Fillo cups two ways (sweet and savory)

Remember these beans? Remember when I said they would be back. Well here they are on whole wheat tomato and feta sourdough bread. This was not what I had in mind, it was just a happy accident that I needed to use my starter, and I happened to have these beans. So good! I had to take a picture and share, these beans are quite versatile.

Back to the filo cups though. I thought it would be fun on a hot day such as today to feast on cold appetizers and have a game night. We ate these garlic bean filled fillo cups as well as the "yummy pink cups" as my daughter dubbed them, along side some homemade salsa and chips. Everything went over really well. Both children were hesitant to eat the cups at first, because I've told them that cups aren't for eating.

I am marking these as make ahead, even though in the strictest sense they are not. You can make the filling ahead of time, but I would recommend filling them right before eating as they might get soggy otherwise.

The "pink yummy cups" are really an adaptation of learning to live egg free. I used to fill fillo cups with a combination of lemon curd and yogurt, and top them with fresh raspberries (YUM!). No longer an option in our household. This new recipe was not only a hit, but a suitable substitute. If I ever figure out how to make an egg free, soy free, lemon curd I'll post it on here.


Garlic Basil Bean and Roma Tomato Fillo Cups

1 recipe garlic basil beans
2 diced roma tomatoes
1 tsp vinegar (balsamic or otherwise, I used raspberry basil vinegar)
30 mini fillo shells (2 boxes)
shredded cheese (optional)

Thaw filo cups according to directions on box. Mix together the garlic basil beans, roma tomatoes and vinegar. Distribute evenly into the filo cups. Sprinkle cheese on top if desired. You could heat these if you like the bubbly cheese element. They were very tasty cold though, especially on a hot day.


Pink Yummy Cups

1 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup organic vanilla yogurt
2 tbs fruit preserves (I used this)
15 mini fillo shells

Thaw mini fillo cups according to directions. Soften the cream cheese in a bowl. Stir in yogurt and preserves. Distribute evenly (about a tsp to each) into fillo cups. Chill and serve.

Smokey Corn Chowder with Sweet Potatoes and Baby Spinach

This was good....really good. I started this blog not only to share, but to learn. And what have I learned? That corn stock ah-maize-ing...heehee, see how I did that? Seriously now, it is a tragedy to throw away your corn cobs before you have used them for stock. I didn't follow an exact recipe, I just threw what veggies I had (4 corn cobs, and 4 carrots) into a pot, covered them with water, added 2 bay leaves, salt, and crushed garlic, and I boiled it....forever...voila...rich flavorful broth. Feel free to use an exact recipe, if that kind of thing floats your boat.
I am certain this recipe is still good without the corn stock, but I hope you do take the time to try and make some if you get the chance. The sweetness from the fresh corn and the sweet potatoes combined with the creamy Gouda, hint of spice, and the smoke flavoring created a winning dish that everyone enjoyed. It was nice to see my kids chow down on so many different veggies without any complaints.

What you need...
oil to coat pot
1 onion peeled, washed, and diced
2 carrots, scrubbed and sliced
1 sweet potato peeled, washed, and diced
1 potato peeled, washed....and you guessed it...diced.
2 dashes red pepper
1/4 tsp Creole seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
5 ears worth of corn kernels
6 cups of corn (or other veggie stock)
4 tbs cornstarch
4 tbs water
1/2 cup milk
1/2 lb shredded cheese (I used Gouda, but I think smoked cheddar would be equally nice)
2 handfuls of washed baby spinach (optional)
1 tsp smoke flavoring
salt to taste

Pour enough oil to coat the bottom of a large stockpot and heat it over medium heat.

Add the onion, potatoes, carrots and Creole seasoning and red pepper flakes. Cook until the onions are translucent and the potatoes and carrots are tender.

Mix together the cornstarch and water in a separate bowl

Add the corn, pepper, stock, and bring to a boil. Cook for ten minutes.

Add the cornstarch and water and cook until potatoes are done and soup is thickened.

Lower the heat, and stir in the baby spinach, cheese, and milk. Heat through.

Stir in the liquid smoke, and add salt to taste.

Enjoy!

This is my submission for September 2010 "No Croutons Required". The theme is corn. Wish me luck!

Egg Free Pumpkin Spice Waffles with Maple Yogurt Dipping Sauce

I'm a big fan of yogurt. I eat it every day. Sometimes as a breakfast food, other times I mix it into sauces, dips, desserts or use it as a garnish. You should never feel like you have to sit down and eat an entire bowl of yogurt to reap it's benefits, and neither should your kids. Even though my kids eat yogurt by itself, I still work it into their food other ways. It's packed with protein and probiotics that I feel good about giving them. This dipping sauce would also be fantastic with french toast, apple wedges, or even just licked off of the plate....as my son did. Seriously though if you saw how cute he was you would understand why I let him get away with it. While this is a great dish for toddlers, I feel I should note that you should never give maple syrup to your child before the age of one.

Here is the recipe for my pumpkin spice waffles.

And here is the recipe for maple yogurt dipping sauce

2/3 cups organic vanilla yogurt
2 tbs maple syrup
1/8 tsp cinnamon

Just mix it all together and have at it.

Cool and Spicy Chickpea Tacos

Too hot to make tacos?? Never! This vegetarian taco filling is served cold. And when separated from the tortillas, it would make an excellent lunch to take to work as it doesn't need to be heated. And what would a taco be without fixins'. I filled mine with spring mix, avocado slices and freshly made salsa! YUM!
I also wanted to show you how this meal is easily turned into a lunch the next day for my kids. Chopped up chunks of cheese, avocado, sweet potatoes, and taco filling. Little man ate all this and a bowl of rice. Baby girl ate most of it....but insisted she didn't like "sweet tatatoes"...even though she had eaten them the night before. Thus is the way of a four year old.


Ingredients

2 cloves pressed garlic
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tbs sour cream
1tsp lemon juice
2 tbs taco seasoning
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1 can El Pato tomato sauce (spicy or with jalapenos whatever floats your boat)
salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves

1lb bag of chickpeas cooked according to package drained and cooled
tortillas and whatever you like to top your tacos with...onions, salsa, avocado, leafy greens, olives, sour cream....pickles? I'm not here to judge.

Whisk together the first nine ingredients.

Stir in the chickpeas, cilantro, and add the salt pepper, and cayenne to taste.

Fill taco shells as desired....easy peesy...peasy??....pesey?....

Black Bean Chipotle Burgers with Pan Fried Sweet Potatoes and BBQ Sauce...

I was inspired by Debbie. I love her blog, even though she isn't a vegetarian she frequently posts meatless recipes, and she posts the caloric content. Fabulous! This recipe for sweet potatoes and black bean burritos reminded me that...well...I love sweet potatoes and black beans. I am still kind of worn out from the trip so in figuring out how to satisfy my craving without a trip to the store I came up with this.
It's simply one of my make ahead frozen black bean burgers (you could always use your own recipe, or buy them) which I thawed and cooked in a pan on the stove. I topped it with thinly sliced and pan fried sweet potatoes, organic BBQ sauce, and served it on a whole wheat bun. It went over well with the fam. If I had thought of it ahead of time I could have grilled the sweet potatoes and burgers side by side. Which is what I will do next time I make these.....and there will be a next time!

Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

When life hands you stale tortilla chips....make this soup. I thought this soup was fun. You can set out all sorts of different toppings to dress it up, sour cream, avocado, olives, Tabasco, cheese....like a taco bar, but with soup..how fun is that?!?!...Ok so you probably shouldn't take advice on what is fun by someone who once aspired to be an ornithologist. But if nothing else this was a break from the norm, and a great way to use up some left over tortilla chips that were past their prime. This is a pantry meal, so go ahead and play with it to suit your pantries ingredients.

Ingredients
Olive oil about 1tbs
1 onion diced
1 tbs chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic salt
cayenne to taste
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
2 cups of chickpeas
1 cup frozen spinach
2/3 cups salsa
4 cups of broth
stale (or not) tortilla chips

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and spices and cook for about five minutes or until tender.

Add the garlic and salsa, cook one more minute.

Add the chickpeas and spinach and cook for five more minutes.

Add the broth and bring to a simmer, simmer for about ten minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with cilantro, tortilla chips, hot sauce, sour cream, avocado...or whatever else you would like.

My son picked out all of the spinach.....and ate that first. Then he proceeded to finish his entire bowl, and half of mine. I can't blame him, I really like the way the spinach came through in this soup. My daughter decided she doesn't like lunch, so I offered it to her as a snack......she seemed okay with that.

P.S. Pictures will be up when I figure out how to get them off of my new (squeeeeeeeeee) camera.

An acceptable use of flour tortillas

You may remember this post, where I mentioned that we don't buy flour tortillas with the exception of burrito and chimichanga use, or in the case of cooking for company. Well company is coming, and included in that are two beautiful (but picky) little girls, and one slightly less picky man. In the interest of planning ahead I decided to make and freeze some flautas so we will have a couple of quick meals to eat while they are here. Hopefully they will go over well, and I will lose my reputation as the aunt that makes the "weird food". So here is a recipe for not weird baked vegetarian flautas that you can make and freeze should you wish. If you like things spicy consider adding some salsa to the mix.

Totally Not Weird Flautas

1 block of cream cheese softened
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can of green chilis
garlic salt, salt, cayenne and pepper to taste
Flour tortillas (ten pack)

Mix together the first 3 ingredients and add seasoning to taste.

Divide the filling evenly between the tortillas, placing it in the center of the tortilla.

Roll up tortilla and place flap side down on a baking dish. Bake at 375 for about fifteen minutes, or until tortilla becomes crispy at the edges.

If you wish to freeze these put them on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer to freeze individually first. Once frozen you can bag them and tag them. Errr that is put them in one labeled Ziploc freezer bag.

Chickpea Pot Pie

Sorry about the lack of pictures, I promise to get in a whole slew of them once I can figure out how to get them from my phone to my computer....Now you have to ask yourself, which is better, no pictures, or a slew of cell phone pictures. I will leave you to decide weather or not you want to check back and see about those.
This was yummy! The sauce was a little thick/non existent. Mostly because I second guessed myself and added two extra tablespoons of flour. It's pretty much just chicken pot pie, but with chickpeas, and instead of a crust I used drop biscuits. It's a pantry meal so adjust it to whatever you have on hand. Since it has vegetables, protein, and grains, there was no need to make any side dishes to go with it. And we had leftovers for lunch the next day. /happy dance

For the biscuits
1 1/2 cup unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup olive oil

Mix together the dry ingredients, and pour in the wet ingredients all at once. Stir to combine. Set aside.


For the filling
2 cups of chickpeas
2 cups of frozen veg (I used a mixture of peas and spinach)
2 potatoes diced
olive oil
2 tbs butter
4 tbs flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp seasoning salt divided
1/4 tsp pepper

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium low heat. Once melted, whisk in the flour 1/4 tsp seasoning salt and pepper. Cook for a minute or two or until the floury taste is gone. Pour in the milk all at once, whisking as you go. Heat through. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Meanwhile pan fry the potatoes in olive oil until golden brown and add salt to taste.

Pour frozen veggies, potatoes, and chickpeas into a greased casserole dish. Pour sauce over the top, and drop biscuit dough in rows over the top of the veg mixture.

Bake at 350 for 30-50 minutes or until biscuits are done, and the filling is bubbly.

Addendum
Here is the aforementioned slew....
Note the negative space, the contrasting colors....


The shadow of my elbow...
oooooh aaaaahhh

Saffron Rice with Lentils and Garlic Butter

The good news is I found my camera...the bad news is that it wasn't before I took this picture.
This was yummy. I'd like to say we all enjoyed heaping bowls of this round the dinner table, but that would be a lie. The truth is that my darling son woke up early from nap time, and he woke up hungry. And consequently he ate 3 adult size bowls of this, the result being that there was little left for the rest of us to eat. So I will definitely be using this as a side dish next time. Maybe along side some grilled veggies. If you don't have saffron, I'm not going to say you should go out and buy some just for this recipe, as it is very expensive. However, should you happen to have a bit left over from another recipe, or if you just love saffron rice as much as I do I think this is a good place to use it. I made this in my rice cooker......what's that, you don't have a rice cooker? Well go get one, no seriously, they are awesome.

What you need for the rice
1 1/2 rice cooker cups of rice
1 1/2 rice cooker cups of lentils rinsed and sorted
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 pinches of saffron
1 tbs butter
3 cloves of garlic peeled and finely chopped
Broth

What you need for the garlic butter
1/4 cup softened unsalted butter
Pressed garlic (I used 4 cloves) and salt (I used about 1/4 tsp) to taste.

Add the rice, lentils,salt, pepper, chopped garlic, butter, and saffron to your rice cooker. Add broth to the fill line required by your rice cooker for 3 rice cooker cups of rice. Cook. :)

Mix together the remaining garlic, butter, and salt to taste. Top your saffron rice with this mixture as desired. I think this would have been outstanding with a few tablespoons of freshly chopped herbs. Maybe next time.

To veganize simply replace butter with vegan "butter".

Vegan Malai Kofta.....kinda

Who loves a cell phone photo....show of hands? Alright then. This lovely dish is what we had for dinner tonight, and I gotta tell you it knocked my socks off. Malai Kofta is a dish made of... you guessed it unmeatballs (I know that is kind of becoming my thing) and a creamy sauce. Well traditionally they are packed with nuts and raisins, and all sorts of things my kiddos are allergic too. So this is my version, without the allergens, and packed full of chickpeas instead of cheese so they are vegan. They are great for a celebration, or special evening. You can make the unmeatballs a day ahead of time and cook them up when you are ready to make the sauce. Great served over rice, this recipe is also gluten free (be sure to check your ingredients).

For the unmeatballs
1lb bag of chickpeas, soaked overnight and cooked according to package directions
3 baked potatoes with the skins removed
2 tbs olive oil
3 cloves of garlic minced
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt or more to taste
cayenne to taste

Heat the oil over medium low heat and add the garlic, salt, and spices. Cook for two minutes or until fragrant, being careful not to burn the garlic. then remove from heat.

Puree the chickpeas until smooth in your food processor and pour into a large bowl.

Mash in the potatoes and the spice/oil mixture until well combined. Taste, and add salt and cayenne as desired.

Shape into balls and refrigerate until ready to cook.


For the sauce

2tbs olive oil
4 cloves pressed garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
2 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground cumin
cayenne to taste
1/4 tsp salt (or more, the amount you need will depend on the saltiness of your tomato sauce, I'm erring on the side of caution here. You are welcome to add more salt)
1 can of tomato sauce
1 cup of coconut milk

Heat the olive oil over medium low heat and add the garlic and ginger. Cook for about a minute taking care not to burn the garlic.

Add the spices and salt all at once. Add a dash of cayenne (you may add more later for more spice). Cook for another minute or two while stirring.

Add the tomato sauce, (lower the heat if your stove runs hot, mine does :) tomato sauce burns quickly) and stir in the coconut milk.

Heat just to a simmer (not boiling) and lower heat. Cook for about five minutes and add salt, and more cayenne to desired spicyness. *

Pour sauce over unmeatballs...enjoy! :)

Little man ate 5 of these over rice. Big man had about that many too, and would have had more, but he was saving room for pie. My darling girl only ate one, and some rice, it seems she was saving room for pie as well.

*Did you know that spicyness isn't a word?? A fact my spell check keeps trying to inform me of. That can't be right.....

Simple Meals and Chili Ten Ways

I went to the farmers market this weekend and picked up some produce along with a lovely ciabatta bread. I brushed it with a mixture of melted butter, crushed garlic, and cayenne pepper, then sprinkled it with parmesean cheese and toasted it in the toaster oven. So simple, so good. White bread is a sometimes food...... but if I'm going to eat it, it might as well have butter and garlic on it.



I served it up with a spinach salad, topped with strawberries, feta cheese, and a light vinaigrette.

Chili Ten Ways
brought to you by Bubba Mc chompsandcries

Among my finds at the market were bell peppers, and zucchini. Perfect for a vegetarian chili, which turned out to be just the right thing to make this week. You see, my son at his best will eat a wide variety of foods, with his favorites being beans, rice, and yogurt. At his worst however he narrows down the foods he will eat into two groups, chili.........and things he will tolerate if mixed with chili. And this week he has been sick, and teething. So in my effort to get him to eat a variety of foods I have come up with ten ways to serve chili. This will work well if you also have a toddler who refuses to eat anything but chili....or possibly also if you just have a bunch of leftover chili, which is the more likely scenario out of the two. You can serve chili....

1.) Topped with cheese, sour cream, avocado, and crushed tortilla chips.

2.) On a baked potato.

3.) Over nachos.

4.) As enchilada filling.

5.) In redneck casserole. That's chili in a casserole dish topped with tots, baked, and then sprinkled with cheese.

6.) Mixed in with spaghetti sauce.

7.) Mixed in with mac and cheese.

8.) Over rice.

9.) As the filling for a shepherds pie sort of dish. Chili, topped with mashed potatoes and baked.

10.) On a grilled cheese sandwich.

There you have it, not gourmet, not revolutionary, and most of these recipes involve potatoes.....I just noticed that. However, I never said I was a chef. Just a mom out to prove that you can eat well on a budget.

More Chapati Pizza

This chapati was topped with an Indian inspired sauce, cheddar cheese, and sprinkled with chili powder. Grilled, or pan seared tofu would make an excellent topping in place of the cheese for a dairy free (vegan) version of this dish or even in addition to the cheese for an extra bit of protein.

I used the recipe I always use for chapati but found that I needed much more olive oil than last time.....perhaps because I had to keep interrupting my kneading to wipe, hold, or feed a child. The sauce came together quite well, despite the fact that I needed to improvise a bit with my ingredients and their amounts.

The sauce

5 cloves crushed garlic
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
dash or two of cayenne (if you like spice)
1 can of tomato sauce 15oz
olive oil to coat the pan

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, and spices, stirring to keep the garlic from browning. Cook for two minutes, until the spices become fragrant, stirring as needed. Add the tomato sauce and stir. Cook for five minutes more, stirring occasionally. At this point the sauce should be bubbly, and the spices should have had a chance to work their way around the sauce. Taste and add salt as desired.

Top the chapati with a few spoonfuls of sauce, some cheese (or tofu) and a generous sprinkling of chili powder. Heat in the toaster oven until cheese bubbles, or you just can't wait any longer. :)

Vegetarian Breakfast Patty (soy free)

I don't know how I feel about these. The hubster loved them, but to me the texture was off, and I think I will use more brown rice next time to get that chewy, hearty texture one expects from a breakfast patty.

What you need
1 onion
1 1/2 cups of cooked chickpeas
1 cup brown rice
8 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp sage divided
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt divided
1 cup breadcrumbs
olive oil for frying

Dice the onion and saute with 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp sage until golden brown. Add half of this mixture, along with the clove of garlic, black pepper, cream cheese, garlic salt, chickpeas, and 1/4 tsp sage to your food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture into a bowl and stir in the brown rice, bread crumbs, the rest of the onions, and salt and pepper to taste. Shape this mixture into a log and refrigerate. Slice and pan fry when ready to eat.

This made a decent post workout snack, but there is room for improvement. I will let you know how it turns out in dinner. I'm making vegetarian Loco Moco.

Chipotle Sweet Potato and Caramelized Onion Un-Meatballs

I couldn't sleep last night. Among the many thoughts that danced through my head in between dreams of being a professional tap dancer, sweet potatoes were the most prevalent.....that's right produce keeps me up at night. I am not sure if it was the rain that inspired these cravings, the lingering nip of winter in the air urging me to seek out comforting carbs. Whatever it was I lay there mentally digging through my pantry and figuring out how I would prepare sweet potatoes for dinner tonight. The given recipe is how I made them. I have not tried the variations, but halfway through making the un-meatballs I realized that the dough (is that even what you would call it) could be used for other things as well.

what you need:
2 sliced onions
1/4 tsp salt
olive oil for frying
1 baked sweet potato
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1 chipotle chili or more to taste
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese (omit for vegan version)
food processor

What you need to do:
Heat the oil over medium heat and add the onions and salt. Cook until translucent with some browning.
Meanwhile in your food processor combine the sweet potato, chickpeas, BBQ sauce, chili, and process until everything is mixed together. It should be smooth and almost like a thick batter. Taste and add more chilis or Tabasco if desired at this time.
Pour mixture into a bowl and stir in onions and shredded cheese. Using an ice cream scoop form mixture into balls and bake on a cookie sheet @ 350 for 10-15 minutes. I pan fried half of these in olive oil as the kiddos need the fat. Both baking and frying produced nice results.
If you are having trouble getting them to hold together add breadcrumbs until they are the desired consistency.

I wish the pictures did these justice, they were sweet and spicy, crunchy on the outside and gooey melty on the inside. To vary this recipe a bit you could add flour and roll the batter into gnocchi, or use it as a patty for a veggie burger....I'm thinking ciabatta with garlic butter, mozzarella, and baby spring mix.

In other news, we will be having company so posts will be few and far between....even more so. I look forward to getting into a less hectic pace sometime around 2026 though. So unless the zombie apocalypse* comes to pass before then look forward to more frequent postings at that time.

* Note to Hun, talking about, and blogging about the zombie apocalypse are two different things. One, is a single sentence made in jest, the other is an ongoing obsession that interrupts daily life with disaster planning and escape routes.....don't for one second think this means I have lifted the ban.

Happy (late) St. Patrick's Day!!!

We have been experiencing difficulty with our interweb service lately, sorry for the delay. We had a wonderful St. Patricks day, I helped the kiddos make three leaf clover wands and we rocked out to some Celtic tunes. We also feasted on some creamy spinach soup, colcannon, and pound cake with lemon curd for dessert. Everyone agreed that there was no need to wait a year to make this again. The Kids favored the green soup, and both had seconds.

Creamy Spinach and Mashed Potato Soup

A lot of the texture and flavor of this soup comes from the mashed potatoes. I used garlic parmesean mashed potatoes that I had left over from Making the colcannon. Use your favorite recipe.

1 package neufchatel cheese softened
1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup steamed broccoli
10 oz baby spinach
4 cups veggie broth


Put the first four ingredients into your food processor and slowly add the broth until heated thoroughly. If you like your soup on the thin side heat this mixture up and call it good. For a thicker soup you can always add cornstarch, or more mashed potatoes! Add salt and pepper to taste.





Colcannon is a traditional Irish dish of mashed potatoes, and either cabbage or kale. Here I used a layer of garlic mashed potatoes, a layer of cabbage sauteed with butter and Creole seasoning, broccoli, and topped the whole thing with a layer of good Irish cheese.



And here is the pound cake......not really Irish, but neither am I. :)

Peanut Soup....only not really

You know when your expecting one thing, and you get something completely different, how you can't fully appreciate that different thing because you are still longing for the first thing. No....just me then? Well that is what this soup has been like for me. I saw a peanut soup, or stew,...or maybe it was a chili...well anyway, it was on food network, and it looked delicious. It was creamy, spicy and warm, I knew at that instant I must have that soup! However, five to ten instances later I had forgotten about that soup, probably it was pushed to the back of my mind in favor of a cookie or chocolate, as so often happens to me.

But then I saw it again on the menu somewhere "African Peanut Soup", and all of the longing and desire rushed back. Imagine my surprise when the dish served to me was more like a noodle soup with greens and little bits of crushed peanuts on top. It was neither spicy, or creamy, and it re-inspired me to make the peanut soup in my head......that didn't come out sounding as normal as I thought it would. Anyhoo, today I set out to do just that, I got some chickpeas out of the freezer along with some veggie broth....except I didn't have any veggie broth /sigh and I ended up making something else entirely.....so this dish was a journey, that started with desire, and ended up "Chickpeas in a spicy peanut sauce".....it was a good journey filled with ups, downs, and cookies (as all journeys should be), but a long one. So without further ado here is a recipe.

Chickpeas in a Spicy Peanut Sauce

2 tbs Olive oil
1 Onion
5 Garlic cloves minced
1tbs Ginger
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp salt
1 can coconut milk
3 cups chickpeas
1/3 cup peanut butter or sun butter...or cashew butter...mmmmm...I keep wanting to try this recipe with cashew butter.
cayenne to taste

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the onions and cook for about four minutes, or until the onions are tender. Add the garlic and ginger, and cook for a minute more. Stir in the next four ingredients and cook a minute more. Lower the heat and stir in the chickpeas and peanut butter until everything is coated with spicy peanut buttery goodness. Then add the coconut milk and simmer covered for about 10 minutes, add cayenne to taste. This satisfied my craving quite well...considering it was not at all what I set out to make.

Black Bean Loaf with Quick Chipotle Red Pepper "Gravy"

Hubster: So what's for dinner?

*silence*

Hubster:That bad eh?

Me: Well I don't know that yet....it's a bean loaf (see how that "loaf" word sounds so horrible in a recipe title).

Hubster: /groan

We are still running on pantry meals...can you tell?? And despite my husbands not so subtle objections, he had seconds, and DS had thirds. I thought it was quite good myself, perfect for a chilly day like today. It didn't hold together as well as some of the other loafs I make, probably could have used an egg in it....perhaps next time. It would probably hold together better with oats, instead of rice too.

Black Bean Loaf

1 block cream cheese (softened)
1/3 cup salsa
3 cloves of garlic minced
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp salt
Tabasco to taste
3 cups black beans
1 cup rice
1/2 cup shredded cheese (mozzerella, cheddar, pepper jack, whatever you have handy)

Stir together the first 5 ingredients until smooth, add in beans, rice, and cheese until evenly mixed. Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake at 350 for....a while...dang I really wasn't paying attention...I want to say like a half hour to forty five minutes...man why am I doing this blog thing again.


chipotle Red Pepper "Gravy"*

3tbs unsalted butter
3tbs flour
1/8 tsp salt
1 chipotle pepper in adobo chopped
1 cup Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Soup
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the chipotle, flour, and salt. Continue to stir for about a minute to two minutes to get that floury taste out (we're making a roux here). Lower the heat to medium low and pour in the heavy whipping cream, and soup. Keep stirring intermittently, this should get thick and and ever so slightly bubbly....but never boiling. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Vegan Version:
For the loaf, replace the cream cheese with a box of silken tofu. Puree the tofu, garlic, Tabasco and spices, and add an extra 1/8 tsp salt. Continue with above directions (omitting the shredded cheese of course).
For the sauce, simply replace the butter with vegan butter or olive oil, and replace the cream with coconut cream.

* I don't know exactly what qualifies as a gravy, nor if this fits the criteria...however I feel that the quotation marks make that......
A.) clear
and
B.) ok

Vegan Black Bean Cornbread, a Lesson in Perseverance, and Not So Vegan Butter

I can't remember where I got the idea for this from, I've googled away most of nap time to no avail....sigh. I can tell you that this is a great recipe for the kiddos, because it is basically measuring pouring and stirring. I love baking vegan goods with my three year old, because she gets the satisfaction of licking the spoon, and I don't have to worry about food poisoning. Also it works with most cornbread mixes and recipes that I have tried, so feel free to use your own favorite mix. I was just tired and reached for the nearest box.

The dry stuff:
1 box, bag, recipe, cornbread mix....except I think that Jiffy uses lard...so probably not them
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp Chili powder
1/4 tsp creole seasoning
Dash o' cayenne

The "secret" ingredient:
1 can of Amy's black bean soup

Mix together all of the dry ingredients, and stir in the soup. At this point you can actually taste the batter, and adjust the seasonings to your taste. I would have used more cayenne, if not for my kids. Pour into a greased muffin pan and bake @ 375...mine took about 25 minutes, however my oven is 20 years old. I am guessing it might take 15-20 minutes in a newer oven.

Learning with butter....because everything is better with butter

What you'll need
1 somewhat attentive three year old
heavy whipping cream
1 small Tupperware or other food container with a tight fitting lid

First we practiced saying perseverance. Next I explained that perseverance is when you keep on doing something, even when it gets tough, or takes longer than you thought it would. Then I explained how we were going to make butter out of heavy cream. We filled our Tupperware 2/3 of the way with cream, and she shook it until the slosh sloshing of cream turned into the thud thud splashing of butter in buttermilk. It all took about ten minutes, the cream will get thicker and thicker, until the solids separate from the liquid and you will have some buttery stuff surrounded by a watery mess.
She persevered, and was rewarded with muffins and butter that she had made (almost) all by herself. I wish you could have seen the sparkle in her eyes when she presented her dish to the hubster, priceless. Alternatively this lesson can be adapted for a group of children by letting them each take a turn shaking, and explaining the benefits of team work and taking turns.

A Celebratory Pantry Meal

We got our tax rebate today, and despite the fact that about 80% of our money is going to road trip 2010, I felt it was important to celebrate. If nothing else to be thankful that we have the money to drive 60 hours across the country stopping only to rest for a few hours in budget hotels, all so we can spend a few days in various places around the west coast.....wait....why are we doing this again?...I must really love my friends and family*. I however didn't feel like spending any of the money not already allocated to the trip on groceries, so I whipped up an Indian spiced dish that is one of the hubsters favorites and only requires things we normally have on hand.
As far as the picture goes....well...whenever I try to photograph Indian food it always comes out looking like dog food...sigh. So even though this isn't the prettiest of dishes, I used all of my limited photographic skillz** to make it look like....well...dog food.

Indian Spiced Black Beans in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

What you will need

Olive oil to coat the pan
6 cloves of minced garlic
1tbs minced ginger
3tsp garam masala
3tsp ground cumin
1tsp chili powder
1 or 2 dashes of cayenne
1/4 tsp salt (more to taste)
3 cups black beans
2 cans tomato sauce
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream (omit for vegan option)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, add the ginger and garlic. Stir and heat for one minute. Add the spices and heat for one more minute or until fragrant, stirring frequently. Add the black beans and stir to coat with spices. Add the tomato sauce and heat thoroughly. Take off of heat and add the heavy whipping cream and the cilantro. Serve over brown rice.


*I really really do love my friends and family, I hope you know that. I also love sourdough....which may have had some impact on my decision.

** I made it small and used an odd angle to distract you from how bad the food looks.

Sweet Chili and Garlic Un-Meatballs

It's always difficult to come up with a name for vegetarian loaf recipes, and of course just as difficult to come up with a name for their small round cousin the vegetarian meatball. You want a name that says what it is, but who wants a second helping of bean loaf or veggie balls??? I think that this recipe was a success in taste and name*, the fam agreed.


Ingredients:
3oz cream cheese (this is the binder, you could sub egg or a vegan preference)
1/4 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
4 cloves of garlic sliced
1/3 cup chopped green onion
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
2 cans of chickpeas
1/3 cup COOKED brown rice
salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil if pan frying

Stir together the first five ingredients in a medium sized mixing bowl. Mash in the chickpeas (this took quite a bit of work. I think next time I will run them through the food processor before adding them). Stir in the brown rice and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate this mixture for about an hour, this will make it easier to shape. Once done chilling, shape the mixture into balls and bake at 350 for ten minutes. After baking, I pan fried some of mine in a little olive oil for added fat and calories. The fried ones went to the kiddos. The hubster and I ate ours with a sauce of olive oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and green onion that was reduced over medium low heat for about ten minutes.

*If I just put "un" and a hyphen in front of a word, that makes it a word....right?