!), uncovered, until they got noticeably crispy/chewy on the outside (under 10 min). Yum!

Broiled Tempeh over Short Grain Brown Rice
with Green Tomato Chutney and Avocado

Thanks to a CSA box, I was also saddled with some green tomatoes. I don't even like ripe tomatoes. What, I lamented, can I possibly do with these besides bread and fry them? Yet I was browsing through Vegan Fire and Spice (definitely not as good as Vegan Planet) and found a chutney recipe that actually called for green tomatoes in abundance. Fortuitous! I cut back on sugar and vinegar, and upped the heat and the ginger. It's delicious--hard to place, somewhere between apple pie and salsa (and more than a little bit like fried apples and onions)... I've put it on flatbread (recipe below) and tempeh. The tempeh-rice-avocado-chutney combination was, I'll admit, a bit geographically incoherent (and created on the basis of what was in my fridge, what would be balanced, etc), but I like to think that maybe you could eat it in Jakarta or somewhere. In any event, it tasted pretty good. For broiled tempeh: cut smallish pieces of tempeh in half so that they are only 1/4-in thick. Oil lightly and broil (I use the toaster oven for small things like this) until golden brown, turning once.

Green Chutney
(adapted from Vegan Fire and Spice)

Ingredients
2 green tomatoes
1 pear
1/3 c brown sugar
1/4 c apple cider vinegar
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 green jalapeno
1-2 TB fresh ginger, grated
1 TB lemon zest
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt

Instructions
Cook in a saucepan over low heat for up to one hour.

Green Chutney on Whole-Wheat Cumin Flatbread

This flat bread was delicious! Mostly because it had a lot of oil in it, but also because of cumin seeds and the texture of whole wheat flour. It's an adaptation of my grandma Nellie's pie crust recipe.

Whole-Wheat Cumin Flatbread

Ingredients
1/2 c white flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt
3 TB cumin seeds
2-3 TB oil
water as needed

Instructions

Mix together flour, salt, and cumin seeds. "Cut in" oil (it's not quite enough to be distributed evenly). Slowly add water until you have a dry dough. Form the dough into tennis-ball-sized balls and roll them out between two sheets of waxed paper, or (better) on a floured surface. Cook the flatbreads in a lightly-oiled cast iron skillet over medium-low heat until golden brown (each side). Makes about 4 flatbreads.