Archive for the 'beans' Category
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 | 15 Comments »
OK, I got one for ya. But I’m throwing you this bone only because I haven’t cooked dinner at all this week. (Don’t tell the publisher that this is from our as-yet-unnamed bean book!) I managed to squeeze four recipe tests in yesterday before 10 am, and that’s about it for kitchen action.
T.G.I.F. – I understand it now.
Remember that big to-do list I filled y’all in on two days ago? Ask me how many items have been scratched off. Do you really want to know? Not one. I forgot to add take mother in law for 3 hour grocery shopping trip and spend ridiculous amount of time searching for a Tim Horton’s without a half-hour lineup. And damn, that minutiae.
And then of course some days life throws curveballs right at your head.
My sister, the one who lives across the street, who is probably reading this on her laptop, wrapped in her robe in her big red chair, quite possibly drinking a coffee that she just figured out how to make as good as Mike does (out of necessity when we were away for two weeks), who is most likely inwardly cringing as she realizes I’m talking about her and wonders exactly how many details I’m about to disclose, was brought to the hospital in an ambulance yesterday. Which is exactly the sort of thing you don’t expect to hear when you answer the phone on a regular Thursday afternoon.
She’s now home again, but it does suck quite a bit when someone you love gets hurt. (It will suck even more when she gets that ambulance bill.)
On the upside (silver lining!) it meant I got to take Ben to his dance performance at school, and thus got to witness an entire kindergarten and grade 1 class dressed and made up as zombies, re-enacting Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Just pause for a minute and visualize that. W asked me if I was laughing or crying and I didn’t know the answer.
Toward the end of the performance, after all the grades had done their thing, W did his best to subtly work his way through the crowd, across the stretch of wood gymnasium floor that came between the audience and performing students, and nonchalantly sit down among them for the finale. He watched the teacher and did exactly what the other kids did, then stood up when prompted and filed out with them after the show. I think he might be ready for kindergarten.
Luckily, earlier this week I was testing pancakes made with pureed white beans (and they worked! for real! you can’t even tell!) and so I had a stash on hand. When things started feeling like a Tilt-a-Whirl I tossed pancakes to the boys like Flippy Flyers when they got hungry. Which is not to say that these have the consistency of Frisbees – they don’t.
And the pureed legumes boost the fiber in these far more than whole wheat flour (a cup of beans contains about 12 g fiber, compared to 4 in a cup of whole wheat flour).
Pancakes with White Beans
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat, oat or rye flour
2 tsp. baking powder
a shake of cinnamon (optional)
pinch salt
1 cup or half a 19 oz. (540 mL) can white kidney or navy beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups milk
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp. canola, olive or flax oil
In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon (if you’re using it) and salt. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the beans with a splash of the milk – enough to help get it going – until smooth. Add the rest of the milk, the eggs and oil and pulse until well blended.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined; don’t worry about getting all the lumps out.
When the skillet is hot (you can test it by flicking some drops of water on it – they should bounce) spray it with nonstick spray or drizzle in about a teaspoon of oil and swirl to coat the pan. Ladle the batter onto the skillet, making the pancakes any size you like. If you are using them, place berries or slices of banana directly onto the batter. Turn the heat down a little and cook for 2-4 minutes, until the bottom is golden and bubbles begin to appear on the surface. Use a thin, flat spatula to flip them over and cook for another minute on the other side, until golden.
Repeat with the remaining batter. If you want everyone to eat at the same time, keep finished pancakes uncovered in a 200ºF oven. Makes about 8 pancakes.
And seeing as it’s Friday, I have some free stuff for you! In honour of mamma’s day this weekend, I have something created by one of my favourite moms, one I aspire to be more like. She’s what you might call a creative type – a teacher and a musician, the kind who comes up with insanely creative birthday party themes, composes original music for them, cooks from scratch and invents contests and games – her kids’ parties are the social events of the season for the 4 year old set; if their lives didn’t revolve around princesses and those little plastic shoes I’m certain W would just move in. Also, she’s just awesome. Case in point: the time she went to the Palamino late at night after the kids were in bed and rocked out in her Crocs.
Wait, I think I had a point here.
She has a band called Magnolia Buckskin, and they just released their first CD. Last night, in between a visit to emergency and getting Ben ready for his concert, as I made the boys poached eggs on toast, she stopped by to drop off freshly-pressed (do they press CDs?) copies. Which is, of course, brilliant. I’m so proud of her.
The song Walk was inspired by her successful efforts to conquer postpartum depression. When a friend became wheelchair-bound at a young age due to MS, she decided to celebrate the fact that at least she could walk, and went out and walked for hours a day, which helped bring her back to life. Can you think of a better way to celebrate Mother’s Day?
By the way – Magnolia Buckskin’s CD release party is in two weeks – Friday, May 21 at the Ironwood in Inglewood – a great venue with great food just a few blocks from our house! What better excuse to invite you all out for a drink? Wouldn’t that be fun?
To enter the FSF draw this week, I’d love to know what you learned from your mom in the kitchen? Or if that doesn’t apply, what you’re teaching your kids?
May 07 2010 | beans and breakfast | 43 Comments »
I have news! (No, I’m not knocked up. I was, again. But I’m not, again. It’s been a bit of a crazy spring.) Remember Sue? She and I are writing a book! A for-real, gonna-be-published-and-put-in-bookstores cookbook. When I went out to stay for the weekend during the olympics we came up with it, and pitched it, and the publisher jumped on it, and within a few weeks we had an actual contract and a deadline. !!!!
It’s occurring to me now that that was two months ago. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? Does anyone else’s life feel like the Polar Express? With the stoned guy in the hoodie at the helm, asking if we want to go faster and ignoring our screams to PLEASE STOP. OR AT LEAST SLOW DOWN. Because I just might throw up. Which isn’t going to be pleasant for either of us.
So yeah, Sue and I are writing a cookbook together. Something I’ve wanted to do for a very long time. (A project like this with her, that is.)
And it’s due in June. JUNE. That’s a good half a year from now, right? At least 6 months. No? Six weeks?? Perhaps if I enlist a hundred monkeys on a hundred typewriters, smoking a hundred cigarettes…
But for real – I cannot WAIT to share some of these recipes with you. We’ve been baking with beans – I made wonderful (if I do say so) yeasted cinnamon buns using pureed beans in the dough, making them higher in fiber than if they had been made with whole wheat flour, with the light, chewy texture of white dough. I’m not going to spill all the beans – ha – pun totally not intended – because that would leave nothing new for the book, which is scheduled to be released next spring. Spring 2011. Doesn’t that sound like the year you finally get your own jet pack?
But we do need a title. Beans and grains is just not sexy, no matter how you say it. The combo brings to mind gastrointestinal issues.
But they are so good for you. Their parts can stand on their own, but the sum is fantastic. The idea came about as we chatted about how I really want/need to eat more beans and grains, and want to seek out more meal options so that ideas come as readily and naturally as they would when faced with some chicken parts or a pork tenderloin. Or John Cusack.
Did I tell you I’m following him on Twitter? I’m pretty sure he’s not following me. Which is a shame. But Michael Ruhlman is! Ruhlman! Following me! The day I learned this I developed a severe case of Twitter performance anxiety.
So to digress, we need some title ideas for the book. Badly. I’ve never had such a total mind block – usually something comes to mind, and it’s a matter of weeding through the cheese and cliches and finding something that works. This time – nada. But you’re a smart and creative lot, so I thought I’d toss it out there for you to chew on.
Also – chew on this. I made this lentil and sweet potato curry on our last night in Tofino and actually toted it all the way back to Calgary in my cooler bag and reheated it today. It’s easy. It’s good for you. Lentils, sweet potatoes and spinach, all in one bowl?
Red Lentil & Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach
canola or olive oil, for cooking
1 onion, chopped
1 fresh jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp. curry paste or powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tsp. salt
1 medium dark-fleshed sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1/2 cup dry red lentils
1 14 oz. (398 mL) can coconut milk
1 cup water
a big handful of baby spinach leaves
In a large, heavy skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium-high heat. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, then add the jalapeño, ginger, garlic, curry paste, cumin, turmeric and salt. Cook for a few more minutes.
Stir in the sweet potato, lentils, coconut milk and water; bring to a simmer, then cover, turn the heat down to medium-low and cook for about 20 minutes, until the potatoes are tender.
Uncover and tear in the spinach; stir, return the lid and cook for another minute or two, just until the spinach wilts. Serve immediately, over rice. Serves 4-6.
April 16 2010 | beans and veg and vegetarian | 93 Comments »
Have you ever panicked that there is just so much food and so little time? I do. Frequently.
I remember the first time I felt a pang of THERE IS JUST SO MUCH TO EAT AND ONLY SO MANY DAYS IN A WEEK AND HOURS IN A DAY! AND MONTHS IN A YEAR! EVERY DAY I HAVE TO DECIDE! I’M NOT GOING TO HAVE TIME TO EAT IT ALL! THE MATH JUST DOESN’T ADD UP! – it was triggered by a coconut cream pie. So now every time I get overwhelmed by the food possibilities out there (eating in and out), or unreasonably angry that I’ve wasted valuable space and calories on something that was not all it should be, I think of coconut cream pie. OK, not really every time. But sometimes I have my coconut cream pie moments.
I get this feeling a lot when I get sucked into the vortex of food blogs – skipping from one to the next, bookmarking stuff and taking mental notes that invariably more mental notes get loaded on top of until I go a little bit mental. Once in awhile something I see jumps the queue – this was one of them. And I had a bag of the daintiest little Canadian du puy lentils that remind me of smooth, speckled green river stones that I was dying to use.
A Gourmet recipe, it was originally titled “Fried Eggs Over Warm Lentil Salad with Lardons”, which sounds appealingly rustic and British, but of course we don’t generally use the term lardon to describe the bacon in our skillets, and because I’m trying to be a little bit less lardon I poached my eggs instead of frying them. Every little bit helps.
This was actually lunch and dinner; at 6pm I tossed the leftover lentil salad back into the skillet I had just cooked plain old pork chops in, tossing them around to warm them and get some of those flavourful bits. It made a great accompaniment; ditto pork tenderloin or roast, I’d imagine.
Poached Eggs Over Warm Lentil Salad with Bacon
Thanks again, Gourmet. (This of course has been adapted – I also tossed the spinach right in and wilted it, rather than scattering it overtop the eggs as per their instruction.) If you want to throw a peeled clove of garlic into the pot of lentils while they simmer, go right ahead.
3/4 cup dried lentils (I used little green du Puy lentils)
4 slices bacon, chopped
2 leeks (white and pale green parts only), finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar, or to taste
1 cup baby spinach
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon (optional)
salt & pepper
4-8 large eggs
In a small saucepan, cover lentils with about twice as much water, bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for about 30 minutes, or until just tender. (You can do this ahead of time and keep them in the fridge until you’re ready for them.)
While the lentils are simmering, cook the bacon until crisp in a large, heavy skillet; transfer with a slotted spoon to a plate, leaving the drippings in the skillet. (If you like, pour them out and add a drizzle of canola or olive oil.) Add the leeks, celery, and carrot and cook, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and cook until it’s mostly evaporated. Drain the lentils well and add them to the skillet along with the spinach and tarragon; cook, stirring, until heated through and the spinach wilts. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the bacon.
Meanwhile, poach your eggs. Divide the warm lentil salad among 4 plates and top with the eggs. Serves 4.
One Year Ago: Roast Chicken and Hummus Wraps and Mandarin Milkshakes
January 11 2010 | beans and eggs and one dish and vegetarian | 29 Comments »
« Prev - Next »
