Sourdough Bread Lasagna

Time gets away from me.   Weeks turn into months and pretty soon we do the whole year again.  This year is already flying by.  On February second I took my last bite of meat (hopefully) until my birthday.  So far so good, especially if I find more recipes like this one that are wholly satisfying.

Yesimir Kik Wot

The other day Alex and I had this wonderful Ethiopian spicy red lentil stew for dinner.  We were so taken with it that we decided to find a recipe to try and make it ourselves.  I'm hopping it makes enough for us to eat for several days.  I'm going to be a busy girl.

Sautéed Veggies and Shells

 

So today was a wash.  I wanted to go to D.C. and see the cherry blossoms.  However, we walked out the door to a rain storm.  No Cherry Blossoms for me today.  This made me a little sad.  I wanted to have a fun Easter since we are far from home and our wonderful friends, who celebrate in style every year.  

Sweet potatoes with tomatoes and collard greens

It's February. WOW! Where has the time gone.

Applesauce

We cut up three different types of apples.

Magnolia Gold

Tri-colored Pasta Salad

The days are getting longer.

And Hotter.

Another summer in Chico makes me shutter, but that is the way things are shaping up.

So baking or anything that requires turning on the oven makes me cringe. 

Especially in my tiny house that get very hot in the afternoons. 

For dinner tonight we are having pasta salad.  

Tri-Colored Pasta Salad

Adapted from 

Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives 

Joe's Famouse Tri-Colored Pasta with grilled Chicken 

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces tri-colored Rotini
• 1 Red bell pepper, finely diced 
• 1 yellow bell pepper, finely diced 
• 1 orange bell pepper, finely diced 
• 4 medium tomatoes, chopped 
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 small can finely diced black olives 
• 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup red wine vinegar 
• 1/4 cup sugar 
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste 

Directions:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat 
• Add pasta and cook, until al dente 
• Drain and cool
• Stir bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and olives together in a large bowl
• In a separate bowl whisk together oil, vinegar, and sugar.
• Season with salt and pepper
• Pour dressing over vegetables 
• Add pasta 
• Toss to combine 
• Serve 

\

What we think:

 Dianna: "I love it. Light and tasty perfect for a hot summer evening."
 Alex: "This should be a side and not dinner"

Cucumber Tomato Pasta

Kale Chips

My dear friend Jacks challenged me to eat 3 new foods this week for my birthday!

First up is Kale Chips.  I've been meaning to try out this very simple and delicious recipe.  

Chard and Chickpea Stew

Twas the night before Thanksgiving and the house was astir.

Baking an Caramel Apple Pie

Pureeing Yams for Roasted Garlic Yams.

With all of this hustle and bustle I wanted to make something simple.

However, I also wanted to have something vegetarian so that we could indulge in endless turkey for the next few days/weeks.

Chard and Chickpea Stew
Inspired by a Recipe from Eats Well With Others.
Swiss Chard, Chickpea and Tamarand Stew.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (stalks and leaves), cut into 3/8-inch slices
  
  
  
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoon caraway seeds
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 14 oz canned chopped petite tomatoes, with their juices
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander
• 3 tablespoons Black Bean Garlic Sauce
• salt and black pepper
• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1 1/2 cups water

Directions:

• Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil and blanch the chard for 2 minutes.
• Drain in a colander.
• Put the onion, caraway seeds and olive oil in a large heavy pan and saute on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and golden.
  
  
  
• Add the tomato paste and stir as you cook it for about a minute.
• Add the canned tomatoes, water, sugar, chickpeas, ground coriander, chard and some salt and pepper.
• Add the black bean garlic sauce.
• Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes.
• When ready, the dish should have the consistency of a thick soup.
• Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
• While the stew is cooking, put the quinoa , coconut oil and a bit of salt in a medium pan and set on a medium heat.
• Stir to coat the quinoa with the oil.
• Add the water and boil, then cover the pan with a tight fitting lit and leave to simmer on a low flame for 20 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and leave covered for 5 minutes.
• When ready to serve, spoon the quinoa into shallow soup bowl, creating a crater in the center.
• Ladle some of the soup stew into the middle of each quinoa hole.

Happy Thanksgiving.

It's a Vegetarian kind of week.

So, Alex recently went to the doctor and was told that he needed to get his good cholesterol up and his triglycerides down. Well the best way to do this is to exercise. However he needs to reduce his bad cholesterol intake as well.

So, I instituted mandatory vegetarian night for our house hold.

But this week we have been eating lots of vegetables.

Monday: Red Bell Peppers sauteed in tomato sauce served over penne pasta.

Tuesday: Asian marinated tempe served over sauteed red and yellow bell peppers, onions and red cabbage. Served over rice. Recipe from Eats Well With Others.

And finally tonight...

Curried Chickpeas with Fresh Ginger and Cilantro

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1/4 cup of olive oil
• 1 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon black peppercorns
• 4 whole cloves
• 4 green cardamom pods
• 3 teaspoons chile powder
• 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1-1/2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• salt to taste
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• fresh serrano chiles, seeded, deveined, and cut into julienne for garnish
• a few fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Directions:

• Place cans of chickpeas in crock pot.
• Turn on low.
• Heat olive oil in saute pan
• Cook onion until soft and translucent
• Combine the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, chile powder, ginger, turmeric, garam masala, and cayenne in a morter and pestle.
• Grind to a course powder.
• Add to onions
• Cook for 5 more mintes
• Add onions and spice mixture to chickpeas in crock pot.
• Cook in crock pot for 60 minutes.
• Using a handheld immersion blender, puree some of the chickpeas in the indert to thicken the mixture.
• Add salt to taste.
• Stir in the lemon juice.
• Ladle into bowls over rice.
• Garnish with the chile slices and cilantro leaves.

Vegan Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup

Home alone on an Friday night. Sad? Not really.

Freedom from making dinner and entertaining my Husband is good every once in a while.

What to do with myself?

I decided to listen to a couple more Joy The Baker Podcasts from Homefries.

Which inspired me to make something that Alex would never want to eat. Something without meat!

Maybe I'll even get a good workout in. Though it's still hot. I'll think about it.

On to the recipe where I try to not get soup all over the place and long for an immersion blender.

Vegan Carrot Ginger Coconut Soup
From Joy The Baker

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons fresh ginger root, minced
  
  
  
• 3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 4 cups carrots, diced ( I sliced mine, you better dice yours)
  
  
  
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
• Add onions and saute until onions are translucent, about 4 minutes.
• Add ginger and saute for another 4 minutes, until softened and fragrant.
• Add coriander and diced carrots.
• Stir to incorporate.
• Add the vegetable broth, reduce heat, and simmer mixture until carrots are completely softened, about 30 minutes.
• Remove from heat and allow to cool for 20 minutes.
• Using a blender, blend soup in batches until smooth.
• Return soup to pot, stir in coconut milk.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve soup warm.

The soup is super yummy, though it could have been smoother. I'm happy with how it turned out. Now it's time to sit back and relax with Zoey.

Happy Friday.

Zesty Cilantro Quinoa Salad

While at work on Friday I picked up the newest Vegetarian times, June 2011. On page 55 there is a 28-day eat green challenge. This peaked my interest, while I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to go a full 28 days without meat, I do want to explore more vegetarian and vegan dishes. So, for dinner tonight...

Zesty Cilantro Quinoa Salad adapted from recipe found on Raleys.com

Ingredients:

• 1 (5.6-oz.) package Cuzco (seeds of Change)


• 1 (15-oz.) can Eden Organic Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 cup Eden Organic Whole Kernel Corn (from an 15.25-oz. can)


• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro


• 1/4 cup Annie's Naturals Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette


• 1 large grape tomatoes


• 1 small serrano pepper, stem and seeds removed, finely chopped

Directions:

• Prepare quinoa according to package directions on box


• Fluff with a fork, then let cool slightly.


• Stir in remaining ingredients


• Toss lightly to coat all ingredients with dressing.


• Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

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Tamale Torte with Black Bean Chile and Red Chile Sauce

Once again I'm trying a meatless meal for dinner tonight. This recipe incorporates two things both my husband and I love, Chili and Mexican food. Of course we have the same conversation every time I serve a vegan or vegetarian meal:

Alex: "Is there chicken in this?"
Me: "No."
Alex: "Is there steak in this?"
Me:"No."
Alex: "There should be."

This is a very hearty one dish meal. The entire recipe is suppose to yield 8 serving however I was full half way through one serving. Needless to say, we will be eating this for at least a couple of days.

Tamale Torte with Black Bean Chile and Red Chile Sauce adapted from The Millennium Cookbook.

Ingredients: Black Bean Chili

• 1 red onion diced


• 1 yellow onion diced


• 4 cloves of garlic minced


• 1/2 cup vegetable stock


• 1 tablespoon ground cumin


• 1 tablespoon chile powder


• 1 teaspoon dried oregano


• 2 bay leaves


• 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed


• 1 can tomato sauce


• 1 cup vegetable stock


• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients: Red Chile Sauce

• 2 Anaheim chiles


• 1 jalapeno pepper


• 8 cloves of garlic


• 26-ounce can of pureed tomatoes


• 2 cups of water


• 2 tablespoons sugar


• 1 tablespoon ground cumin powder


• 2 teaspoons dried oregano


• 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients: Masa Batter

• 4 cups masa flour


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon salt


• 4 cups soy milk


• 1 can corn, drained and rinsed

Directions: Black Bean Chili

In a large skillet, saute onions and garlic in 1/2-cup of vegetable stock over medium-high heat, until liquid evaporates.

Add the cumin, chile powder, oregano,and bay leaves.

Add beans, tomato puree, and 1 cup vegetable stock. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Set aside.


Directions: Sauce

In a dry medium saucepan toast the chiles over high heat, turning them, until they darken.


Remove from pan and let cool to touch. Remove stems and seeds of the chiles.

Toast the garlic in the same manner until half of each clove is blackened.
Remove from pan and set aside.

Combine Chiles, garlic, pureed tomatoes, water, sugar, cumin, oregano, and salt.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.
Stirring every 10 minutes.


Remove from heat, let cool, then puree until smooth.

Directions: Batter

In a large bowl, combine masa, baking powder, and salt.


Gradually add soy milk.

Then fold in corn.


I found I had to get my hands dirty at this point since it would not combine nicely with out a little hand mixing.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Lightly oil baking dish, I used my large casserole, but you can use an 11 x 9 inch baking dish.

Spread half masa batter on the bottom.


Top with black beans.

Followed by the remaining masa batter.


Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes

Remove foil and cook for 10 minutes.

Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes.


Slice into 8 portions and serve with sauce.

Bon Appétit

D

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