Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad with a Sweet Chili Dressing

It looks as though the heatwave here has finally passed.  Last weekend it was over 100 in my part of town, when it's barely topped 85 all summer.   The desire to cook and to eat both take a hit when it's so hot, but this salad from taste space looked so interesting, refreshing, delicious, and just pretty, I knew I had to try it.  But my neighborhood supermarket, although it has phenomenal produce, bulk goods, and strange imported pickled things, is not the best place to buy tofu.  Nor have they had asparagus for months.  By substituting chickpeas for tofu (inspired by yet another asparagus-fruit recipe), green beans for asparagus, and regular noodles for spiralized zucchini, we were able to make this awesome salad without making a more involved grocery run.

I chose to make this noodle salad and a chilled carrot soup because they were cold and refreshing.  I didn't think about how much heat I'd have to use to create said refreshingness!  Although in the original version Janet grilled the veggies outside, I don't have that option, and roasting in the oven really heated up my apartment.

The finished product, though, was delicious: chewy, salty eggplant and green beans; buttery tangy mango; crisp onions; aromatic basil and cilantro; and zingy vinegar and chili.  The overall product was ever so slightly too vinegary for my tastes, but I also didn't use quite enough noodles.  Anyway, I will definitely make a salad like this again--it would be easy to improvise some fun variations.

Grilled Eggplant and Mango Noodle Salad with a Sweet Chili Dressing

(adapted from taste space)

Instructions

1/6-1/4 c rice vinegar

1 TB agave or honey (omitted, partly because I had pre-seasoned rice vinegar)

1/4 tsp salt (omitted, partly because I had pre-seasoned rice vinegar)

1 clove garlic, pressed or minced

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

zest and juice from 1 lime

1 1/2 c chickpeas

1 TB soy sauce

1 TB toasted sesame oil

3/4 lb Asian eggplant (around 2), sliced lengthwise into 1.5-cm strips

3/4 lb green beans, trimmed

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced or diced, soaked in water for at least 10 minutes, then drained

1 large or 2 small mangoes, cubed

large bunch basil, chopped

small bunch cilantro, chopped

8 oz soba noodles, cooked

Instructions

1. Combine the rice vinegar, agave, salt, garlic, chili flakes, toasted sesame oil, lime zest and juice. Stir and set aside.
2. Marinate your chickpeas with the soy sauce and toasted sesame oil for 5 minutes or so.
3. If you had big eggplants, definitely salt your eggplant for 30 minutes or so. The smaller Asian ones don’t need it. If salting, after salting, rinse off the salt and drain off excess water. Drizzle with a bit of oil and spread out on an oiled baking sheet.  Toss the green beans with a bit of oil, salt and pepper and spread them out on a second baking sheet.
4. Roast both the eggplant and the green beans in the oven at 375.  For me the eggplant took longer: about 30 minutes, flipping midway, and broiling at the very end.  Remove the eggplant when soft and slightly golden; remove the beans when bright green and starting to blister.  Chop the eggplant into chunks when slightly cooled.
5. To assemble the salad, toss together the noodles, chickpeas, grilled eggplant and green beans, onion, mango, basil, cilantro and the dressing.  Serves 4-6.

Moong Dal Parathas

It's bread and dal all in one.

You make them separately and then you bind up the beans in a little dough pouch.

And then you roll it out (messy!) and cook it.  This is a good way to round out a vegetable dish, like my favorite baingan bharta, which doesn't have much protein on its own.

Moong Dal Paratha

(from 365 days of pure vegetarian)

Ingredients

1/2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

1/2 c mung beans, rinsed (and soaked?)

1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

juice of 1/2 lime or lemon, to taste

salt to taste

a few sprigs of fresh cilantro chopped

1 c whole wheat flour

oil for cooking

Instructions

1. In a non-stick pan, add 1/2 tsp oil, add cumin seeds and onion. Then add the moong bean, sauté, add some water, cover with a lid and let it cook until soft. Keep an eye if the water drains to prevent burning of moong bean. Once cooked and water has evaporated, add the chili powder, coriander powder, lime juice, turmeric powder, salt, mix well and turn off the heat; let it cool. Then add cilantro.
2. Mix 1/4-1/2 tsp salt with flour and slowly add some water to it until it forms a dough to be able to roll. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let is sit aside for at least 20 mins. Take a small piece of dough and place it between your palms, make a round ball. With a rolling pin, roll the dough, sprinkle some wheat flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Roll to about 5 inches in diameter. Place a spoonful of moong bean in the center of the dough, pull the edges of the dough and cover the stuffing. Roll the dough further into a thin round shape about 10 inches in diameter.
3. Heat a pan, place the rolled paratha. After about 1 minute on medium flame, flip it. After about 2 mins, drizzle 1/2 tsp oil on top of the paratha then flip it again. Press it with a spatula all over to form a golden brown color. Flip it to cook on the other side and get golden brown. Take it off from heat and serve hot.  Makes about 16 parathas.

Channa Masala (again!)

This version of chan(n)a masala comes from Renae at ieatfood.  I tried it because it's rather different than either of the versions I make: this one I've posted, or the longer version in The Asian Vegan Kitchen from which it's adapted.  This recipe, unlike the others, uses mustard seed, fenugreek seed, and amchoor, all of which give it a more pungent flavor profile.  While I think I prefer the spicy and toasty flavors of the other versions, it's fun to see how changing a few spices makes such a huge difference.

In making Renae's recipe, I used all canned tomatoes instead of a mixture of tomatoes and tomato paste and fresh ginger instead of dried.  I omitted paprika and asafoetida, and I switched around the order of some of the ingredients.

Channa Masala

(from i eat food)

Ingredients

3/4 tsp mustard seeds

*

1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 small onion, chopped

*

4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1 TB chopped fresh ginger

*

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp (or to taste) cayenne pepper

2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

1 TB amchoor (dried mango powder; can substitute lemon juice, which you would add at the end of the cooking time)

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp (or to taste) salt

*

4 c cooked chickpeas

*

1/2 c frozen peas, optional (I like to have at least a bit of green in everything I make)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.  Add mustard seeds and cover until they begin to splutter.  Don't let them burn!
2. Add fenugreek, cumin, and onion, and saute 5-10 minutes, until onion is slightly browned.
3. Add garlic and ginger and cook several minutes longer.
4. Add remaining ingredients except chickpeas and, um, pea peas.  Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or so. 
5. Add chickpeas and simmer 30 minutes or so, adding water if the sauce gets too dry.
6. Add peas just before serving.  Serves about 8.

11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates

When Janet described this as "The Best Lentil Salad, Ever. For Sure. Make. This. Now.", I sort of had to take her seriously.  And the lineup of flavors sounded really cool: 

This recipe not only uses a combo of cumin/coriander/turmeric with cardamom/cinnamon/cloves/nutmeg; it does a similar curve ball with the pairing of dried fruit (I used dates) and capers/vinegar.  It's basically a party in your mouth.

I didn't change much, but I did use plain ol' brown lentils instead of du Puy--they don't retain their form quite as well as those fancy French ones, but as long as you are careful to watch for overcooking, they worked just fine.  I also skipped the Aleppo pepper and used cayenne.

11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Dates

from taste space)

Ingredients

2.25 c (1 lb) French du Puy or brown lentils

1 medium red onion, finely diced and soaked in water for at least 5 minutes

1 c dried currants (or other dried fruit--I used chopped dates)

1/3 c capers, chopped if large

1/3 c extra virgin olive oil

1/4 c apple cider vinegar

1 TB maple syrup

1 TB strong mustard

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp cayenne (or less)

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions

1. Rinse lentils well and drain. Place in a pot and cover with a 3-4 inches of water, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Check lentils for doneness after 15 minutes, but they should take about 20-25 minutes in total. You will know they are cooked if they still retain a slight tooth – al dente! Overcooking the lentils is the death of this dish. Be careful!
2. While the lentils are simmering, make the dressing by placing all ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously to combine.
3. Finely dice red onion – the salad is best if all the ingredients are about the same size. If using raisins, chop them roughly to make them a bit smaller, and do the same with the capers if they are large.
4. When the lentils are cooked, remove from heat, drain and place under cold running water to stop the cooking process. Once cooled slightly but still a little warm, place lentils in a large serving bowl and toss with dressing. Add drained onion, capers, and currants. Chill until serving, marinading at least overnight for the flavours to meld.
Serves 8.

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Dukkah

You know how when you get a new computer, even if it's nicer, it just feels awkward and wrong?  The operating system, the keyboard, everything.

["You use a PC?  But you're a vegan!" -- one of my professors...]

Anyway, that's how I'm feeling about my new laptop and the photo editing software on it, and also about the digital camera I got earlier this year.  Growing pains.  #firstworldproblems.

And I think about how someone who didn't use her computer as often as I did probably wouldn't have such of an adjustment to make.  Similarly, the more comfortable you are in your own kitchen, the more that cooking in someone else's kitchen feels so hard--even if they DO have cool new ingredients and gadgets and counter space. 

Anyway, this dish and the tofu caprese salad came out of me bringing whatever in my fridge was going to go bad to a housesitting gig, plus what they had sitting around.  I also made some collards with harissa (YUM--sort of like this kale recipe) for the same reasons.

Despite my awareness of this tendency, I continue to overlook cauliflower.  But when I saw this recipe on taste space, I got excited about finally using up my dukkah, as well as the cauliflower that was left over from making rasa kayi.

 

Janet's dukkah recipe includes coconut, and I really wanted to include that, but I didn't have any on hand.  I also added the dukkah at the beginning rather than the end, with no adverse results.  Finally, at the end the dish really needed a squirt of lemon juice and a drizzle of olive oil to keep it from being a lil mealy.  When all was said and done, it was really lovely--starchy/hearty but interesting in terms of taste and texture.

Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas with Dukkah

(from taste space)

Ingredients

2 lb cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces (1 large head)

2 c cooked chickpeas (or a 19-oz can of chickpeas, rinsed well and drained)

2 TB extra virgin olive oil

1/2-1 tsp sea salt, or to taste

4 TB dukkah, or the following:
(since the dukkah recipe I use doesn't include coconut, I would add that!)

* 1.5 TB blanched almonds, toasted and finely chopped

* 2 tsp coriander seeds, toasted and ground

* 1/2 TB cumin seeds, toasted and ground

* 1/2 TB sesame seeds, toasted and ground

* 1 TB unsweetened dried shredded coconut, toasted and ground

pinch salt

pinch freshly ground black pepper
lemon juice
additional olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. If making your dukkah, now, separately toast the almonds, coriander seeds, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and coconut. Grind each individually, then combine all together with a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Combine cauliflower florets (include all the little bits!) and chickpeas. Toss with olive oil and salt, to taste. Lay in a single layer on two baking trays lined with a silpat.
4. Roast for 20-40 minutes until top edges are golden brown. Check at 20 minutes, if it isn’t done, toss to have them evenly roast. Once out of the oven, top with dukkah. Serve immediately.  Serves 4.

Buckaroo Beans and Homemade Polenta

The word "buckaroo," according to wikipedia, most likely derives from the Spanish word "vaquero" and essentially means "cowboy."  Would a cowboy eat these beans?  I'm not sure.  On the one hand, there's a nice element of tex-mex-ish fusion, what with the chipotles and cocoa.  On the other hand, this is a lil too complicated to make, like out of a can out on the range or whatever.

This recipe employs dry mustard, chipotles, coffee, and chocolate!! which results in an awesome tangy, smoky, velvety, and earthy dish.

I had this recipe two ways, both of which I'd recommend: first, with fried collards and brown rice (typical macro-southern fusion); and secondly, with homemade polenta: although trader joe's polenta is cheap, easy, and tasty, I thought I'd try my hand at doing it from scratch, since I didn't have any other polenta options.  I simmered 1/2 c cornmeal in several c of water until all the water was absorbed (which happened really fast), then I put it into little cups (see photo at right) and refrigerated them a few hours.  Then, slice and fry!

So about this recipe.  I used 1 c dry black beans; I couldn't decide how much this was (the original recipe called for one pound), so I started off making a "half" but then lapsed into whole.  This meant that the dish ended up really saucy rather than beany, but still good.  Indeed, according to some random site I google, 1 lb dry beans is actually 2.2 c.  Maybe I should get a kitchen scale.

I also omitted the bell pepper, bacon bits (ew), and extra liquid.  I mistakenly used whole chipotles en adobo instead of cutting them up (whoops).  And finally, I used cocoa powder rather than chocolate--this, I think, was just fine and also healthier.

Buckaroo Beans

(adapted from frontier coop, via Janet's suggestions on my post about chili powder)

Ingredients

1-2 c dry beans, soaked (I used 1 c dry black beans)

2 bay leaves

*

1/2-1 large onion, chopped

1  large green pepper, seeds and membrane removed, chopped (I skipped this)

2-3 canned chipotle peppers en adobo, diced, with their sauce

2-4 TB cocoa powder

1/2-1 c canned crushed tomatoes (I used 1/4 c tomato paste w/some water)

1 c very strong coffee

3 TB brown sugar

1 TB chili powder

2 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dry mustard

oil

Directions

1. Drain the beans well, rinse, and place in a large pot with fresh water to cover. Add the bay leaves and place over high heat. Bring to boil; lower heat and simmer until tender, about 40 minutes for anasazi, 1 1/2 hours for pintos. Remove from heat. Drain and reserve the cooking liquid.
2. Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
3. Spray a bean pot or other deep, nonreactive casserole with cooking spray. Scatter the onion and green pepper over the bottom, then add the drained beans.
4. Whisk the chipotles and adobe sauce, unsweetened chocolate, crushed tomatoes, coffee, brown sugar, chili powder, oregano (crush the leaves between your fingers as you add it, to release the essential oils), salt, ground cumin, and dry mustard into the reserved bean cooking liquid. When well combined, pour over the beans. The liquid should just cover the beans; if it doesn't, add just enough boiling water, coffee, or vegetable stock to achieve this. Cover and bake for 6 hours, checking every once in a while to make sure the liquid level is maintained.
5. After the beans have baked for 6 hours, uncover. Stir to distribute the onion and green pepper throughout the beans. Return to oven and bake for 50 minutes more. If using, stir in bacon bits and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Serve hot, with cornbread or tortillas, and pass any desired accompaniments at the table.  Serves 4-6.

Squash Kootu

I'm in London this month, so I'm just finishing up some backlogged posts before taking some time off this blog.  Check out my colleague Alex's hilarious blog, alex the american, for some tales of our time here in England.

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I was cleaning out my fridge before I left town, and I had a zucchini, so I made this recipe from holy cow.  Vaishali is right: I'd never heard of a Kootu.  But it's a great vegetarian dish: featuring vegetables in a sauce made of lentils, it's sort of sneakily high in protein while focusing on the veggies.

It's also easy!  You grind up a paste of fried spices and coconut, you cook some split peas until they're totally mushy, and you lightly saute some veggies.  Then everything just goes together!  It's also super healthy: it doesn't use that much oil, and the split peas add fiber and protein.  Actually, so does the coconut.

I used zucchini instead of patty pan squash, and I omitted the curry leaves and the small amounts of dals in the masala paste.  Using the specified amounts of black peppercorns and red chilies made the dish very hot.

Zucchini Kootu

(from holy cow!)

Ingredients

3/4 c yellow split peas

*

masala: 

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 TB coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 dry red chilies (or less--see above notes)

1 TB black peppercorns (or less--see above notes)

*

1/2 c shredded coconut

 *

1 tsp canola or other vegetable oil

1 TB mustard seeds

2 medium squash (zucchini, summer squash, patty pan, etc), diced into very small cubes (about 1 cm)

salt to taste

Instructions

1. Cook the split yellow peas until mashably soft.  (I added a pinch each of salt and turmeric)
2. Fry masala ingredients in a teaspoon of oil.  Remove, let cool, then grind into a smooth paste along with coconut.
3. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil and add mustard seeds and curry leaves, if using.
4. Add the squash and stir-fry for about five minutes or until it starts to get tender.  (Don't cook it fully--you'll continue to simmer it in later steps)
5. Add the ground masala and the cooked split peas and stir well.
6. Add more water if the kootu is too thick and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the flavors have blended together and the squash is very tender.  Add salt to taste.  Serve hot.  Serves about 3.

Potato Tortilla

Hi everyone!   I'm in London for the next three weeks, so blogging's probably going to drop off dramatically after I finish off the backlog of posts I still have from the last week.

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Of all cuisines, Spanish food is among the most mysterious, and seemingly least-vegan-friendly, to me (and I mostly know about it from my friend Christina, who had a [vegetarian] food blog while she was there... bring it back!).  But, I saw this recipe for Spanish tortilla and was like, hey, if I can make an omelette out of chickpea flour, what can possibly stop me now?

So.... I made this, and it was pretty good.  It's a nice breakfast dish because it stretches one potato a long way and adds some protein while you're at it.  A few changes to consider: since I don't have a microwave, I peeled and sliced the potato first, then boiled it briefly until slightly soft.  I also added some black salt at the end for a slightly eggy taste.  If I make this again, I would also use less lemon and nutmeg and more garlic and onion.  I'd also add some turmeric for a little more yellow color.

Spanish Potato Tortilla

(from recipes.xgfx)

Ingredients

1 large yukon gold potato, about 12 ounces

1/4 c chickpea flour

1 TB cornstarch

1 TB nutritional yeast, optional

1/4 tsp onion powder (or more)

1/8 tsp garlic powder (or more)

1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg (or less)

turmeric

1/4 tsp salt (including black salt)

freshly ground black pepper

1/2 c water

1 TB fresh lemon juice (or less)

1 heaping TB minced parsley

1 TB olive oil for frying

Instructions

1. Peel onion and slice into 1/4-in slices.  Boil in salted water until just pokeable with a fork (5-10 min).  Transfer the hot potato to a bowl filled with cold water to stop it from cooking.
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the chickpea flour, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, nutmeg, turmeric, salt, and black pepper. Gradually add the water while whisking to avoid lumps. Stir in the lemon juice and the parsley.
3. At this point your potato should be cool enough to handle.  Add the potato to the chickpea mixture and gently stir to coat all the pieces.
4. Heat the oil in a 9 inch non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Test the oil temperature with a drop of the chickpea mixture, the oil will be hot and ready when the drop sizzles. Carefully pour in the chickpea/potato mixture and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes.
5. Here comes the fun part! Shake the frying pan to loosen the tortilla. If it’s stuck somewhere, use a spatula to gently lift the area of the tortilla that is not coming off. When the whole tortilla is sliding with ease, slide it onto a plate. Flip the tortilla onto the frying pan, raw side down. Cook for 5 more minutes and slide the tortilla back onto the plate. Serve hot.  Serves 1-3.

Kushari / Colin / Khalid

I recently saw Janet's yummy-looking post on taste space about a kitchari that riffs off the original ayurvedic dish, but adds both an eastern European spin (with dill, cabbage, and carrots) and a neo-western-foodie/macro element (ginger, soy sauce, miso, quinoa--and yes, I know quinoa is actually really ancient, South American, etc...). 

It got me thinking again (as I posted about once before), about how kitchari/khichri became kedgeree (Anglo-Indian) and kushari/koshary (Egyptian)... did the British bring the dish (and its name) to Egypt, or does the cross-pollination here precede the British completely, as Clifford Wright suggests?

And then I wondered some more... where does it end?  Maybe a dish that combines a legume and a grain is one of the most basic dishes ever, anywhere.  Even wikipedia is like, "...consider also Mujaddara, Hoppin' John, and Gallo Pinto... and... and..."  I'm both cautious of and excited by the politics of a universal food culture.  In any case, it often seems that by swapping out one component for an equivalent (vinegar for citrus, pomegranate molasses for tamarind paste, mung beans or lentils for pinto beans, bulgur or quinoa for rice), you might be able to play a kind of culinary word golf across the entire world.  Which in turn means, you can have congruent dishes all over the place that actually share no ingredients! a la Theseus's ship.

In other news, my brother Colin is back in Cairo and loving it.  And eating a lot of kushari.  Interestingly, "Colin" appears to mean "young creature" in Gaelic while the Arabic name he goes by in Egypt--"Khalid"--means "immortal."

Red Lentil Sesame Fritters

Joumana of Taste of Beirut does it again.  It's interesting how, with the exception of the occasional lamb- or cheese-based recipe, this blog comes closer to my tastes than many vegan blogs.  I love how her blog creatively mixes traditional Lebanese foods with other global influences.

I veganized this recipe for flavorful, falafel-like fritters by using flaxseed instead of egg; I also made it gluten-free with chickpea flour instead of wheat flour (rather like in the case of the tempeh meatballs).  (edit, 7/8/11: d'oh...except for the bulgur!  I made this again and used more rice in place of the bulgur)  I'd recommend pre-cooking the lentils and grains in advance, because you won't want to handle them while they're still hot; moreover, the batter won't be as (problematically) wet if the grains sit and absorb some liquid while cooling off.  I skipped the step of pre-cooking the garlic and herbs; I don't think it was necessary: there wasn't so much garlic as to be a problem raw.

When I finally got around to shaping the fritters, it was eerily like making these cookies: rolling the dough in a ball, then coating it in sesame seeds!  The final texture is pretty amazing: although the rice and bulgur make the insides a bit more varied (sort of like in oats and rice sausage), overall it's fluffier and lighter than a falafel, and the seame seeds on the outside give it an additional crispiness.

The flavors are equally exciting.  Besides the usual cumin-coriander-garlic, the chipotle and caraway in the harissa add complexity, as does the pretty generous amount of dried mint.  These guys are all balanced out by more sour flavors of lime zest (!), extra lemon juice, and, yes, sumac.  I was sort of put off of sumac when I bought it ages ago and used way too much of it, but here I halved it and proceeded with caution, and it was great!  Just a little extra funky-sour flavor.

Joumana suggests pairing these fritters with a cold salad of tomatoes and feta.  I agree that they'd go well with something fresh and slightly sour.  Perhaps a cold chutney or salsa of sorts?  The first time I had these they were paired (happily) with the Moroccan Carrot Salad and the Green Pea Soup; the second time it was just with salad (as pictured below).

Red Lentil Fritters

(adapted from taste of beirut)

Ingredients

1 c red lentils, cooked in 2 cups of water for 30 minutes till soft.

1/2 c bulgur (#1), soaked in hot water 10 minutes, then drained and squeezed of the extra water.

3/4 c (short grain brown) rice, cooked

1 large (flax) egg (1 TB ground flax + 3 TB water; combine and let sit for 10 minutes before using)

1/2 c (chickpea) flour

2 scallions, minced (can substitute shallot) (optional)

2 TB of harissa (can substitute red pepper paste of your choice or chili paste)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp sumac (optional)

2 TB powdered dried mint

Rind of zest of an orange or a lemon or a lime, chopped

lemon juice to taste

salt and pepper to taste (I didn't add any, but it depends on how much salt you cooked the lentils and grains with and how spicy your harissa is)  

*

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 c minced cilantro

1/2-1 c minced Italian parsley (1 c was a little too much; interfered with cohesiveness of batter)

*

1 c of sesame seeds (can substitute pistachios, pecans or walnuts, chopped fine)

oil for frying, as needed

1 or 2 lemons, quartered

Instructions

1. Place the cooked (and drained) lentils in a large bowl. Add the drained bulgur, rice, egg, flour, minced scallions, harissa and other spices, rind of a citrus and toss well to combine. Heat a little olive oil in a small skillet, throw the mashed garlic and minced herbs and stir to combine the mixture for no more than 10 seconds. Remove and add to the lentil mixture and toss.  (I took a short cut by simply adding in the garlic and herbs without pre-frying them).

2. Shape the fritters with an ice-cream scoop (or your hands) and dip in the sesame seeds or other nuts.
3. Heat some oil in a pan (about one inch) and when hot (at 350F to 375F), drop the fritters and cook about 3 minutes on one side and one minute on the other. Place on a plate lined with paper towels.   Serve hot with lemon wedges.  Serves about 6.

Sorrel Omelettes

One of the new strange vegetables I got from my visit to Wattles was sorrel--or at least that's what they told me.  Weirdly, sorrel is poisonous in large amounts, yet it has a role in many different cuisines.  Quite bitter, somewhat like arugula, this green was well balanced by the yangy flavors of a chickpea flour omelette with black salt, about which I recently blogged. 

Chickpea flour omelette with black salt and sorrel

I followed the same recipe as before, but I stirred as much shredded greens as I could into the batter before cooking.

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Sage, dried (unrelated to above omelette)

Hummus / Garden / ?

My friend and colleague Sina has a plot at what I'm pretty sure is the best community garden in all of LA.

Last weekend, he hosted a picnic at this ridiculously idyllic place.  Now, let me just say... my parents were and are pretty enthusiastic gardeners, and when I was growing up in Minneapolis, in the summer we had tomatoes, green beans, sugar snap peas, carrots, radishes, squashes, maybe strawberries... plus, local farms had loads of amazing sweetcorn and apples... but a garden in southern California is a whole other thing.  At the risk of playing into so many myths about the American West, this place at the end of the world does feel like an immanent or incipient (albeit often ill-managed) paradise... limitless potential... blah blah blah...

Really, I just mean that almost everything grows here.  Artichokes, grapes, passion fruit, citrus, avocados, more.

Anyway, continuing with this thin excuse for a blog post...

It was a potluck, and I made hummus with harissa. Why I didn't do this sooner is beyond me.  After all, I've been known to stir my harissa into my baba ganoush... and I can't recommend harissa's introduction into hummus highly enough.  I love the crazy mixture of flavors in this harissa (chipotles, caraway, mint!), but it usually ends up being too spicy to really immerse oneself in said flavors.  Here, they're spread out enough through the hummus that you can really bask in them.

I used this hummus recipe (minus the green goo).  I stirred in some harissa and then topped it with an additional dollop.

Hummus with Harissa

Finally, as is the case on every visit to Wattles, Sina sent me home with a bunch of strange vegetables.  I'll soon be posting about some of them.

Coconut Cilantro Bean Curry

Savory recipes that use (unsweetened) coconut are awesome!  See, for example, shredded brussels sprouts with coconut, hyderabad cauliflower, hyderabadi eggplant, and baingan bharta... and now this recipe from vegventures.

In making this recipe, I used way more cilantro and a bit more heat than were called for (I also used fresh chilies instead of chili powder).  The flavors were good, but the texture was so dry, especially with all the coconut.

So, a bit like when I transported the filling from stuffed collards into a kind of sushi roll, I seriously tweaked my leftovers into a soupier curry by simmering them in a mixture of coconut milk and stock.  Perfect!  Most of the liquid cooked off, but I was left with a curry that was moister and richer.

Coconut Cilantro Bean Curry (without and with sauce ingredients)

(from vegventures)

Ingredients

3 TB vegetable oil
4-5 crushed garlic cloves

1/2 to 1 whole green chili, w/seeds

1.5 TB cumin (yes, TB)
1.5 TB coriander (-”-)
1 TB turmeric (-”-)
1/4 c fresh cilantro (coriander leaves)
1.5 c desiccated coconut
1.5 c cooked (or canned) black-eyed beans (I used black beans)
1.5 c cooked and cubed potatoes

salt to taste
lime or lemon juice to taste

optional: 1 c coconut milk, 1 c vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Heat the oil on a pan and fry the garlic and chili for 30 seconds. Add all the other spices and sauté, stirring, for 1-2 minutes more. Add all the other ingredients except lime juice (and optional sauce ingredients) and mix.
2. Cook for 10 more minutes, stirring frequently (the curry is so dry that especially if you don’t have a non-stick pan it might burn, since the the ingredients quickly soak up the oil). Optional: add coconut milk and stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 5-10 more minutes.  Serve hot.  Serves about three.

Chickpeas and Edamame with Greens and Shiitakes

Oh hey, another recipe from the taste space.

Oh hey, Trader Joe's sells frozen shelled edamame for absurdly cheap!  This was like 4 c for $1.50 or something.

I finally remembered to use my kombu when making chickpeas.  I think, though, that I need to conduct a controlled experiment to see whether it actually makes legumes more digestible.  But it certainly adds a bit of flavor...

I have to go a bit out of my way to get shiitake mushrooms, so I usually just stick with button, crimini, or portobello, but making this recipe with actual shiitakes reminded me of how awesome their texture is.

In adapting this recipe, I did use nori instead of dulse (because that's what I had).

I also used (pre-steamed) kale instead of watercress, and skipped the snow peas.  A recipe like this one is clearly endlessly adaptable.  What's important is the mixture of the bright and tangy flavors (ginger, lime juice) and the super duper umami ones (mushrooms, tamari).

Chickpeas and Edamame with Greens and Shiitakes

(from taste space)

Instructions

1 TB olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 tsp salt

2 c shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced

1 TB fresh grated ginger

1.5 c edamame

1 TB dulse granules (I used half a sheet of chopped up nori)

1 TB tamari or soy sauce

2 c cooked chickpeas, drained (cooking water reserved)

1/2 c cold water

1 TB cornstarch (optional)

1 bunch kale, de-stemmed, roughly chopped, and steamed

juice of 1-2 limes

sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Saute the onion in the oil on medium heat until it starts to turn translucent. Add the salt, mushrooms, and ginger and continue cooking for 5 minutes. Stir in the edamame, sea veg, soy sauce, and chickpeas. Cook for a few minutes.
2. In a separate bowl dissolve the cornstarch in some cold water, then pour the mixture into the pan with the beans. Stir in the greens and cook until they has wilted. Remove from heat and add lime juice before serving, mix well.  Serve over a bed of brown rice or quinoa.  Serves 4-6.

Spinach Dal (Dal Palak)

Blogger had a meltdown last week, and several of my posts were lost.  The thought of starting over, combined with incredible busyness, has kept me from posting.  But it's time for a little catch-up.

This dish sure doesn't look like much, but Amey of vegan treats and eats is right: it's delicious.  Is it a dal?  Is it a vegetable dish?  Who knows.  I found myself wanting a lot more acid in it to balance out the earthiness of the lentils; the juice of two limes ended up doing the trick.  I also reduced the amount of water in the recipe, as it took soo much cooking to get enough to evaporate out of the pot.

Spinach Dal (Dal Palak)

(from vegan treats and eats)
 

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs spinach (about 2 lbs before stemming)

1 c red lentils

4 cups water (or a bit less)

oil

4-8 cloves garlic, coarsely minced

4 oz shallots, minced

1 TB fresh ginger, minced

3/4 tsp coriander

2 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt (or more to taste)

juice of 2 limes

more water, as desired

Instructions

1. Steam spinach 5-10 min.  Drain and puree.  Set aside.
2. Cook lentils in water until soft (30 min?).
3. Heat oil in a small frying pan.  Cook garlic, shallots, ginger, and spices until brown and fragrant.  Remove from heat.
4. When lentils are nearly done, add spinach puree and saute mixture (aka "tempering oil").  Simmer a bit longer, then stir in lime juice and salt to taste.  Serves about 4.

Spicy Harissa Split Pea Soup

This soup is just the thing if you are not feeling good.  Or... if you just want to eat something delicious.  I think I found this recipe for Spicy Harissa Split Pea Soup when I was looking for more ways to use harissa.  I ended up making a rather stripped-down version of the original recipe.  As a result, mushroom and split peas are the dominant flavors.  It's a delicious, hearty, thick soup... but one that looks not so great, which may have been due to my using yellow mung beans instead of green split peas.  The second time (yes, this soup was so good that I made it twice this week), I decided to just go with the yellow theme, subbing in red lentils for some of the split peas and adding a bit of turmeric for good measure.  Significantly prettier (the photo below, however, is from the first batch).  I pureed the soup before adding green peas, which looks a little silly but produces a really fun texture, reminiscent of the orbitz soft drinks that were so popular back when I was in middle school.

It totally depends on what your harissa is like, but next time I'll use more (though you can adjust this in the garnishing stages); it wasn't very spicy, and harissa tastes soo good!  It's very different than hot sauce; I think it's the caraway, the mint, and the chipotle peppers.  If it wasn't so spicy, I'd just eat the stuff like ice cream.  Luckily, this soup is a great vehicle for it.

Spicy Harissa Split Pea Soup

(from healthy happy life)

Ingredients

olive oil

2 TB chopped garlic

1 1/2 c carrots, diced

1 c mushrooms, sliced (I think I used significantly more than this both times)
2 bay leaves

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2 c dried split peas and/or red lentils, rinsed

4 c veg broth

2 TB spicy harissa (MORE!)
1/4 tsp turmeric (optional)

1 TB black pepper

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salt to taste

1 c frozen green peas, thawed

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat olive oil.  Add garlic, carrots, mushrooms, and bay leaves and and saute for a few minutes.
2. Add in the remaining ingredients (excepting green peas) and bring soup to a boil.
3. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer at very low heat, until the legumes are tender.
4. Puree soup.  Thin with water or stock, if desired.
5. Serve with green peas on top, as well as harissa and an extra drizzle of olive oil.  Serves 6-8.

Sweet Potato Falafel and Friends

Whole spices are one of the most beautiful things I can think of.  They're up there with mountains and Maggie Gyllenhaal.

I made harissa again!  This time I used more chipotle peppers in the mix.  It's spicier than I remember... goodness gracious, is it spicy!

I'm excited about using it in this spicy harissa split pea soup, but the first thing I did with it was mix it into a little baba ganoush with mint.  This was a very good thing.

I also braved very high temperatures today in order to make these baked sweet potato falafels from 101 cookbooks.  It sounded totally amazing, right?  Falafel based on sweet potatoes, and a chance to use my chickpea flour?!

So why were these so underwhelming?  I think they needed more fat!  Olive oil, tahini, something!  Perhaps fried this recipe would be good, but baked, it just seemed kind of heavy and clay-ey.  No amount of lemon and cilantro could change that.  Alas.

I had them with a bootleg tahini sauce (tahini, lemon juice, salt, garlic powder, olive oil, water).

Baked Sweet Potato Falafel

(from 101 cookbooks)

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes (orange inside), around 700g or 1 1/2 pounds in total

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

2 small cloves of garlic, chopped

1 1/2 tsp ground coriander

2 big handfuls of fresh cilantro/coriander, chopped

juice of half a lemon

a scant cup chickpea flour

salt and pepper (I used cayenne)

a splash of olive oil

a sprinkling of sesame seeds

Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 425F degrees (220C) and roast the sweet potatoes whole until just tender - 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off the oven, leave the potatoes to cool, then peel.
2. Put the sweet potatoes, cumin, garlic, ground and fresh coriander, lemon juice and gram/chickpea flour into a large bowl. Season well, and mash until smooth with no large chunks (I actually did this in a mini food processor).  Stick in the fridge to firm up for an hour, or the freezer for 20-30 minutes. When you take it out, your mix should be sticky rather than really wet. You can add a tablespoon or so more of chickpea flour if necessary (the water content of sweet potatoes varies enormously).
3. Reheat the oven to 400F/200C. Make the mixture into falafelly looking things (I just used my hands, as if I were making cookies) and put them on an oiled tray. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top and bake in the oven for around 15 minutes, until the bases are golden brown.  Makes about 18 falafel, enough for 4 - 6.

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In other news?  It is spring in my sink!!  A mung bean must have fallen under the dish drainer... and yes, I know I need to do some serious cleaning.  That's why this is at the bottom of the post.  :)

Lemon Garlic Chickpeas and Mushrooms

This recipe from the post punk kitchen was really simple and delicious; I'll definitely be making it again.

Sauteeing and then simmering the mushrooms gives them an amazing chewy texture, and the mushrooms and thyme give the dish a savory, Thanksgiving-y flavor, but the lemon adds a little twist to that familiar flavor combination.  I treated it like a stroganoff and ate it with whole wheat rotelle, but it would be equally at home with some brown rice.

I made several small changes of convenience: dried for fresh thyme, chickpeas for favas, button mushrooms for creminis, white onion for red, etc.  I'm not sure I used 3 full cups of chickpeas, which might have been the reason that the final dish was a little too salty.  In any case, I'd recommend using less stock and then adding salt as needed at the end.

Finally, there wasn't all that much of a lemon flavor after cooking it so long.  Consider adding the lemon juice and zest at the end, right before serving.

Lemon Garlic Fava Beans and Mushrooms

(from the ppk)

Ingredients

2 tsp olive oil

1 small red onion, cut into thin half moons

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp dried thyme

pinch salt

8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced in half

2 TB breadcrumbs

2 c vegetable broth (or sub in some water if you're worried about saltiness--see above note)

juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon

lots of fresh black pepper

3 c cooked chickpeas (or two 15 oz cans, rinsed and drained)

slivered green onions, additional zest for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat a large pan over medium heat. Saute onion in oil with a pinch of salt for 5 to 7 minutes, until slightly browned. Add garlic, thyme, and pinch salt, and saute one minute. Add mushrooms and cook to release moisture, about 5 minutes.
2. Add bread crumbs, toss to coat everything and toast crumbs for 3 to 5 minutes. Add veg broth, black pepper, lemon zest and juice and beans (consider adding lemon juice and zest later, at the end). Bring to a boil. Let reduce and thicken, 7 minutes or so. Taste for salt and seasoning and serve, topped with green onions.  Serves about 4.

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What do I eat when I'm not trying new recipes?  Well, for one, I eat a lot of quick stir-fries with a starch, a protein, and a green, like this one (at right) of collards (with onion and garlic), chickpeas, and soba noodles, with tamari and chili-garlic paste.  If you use canned chickpeas it's almost instant.













And I also eat a lot of leftovers, sometimes recombined.  For example, after last week's recipes, I had the following:

On the left, a green salad made with that wheatberry pilaf with eggplant and cashews--rather incongruously accompanied by marinated tofu--and on the right, lemony legume soup, at home at last with avocado and cilantro.