Kale and Quinoa Pilaf

Another lapse between posts! Things are good around here, my little herb garden has already started sprouting, our RocketPrincess is growing like a weed and we are heading to Seattle this weekend to see some friends!  In an effort to shed the pregnancy weight, I've been trying to eat a little better (certainly better than I did during pregnancy...a lot of cake was eaten) and with a little one and the expenses that came with a baby, buying a home and being on maternity leave, we've done almost all our cooking here - no more take out for us! 

This recipe, believe it or not, was picked out last week because we had all the ingredients in-house and we wanted to use up some kale.  Well WOW.  It was unbelievably good - so much better than I expected. My personal thought is that the ginger is the key, but the whole thing was delicious, and well-rounded, nutrition-wise.  In fact, it was SO good that I soaked some beans last night and we're having this for dinner again tonight!

Can take no credit for this one - this is from Cooking Light :)

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/kale-quinoa-pilaf-10000000226297/

2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot

1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons curry powder

1 teaspoon chili paste with garlic

1/2 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger

6 cups torn kale

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add curry, chili paste, and ginger; sauté 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring occasionally. Serve at room temperature.

Chili!

I know I haven't updated for ages!  However, I am currently 9 days from my due date and my last day of work was this past Friday, so I am officially on maternity leave now!  I hope to spend a lot more time over the next year on this blog experimenting with new meals, but people tell me I might be a bit busy :)

In the meantime, I bring you...chili!  This was my original recipe from when I ate meat, very few adjustments were required to make it vegetarian/vegan, so if you want to make it with meat, just brown your ground animal (sorry, couldn't resist) in the pot after the onions and peppers have become translucent and omit the beef and chicken flavoured stock cubes.

4 medium-sized red onions
3 bell peppers of whichever colour
2 cloves minced garlic
2+ cups rehydrated TVP (texturized vegetable protein)
3-4 cubes of veggie beef & chicken stock, for flavour
2 large cans plain tomato sauce
2 cans kidney beans
sriracha or minced chilis, to taste
salt and pepper to taste
splash or two of red wine (optional)
splash or two of balsamic vinegar (yummy)
pinch of cumin (optional)

Chop the onions into small bits, fry in olive oil with the minced garlic in the bottom of a really big pot.  When the onions get soft, throw in the diced peppers.  Add the rehydrated TVP (okay if it's a bit wet - sometimes I add in too much hot water when rehydrating it, so I just drain it in a strainer until it looks/feels like ground meat) - add the cubes of stock - I just crumble them right into the pot.  Cook for a good 10 minutes on medium until all the ingredients are well mixed and the TVP starts to stick to the bottom of the pot.  Add in the tomato sauce and kidney beans and cook for another 15 minutes or so, making sure to scrape up the bottom of the pot.  Check the texture of the chili - hold back tomato sauce or add more veggies/TVP at this point to get the consistency/thickness you want.  At this point, add your remaining seasonings and then cook for a minimum half an hour to get the flavours all blended really well.   Serve as is (with sour cream, cheese, green onions, fritos) or over basmati rice and enjoy!

I haven't made this with ground round, but think it would be quite good!

Bruschetta

Sometimes, my bf and I (strike that, my FIANCE and I...since we just got engaged last night!) like to have an informal "snacky" and cold dinner - last night was one of those nights.  We hadn't made bruschetta for some time, so we whipped up a batch (recipe below) as well as a batch of hummous, and had a lovely picnic-style meal which included some fancy blue cheese, olives and french bread for dipping into the hummous. The thing I love most about homemade bruschetta is how FRESH it tastes.  It never tastes quite so fresh in a restaurant.   I was a pretty happy girl last night!

Bruschetta

4 fresh tomatoes, blanched in boiling water for about 2 minutes, then peeled, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 loaf French bread, toasted and sliced

Blanching the tomatoes and seeding them (takes a few minutes, but worth it, especially if you hate tomato slime like I do) takes the longest time in this recipe.  Once that's done, mix all ingredients together.  By this time, you should have toasted your slices of bread in the oven under the broiler with a bit of olive oil (watch they don't burn!), then dish the bruschetta on top. We grated a little parmesan over the top.  SO GOOD.  I even brought leftover bruschetta and hummous for lunch today...a perfect lunch.

Happy Thanksgiving (Canadians)!

Ugh - I ate so much last night I'm STILL full...that is the first time I can honestly say I ate for two, and I've been regretting it ever since.  As in most previous years, the bf and I participated in an orphan dinner with friends - those of us without close family in the Vancouver area each chipped in with a few dishes.  My contribution was my usual scalloped potatoes (to die for - recipe here), brussel sprouts, vegetarian gravy and some "chicken" legs from Veggie Favor - the place I've raved about in this blog in the past.  They are really amazing, and even one of last night's meat eaters ate 2 or 3 of them!  Friends chipped in with turkey for the meat eaters, regular gravy, two types of stuffing (one veggie, one meaty), glazed carrots, buns and pumpkin pie with cool whip (a weakness of mine).  Honestly, it was fabulous. But ugh. STILL so full.

Scalloped Potatoes (NOT vegan)

I got this recipe from a Bon Appetit magazine that was mistakenly delivered to our address.....for about 8 months  :)   To be fair, I'm not sure I would bother making these EVER if I didn't have a kick-ass mandolin slicer (or V-slicer) - it would just be too much work to thinly slice all the potatoes and fennel. Happily, I DO have a kick-ass mandolin that was worth every penny I spent on it, so this takes maybe 10 minutes to assemble. It is always a huge hit.  I will be making it again at Christmas!

Link here - all credit to Bon Appetit magazine :)

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2009/11/scalloped_potatoes_and_fennel

Spinach Lasagna

You know it's fall when I start craving lasagna! And yes, I'll be the first to admit I use real cheese in this recipe instead of a vegan substitute, though that is certainly an option.  It is WORTH it to buy farm-fresh cheese from a supplier you know if you want it and are going to eat cheese anyway.

And on a related topic, more than a few people asked me if I would start eating meat when I got pregnant (???) - I'm not sure if they assumed I would have "cravings" that would overcome my ethics or if they honestly just think being vegetarian is one thing for yourself, another to "inflict" upon an unborn baby ;)  Lol - whatever, I've been eating great, I will NOT "revert" back to eating meat, my child will be raised vegetarian, and that's that.

This is a recipe I've made many times, and it can be subtly adjusted in many different ways every time....last night's was actually my best yet, and I think it's because I made it in a long pan (8x12...or 14??) instead of a square pan as I usually do, where it usually turns out a bit too "saucy" for me.

SAUCE - feel free to buy pre-made...I always make my own.  Feel free to adjust the measurements here to suit YOUR tastes...my measurements are inexact.

1 large can regular tomato sauce or Italian flavoured
1 large can regular diced tomatoes
1 onion, diced small
2-4 cloves minced garlic, to your tastes
diced mushrooms (optional)
1 cup rehydrated texturized veg protein (TVP) or veggie ground round  (Also optional...just if you want a bit more protein)
.5 cup red wine
splash balsamic vinegar
oregano, basil, salt to taste
approx 1 tsp sugar

Sautee onions and garlic for a few minutes in olive oil, add TVP or ground round at this point if you're using.  Then, throw in everything else and simmer for at least a half an hour, tasting until it's "right".

Filling

1-2 packages frozen spinach, thawed or one large package fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 large-ish container ricotta cheese (not the small one)
mozzarella cheese
lasagna noodles
parmesan cheese

Cook lasagna noodles.  If you're using fresh spinach, sautee it in a pan for a few minutes with a few drops of water until it's wilted. Drain water. Drain water from thawed frozen spinach, if using.  Mix spinach and ricotta together in a bowl.

Assembly

Spoon a bit of the sauce over the bottom of your pan to keep the noodles from sticking and ensure sauce saturation.  Put in a layer of noodles (I use bits of cooked noodle to make sure the layer is complete as the noodles aren't quite long enough to cover the bottom), then cover that layer with sauce.  Cover that sauce layer with half the spinach & ricotta mixture as evenly as possible.  Grate a fine layer of parmesan over the spinach/ricotta layer, then cover that with just over 1/3 of the grated mozzarella.  Repeat those layers: noodles, sauce, spinach/ricotta, parmesan, mozzarella.  Finish with noodles (three layers total), the remaining bits of sauce and some mozzarella.

Bake in preheated oven at 350F for 30 minutes covered with tin foil, then remove tinfoil and continue to bake, uncovered for another 15 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes before slicing. 

Sorry for the crappy picture - I already ate an entire piece before I remembered to take a picture, so my plate is kinda messy ;)

Tuscan White Bean Stew

Well, soup and stew and chili season is already upon us in Vancouver!  It's amazing how fast it happens. One week we still needed the fan to sleep at night, then one week we didn't need it, then the following week I'm seriously threatening to turn on the heat.  If you know Vancouver, you know "winter" for us means RAIN for about 5 or 6 months straight, and oh, the rain has arrived.  We made a lentil soup with grilled cheese sandwiches on Sunday night (recipe earlier in this blog), and this Tuscan white bean stew last night - mmm it was GOOD.

All credit to VeganYumYum http://veganyumyum.com/2007/03/tuscan-white-bean-stew/ , but we changed the ingredients *just a little bit* to suit.

This recipe makes two large bowls or three small-ish, so you might want to increase everything for leftovers, which I wish we'd done!

1/2 Onion, finely chopped
2 Medium Carrots, sliced into very thin coins
1 Medium Potato, cut into a 1/4″ dice
2 ribs celery, chopped
2 Cups Veg stock (or chicken-flavoured stock)
1 Can White Beans
1/2 tsp Oregano
1/2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Salt
2 Tbs Tomato Paste
2-3 Large Kale Leaves, roughly chopped (remember to remove the inner rib!)
2-3 tsp Lemon Juice
Fresh herbs for garnish, optional

Saute the onions over medium-low heat in a medium sized, heavy pot that has a lid. Slice the carrots into 1/8″ coins and add to pot along with chopped celery. Cut potato into 1/4″ dice and add to pot, stirring occasionally. Add stock and loosen any stuff that has stuck to the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Add salt, oregano, tomato paste and stir.  (Update - I didn't have any tomato paste the last time I made this so I used canned tomato soup - worked just fine!) Cover and turn head down to a low boil.
Slice kale, drain and rinse the beans. Add beans to pot and stir. The stew should be quite thick. Add kale and lemon juice. Taste and season if necessary. Simmer for a few minutes until kale is tender. Carrots should be tender, and the potato should be soft but still hold its shape. Serve and garnish with fresh herbs if you like.

We served this with some crusty french bread and it hit the spot!  See? Winter isn't so bad.

Spanakopita!

About twice a year, I make a big batch of spanakopita, which I love.  I can't remember where this recipe comes from, but I've had it for AGES, like since I was a teenager.

Filling:

1 package phyllo/filo dough, found in your grocery's freezer section
2 pounds fresh or frozen spinach (for this recipe, I used four packages frozen)
2 tsp olive oil
2 onions, diced
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
3 eggs or egg replacer
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
1/4 tsp each nutmeg and black pepper
12 oz feta cheese, chopped (omit for vegan)
1/3 cups pine nuts, toasted (optional)
salt to taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs or more

Wash spinach if using fresh, shake off excess water. Cook in large pot over medium heat with just the water clinging to the leaves, turning often for about 5 minutes or until wilted. Remove from pot and chill under cold running water. Press out water, chop and reserve. For frozen spinach, thaw, press out excess water and chop.
In large skillet, heat oil over medium heat, cook onions and garlic for around 10 minutes or until tender but not browned. In large bowl, beat eggs, stir in onion mixture, spinach, dill, nutmeg and pepper. Mix in feta, pine nuts and bread crumbs. If you're using thawed spinach, it literally takes about 5 minutes to throw this filling together.

(*I should add here that I haven't included pine nuts in this recipe for many years because, simply, I suck at toasting them, and pine nuts cost a fortune.  The difference between "toasted" and "burnt" is approximately 3.5 seconds, but if you can manage to toast them and not blink and ruin them the way I do every time, please feel free to use them.  As I recall, they are best when chopped finely after toasting.)

Melt a few tbsp butter/margarine in a small bowl for brushing onto phyllo.  Place clean tea towel on work surface. Place one sheets of phyllo on separate work surface, keeping remainder covered wth plastic wrap and damp towel to prevent drying out (this is important). I make these using the "flag" folding method to make triangles.  I cut the sheets of phyllo in half once for large triangles, or into four pieces for smaller triangles.  Brush each long sheet of phyllo with a bit of butter, place filling on the bottom in a triangle shape with one corner and side full of filling. Fold over into a triangle, then continue to fold the triangle up towards the top of the sheet. Seal the top seam with butter then place on a cookie sheet, seam side down.    If these instructions are kind of unclear, I'm sure you can do a quick search on google to find a step-by-step picture of how to fold a flag - same thing!

Cook at approximately 360 degrees F for between 30 minutes and 45 minutes - they should turn out a nice golden brown.  I usually bake half my batch then freeze the rest. They can then be baked straight out of the freezer at about the same temperature, but for just a bit longer. I would say this recipe made maybe 20 large triangles this last time.

I apologize for the below picture, I swear they normally look tastier and flakier than this - but this triangle was a leftover spanakopita that I took to work and re-heated in the microwave - not as pretty as it was fresh out of the oven, but just as tasty :)  I ate it with some mashed yams and gravy for lunch - delicious!