Archive for the 'beans' Category
I double bagged my socks today, and tossed my fleece in the dryer to warm it up before I put it on. It was a hot soup day if ever there was one.
So much Egypt in the news made me want to know more about their cuisine, and when I Googled it, up came a yellow lentil soup. Which as you may know, is right up my alley. I had just unearthed a bag of lentils from the depths of my cupboard – you know that one jammed with all manner of grains, beans, nuts, chocolate and dried fruit? Interspersed with some spices and packets of things that really don’t have a home anywhere else? And so I was happy to use it and decrease the surplus population.
The interesting thing about this soup is that the lentils and veg are simmered separately from the onions, which are caramelized and then not pureed with the rest of the soup. I’d have started with the onions, proceeded with the lentils, veg and stock, then pureed the lot. But I decided to try it this way. I may rebel and do it my way next time, if only to save one pot from being washed. Also – I found the pitas easier to toast in the oven than in a skillet, as was instructed. Either way.
Egyptian Yellow Lentil Soup
Adapted from Epicurious, where it was adapted from Magda el-Mehdawy’s book My Egyptian Grandmother’s Kitchen. I imagine it would be just fine with red/orange lentils, too.
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 pita bread
1 lb dried yellow lentils
1 tomato, chopped
1 thin-skinned potato, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 L beef stock or canned beef broth (or vegetable or onion stock for a vegetarian soup)
1 tsp. cumin
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
Brush a bit of oil on the pitas and cut them into strips; spread out on a baking sheet and bake at 350F for about 10 minutes, or until golden. Set aside.
In a large saucepan, cover the lentils with enough water to cover by 2 inches. Add tomato, potato, carrot, and salt and bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, skimming any foam that forms on top. Meanwhile, heat a drizzle of oil in a medium pot set over medium-high heat and sauté the onion for about 8 minutes, or until golden.
Remove the lentil mixture from heat and purée using a hand-held immersion blender or in batches in the regular blender. Add to the onions along with the beef stock and cumin. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes, until thickened. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately, topped with the pita strips and parsley or cilantro. Serves 4-6.
February 18 2011 | beans and soup and vegetarian | 11 Comments »
It’s funny, when I get swept up in weeks and months of eating poorly – too much grazing on too much junk (I really am more lowbrow than people think I am) – how quickly I forget how much I love grainy salads like this. Quinoa with black beans and mango, wild rice and lentils, brown rice with barley and chickpeas – all jumbles of good things that make me feel and function so much better (and far wider awake) than a diet of toast, Cheezies, coffee and wine. Funny, that.
Funny too how my body never seems to forget how much it adores Cheezies and chocolate.
I do need to wean myself off of a few things. I’ve been dancing around the subject of the new year here – I haven’t quite embraced it with as much chutzpah (yet) as I usually do, but I suppose I should go ahead and address the obvious before it turns into February. Apologies in advance for the rant.
I’m so tired of the same old new year, new YOU! message we’re all inundated with every January. (Although, admittedly, the old me is in need of a bit of an overhaul. Emphasis on the haul.) Post-holiday, everyone talks about a need to detox – yet I don’t think of Christmas and all the wonderful things that came with it as a toxin we need to cleanse ourselves of. It’s like the idea that food is sinful and dieting and exercise is our penance. Although I can certainly appreciate the concept of self-improvement, I despise the (first-world) message that comes every January: that we’re not good enough and we’d better get working on becoming the very best we should be, that version of ourselves that we’re all capable of achieving if we just work harder at it. No pressure.
What’s wrong with the old me? The old of all of us? Whatever happened to being happy with what we have, and who we are? And really, is a constant reminder that we all need to be improved upon the best motivation? No wonder so many of us wind up unhappy, defeated and discouraged, annoyed with ourselves that we can’t be all that, do all that, and pull off a bikini by summertime.
I’m almost done. Feel free to skip all this and scroll down to the recipe.
Of course this new year, new you season does act as a catalyst, the tipping point where our environment changes, encouraging a collective jump onto the healthy bandwagon.
And yes, it will come as no surprise that I too need to lose weight. Confession: I’m up almost 50 pounds from this time last year. 50! Pounds! I could cite various and myriad injuries (to my foot, knee, back, psyche) of 2010 that slowed me down, physically and motivationally, but I don’t want to excuse it away. Because really it was all that Salted Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie (I see a trend here), more time spent in front of the computer, an increasing number of food events and a higher than average love (obsession?) of it all. I’m a food writer. I spend my days thinking about, writing about, researching, preparing and photographing food. Case in point: I leave for Vancouver first thing in the morning for a few days touring restaurants and checking out other food-related events and locales. Please don’t hate me. The point is, I need to ensure my hobby, passion and job, while paying the bills doesn’t also cause my physical ruin.
I also need more sleep. It’s the most fun thing on my to-do list.
Which is all to say you’ll likely see more of this sort of thing around here in the coming weeks, and also – I may be cranky. Don’t worry, we won’t go without brownies and the occasional waffle. I’m trying to remind myself of all the good-for-you stuff I do love – beany, grainy salads keep well and travel well, so they’re easy to stash away in the fridge for security reasons (defense against take-out) or bring with you when you need something good to go. Nutty, chewy wheat berries (the entire kernel of wheat, minus the hull) are well worth seeking out; they make a great foundation for a salad – similar to barley but mahogany-coloured and smooth. Great for breakfast, too.
Barley & Wheat Berry Salad with Chickpeas and Feta
of course the measurements here are approximate – add as much or as little of everything as you like.
1/2 cup wheat berries
1/2 cup pearl or pot barley
1/4-1/2 cup golden raisins or chopped dates
1 19 oz (540 mL) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup crumbled feta
2 celery stalks, chopped
a big handful of Italian parsley, chopped or torn
1/4 purple onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive or canola oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar or lemon juice (or to taste)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a medium saucepan, cover wheat berries with a few inches of water; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and let stand for an hour. (Alternatively, soak them in water overnight.)
Pour off most of the water from the wheat berries, add the barley to the pot and cover with water by a few inches; bring to a boil and cook for 40 minutes, until both barley and wheat berries are tender. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop them from cooking; drain well and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the dates and let cool completely.
Add the chickpeas, feta, celery, parsley, onion and walnuts; drizzle with oil and vinegar and sprinkle with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Serve immediately or refrigerate until needed. Makes lots.
January 09 2011 | beans and grains and one dish and salads | 40 Comments »
Happy bean day! Oh yes it is. I wonder why Bean Day doesn’t get as high billing as Christmas?
Fortunately our freezer is stacked with enough bags and containers of chili (some labeled, most not) to keep us fed until Thanksgiving. I keep making large batches of practical, freezable, beany things like chili to stash away for mealtime emergencies at a rate that does not at all sync with the number of mealtime emergencies there actually are in this house. I suppose when I’m completely unorganized in all other areas of my life, it makes me feel totally on the ball to be making dinner ahead of time.
I eat vegetarian black bean chili because I love it, not only because it’s the new year and good for me. I added a ballast of mac & cheese partly because I still had leftover cheese stubs from our polyester & cheese Christmas party, and partly because I adore church supper-style chili, which is traditionally served on a bed of mac & cheese. If you haven’t tried it this way, you should. Isn’t anything better served on a bed of mac & cheese?
Also, my friend Lauren is hosting this month’s Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten Free (GAHIGF) – a monthly online event for which a theme is chosen, and bloggers create gluten-free dishes based on the theme. Lauren’s theme of choice: Follow the Calendar. As in, check out all the food-related Official days of the month, and pick one. January 6th happens to be Bean Day. (It’s also Shortbread Day. Whomever assigned that one kind of missed the mark.) Beans are totally my bag, baby.
The beans are kind of a no-brainer in terms of gluten-free-izing a recipe, but mac & cheese – I would miss that if I couldn’t eat gluten. There had to be some sort of a challenge here. There are gluten-free pastas out there – some made of quinoa, some corn – I’m a particular fan of brown rice pasta, which has a smoother mouthfeel than whole wheat pasta (which of course isn’t gluten-free, but we can eat it in our house) – be warned that it will make the cooking water much muggier than your regular pasta.
If you want to skip the pasta, this chili would also do just fine over a baked potato. Still, I’d likely add a dose of cheese on top. Or a blob of sour cream to offset the heat of the chili.
Note: just before I took this, as I was heating up the chili in a small pot on the stove, I opened another can of beans for something else, and got the 7 bean blend by mistake, and so dumped half the can into the chili. Which is why you see more than just black beans and chickpeas in the photo. Really, you could use any beans you like here.
Vegetarian Black Bean Chili
canola or olive oil, for cooking
2 onions, chopped
2 red, yellow or orange bell peppers, seeded and chopped
5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp. chili powder
1-2 tsp. chopped chipotle chili en adobo (optional)
1 tsp. cumin
2 19 oz. (540 mL) cans black beans, drained
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can red kidney beans or chickpeas, drained
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can diced or fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 small can tomato paste (a couple heaping spoonfuls)
sour cream, chopped avocado, grated cheese, chopped green onion and/or chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Toss everything but the garnishes into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Alternatively, saute the onions, pepper and garlic in a drizzle of oil in a large pot set over medium-high heat, add everything else, bring to a simmer, turn the heat down and cook for an hour, or until thick. Chili is always better the next day – if you like, cool and refrigerate it, then reheat the pot or individual servings.
Gluten-Free Mac & Cheese
An adaptation of Pam Anderson’s Shells and Cheese, Gluten-Free, from Perfect One-Dish Dinners- by way of Gluten Free Girl and the Chef.
1 lb. gluten-free macaroni or pasta shells (brown rice, quinoa, corn-your gluten-free fave)
a drizzle of canola or olive oil
1 lb. grated sharp white cheddar, Gouda, or your favourite meltable cheese, grated
1 cup ricotta
1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (I use my rasp)
1/2 cup sour cream
Topping:
1 cup gluten-free breadcrumbs (here, Danny demonstrates how to make them)
2-3 Tbsp. melted butter (I usually use half butter, half olive oil)
Preheat the oven to 350° and spray a baking dish with nonstick spray.
Boil the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water – allowing enough water to give the pasta space to move around – according to the package directions or until it’s al dente (tender but still firm). Drain the pasta immediately, drizzle with a bit of oil to keep it from sticking together, and set aside.
In a large bowl, stir together the grated cheese, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and sour cream, in a large bowl; dump in the pasta and toss it to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper and pour into the casserole dish.
Mix the gluten-free breadcrumbs and butter, then sprinkle evenly over the top of the pasta. Bake until the pasta and cheese are bubbly and the crumbs are golden brown, about 35 minutes.
January 06 2011 | beans and freezable and one dish and slow cooker | 15 Comments »
It’s getting chilly again here at the computer in our spare bedroom, the apple tree loaded with snow, the sky grey, the furnace raging. I’m wearing a fleece and my thickest woolly socks, the ones that I believe helped facilitate my trip down the stairs the day before Christmas. I just can’t get into a bowl of spring greens. It turns out I also can’t live on toast and coffee, icing and cheese.
I bought a couple cookbooks that I totally didn’t need. One is called Casa Moro, and in it is this warm butternut salad with chickpeas and tahini dressing. (You’d think after all that cookbook testing I’d be done with beans – actually I’ve been craving them more and more.) I’m a fan of all things roasted – the tahini dressing is just a bonus. (Remember the potato salad with kale? And the stir fried brown rice with chickpeas and asparagus?) Who woulda thought tahini dressing would wind up being my thing? Here I grew up thinking it was Twinkies.
And, it turns out, Molly and Deb already knew about this stuff. They are so on the ball, those two.
I’ve never been that creative when it comes to salads. Which is weird, because really anything goes when you make a salad – it’s like the ultimate opportunity to play with your food, with minimal risk of screwing up (unlike baking). But it’s exactly the sort of thing I like – that jumble of stuff in a bowl, with sauce, if at all possible. It’s exactly the sort of thing W spending his time hoping is not for dinner. He had a bowl of pasta with olive oil.
Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini
Adapted from Casa Moro
For salad:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 garlic clove, finely crushed or grated (I use my rasp)
1/2 tsp. ground allspice (I skipped this, but it might add a nice warmth)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt
1 19 oz. (540 mL) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
For tahini dressing:
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 Tbsp. well-stirred tahini
2 Tbsp. water
2 Tbsp. olive oil (I used nice cold-pressed canola from Highwood Crossing)
1 garlic clove, finely grated (I use my rasp)
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Spread the squash out on a large rimmed baking sheet, stir the garlic (and allspice, if you like) into the oil, drizzle it over the squash, toss it around to coat and roast for 30 minutes, or until soft and starting to turn golden. Set aside to cool.
To make the tahini dressing, whisk everything together and taste; add water to thin it if you like, or more lemon if you like it more lemony.
To assemble the salad, combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro or parsley in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat; serve immediately. Serves 2-4.
November 21 2010 | beans and vegetarian | 19 Comments »
I learned plenty yesterday from this lot right here. These six represent the two semi-finalist teams in the kids’ chili cook-off at the Stampede – I was lucky enough to act as judge yesterday. It was a tough decision.
I missed out on taking an actual photo of the food, being in my Official judge’s role and all, but it was mighty tasty – smoky and hot and loaded with beans – it always interests me, as a carnivore, how often the vegetarian version of a chili wins at a cook-off. (This isn’t the first I’ve judged.)
Although it was very tasty, the heat kind of leapt up and smacked us right in the tongue straight off the bat, so if you’re a wuss like me, consider dialing down the chipotles by about half. And I’d personally swap the green pepper for any other colour (red, yellow, orange), but that’s just me. (I don’t understand the point of a green pepper. Is all that bitterness worth the financial savings? I think not.) And of course all chilis taste better after a day or two in the fridge (or a long simmer in the slow cooker), so it’s great to make ahead and feed a crowd.
An important note: the winning team added a secret ingredient to the following recipe – chopped green onions. Yum.
Smoky Vegetarian Chili
1 cup diced carrots
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 can (28 oz/796 mL) diced tomatoes
3 cans (19 oz/540 mL each) mixed beans, rinsed and drained
2 tbsp chopped canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
Salt and freshly ground pepper
In a Dutch oven, saute carrots, onion, bell peppers and garlic in oil until tender, about 7 minutes. Add chili powder and cumin; cook and stir 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and chipotle peppers.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serves 8.
And the bread. When I see the quantity of cheese and butter and garlic I understand why it blew me away. It’s exactly the sort of melty-cheesy, buttery, carb-heavy thing I would marry, if it were human.
Rosarella Bread
1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped bocconcini cheese
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 loaf french bread, halved lengthwise
In a food processor, combine cheese, butter, rosemary, garlic, pepper and salt. Process until smooth. Wrap bread halves individually in heavy duty foil, leaving cut side open. Spread cheese mixture over cut side of bread halves.
Heat bread over low heat directly on grid or on warming rack on natural gas barbecue for 15 to 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bread is golden around edges. Slice bread and serve.
July 15 2010 | beans and vegetarian | 14 Comments »
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