Ethiopian Split Pea Stew (Kik Alicha) and Spicy Lentil Stew (Mesir Wat)

I haven't been eating many legumes lately. Perhaps I needed a break after a long winter of stews and soups? But, a recent meal at an Ethiopian restaurant made me realize that I'd actually missed lentils and split peas -- and left me craving more Ethiopian food. So, I sorted through different recipes on the internet, tracked down some spicy berbere seasoning, and made my very first attempt at mesir wat (spicy lentil stew, seasoned with berbere) and kik alicha (a mild but tasty yellow split pea stew, which provides a nice counterbalance to the wat). As you can see from the photo, I cheated a bit and made naan to eat with my stew, rather than injera.

The result? I can't vouch for authenticity, but they are both delicious. I think I would even be happy to eat them during a mid-winter slump.

Spicy lentil stew recipe here, yellow split pea stew recipe here. I found bebere seasoning ($7.99 for a 1-pound bag) at the World Food Bazaar, 242 N. Havana in Aurora.

Flourless Carrot Cake (Gajar Ka Halwa)

I've had this flourless, no bake carrot cake before, in Nepalese restaurants, but never knew how to make it. Luckily, Donna (of Dine with Donna) asked a restaurant owner for the recipe. It turns out the cake is really easy to make. Basically, shredded carrots are cooked in a dry pan over medium heat until all the moisture evaporates -- then, milk, butter, and sugar are added in turn, and cooked until the liquid reduces -- and finally, cinnamon, coconut powder, and ground cardamom are stirred into the carrot mixture.

While the resulting cake is delicious, the recipe is worth making for the smell of freshly ground cardamom, alone.

Dine with Donna featured the cake more than a month ago, but it took me a while to make it because I didn't have the coconut powder called for in the recipe. I finally just decided to use coconut flour, which worked just fine (and maybe is the same thing?). You can find coconut flour at health food stores.

Recipe here.

Samosa Mash

A mash of potatoes, baked tofu, and peas, seasoned with ginger, tumeric, cumin, coriander, and chilies.
Packs nicely for a winter snowshoe (or work).

Ingredients
2 pounds yukon gold potatoes, washed and chopped
1 batch baked tofu, cut in squares
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (my peas had grated carrots mixed in)
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 onion, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 serrano chilies, washed, seeded, and minced
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1 and 1/2 teaspoons coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the potatoes for 20 minutes, or until tender. Drain, mash, and set aside.

Heat the oil and mustard seeds in a large covered skillet over medium heat, until the mustard seeds pop.

After the mustard seeds have popped, remove the lid, stir in the cumin seed and onion, and cook (stirring occasionally) until the onion is soft.

Add the ginger and chilies, and cook two minutes (stirring occasionally).

Add the tumeric, cayenne, coriander, and salt, and cook one more minute.

Add the mashed potatoes and stir until blended with the spices. Pour in 1/2 cup of water, and mix until the potatoes have a fluffy texture. (Add more water as needed.)

Mix in the baked tofu and peas, and cook over medium-low heat until heated through.

Serve.

Black Bean Rice Bowl

A satisfying rice bowl that combines spicy chipotle black beans and rice with a cilantro lime slaw. If you like, add some sliced avocado, or a little queso fresco or grated monterey jack cheese.

Ingredients
One batch cilantro lime slaw
1 cup uncooked brown rice (or two cups cooked)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 bell pepper, washed, seeded, and chopped (I used about 3/4 pint red and yellow mini-peppers)
1 small onion, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
2 and 1/2 to 3 cups cooked black beans (1 cup dried beans, soaked and cooked; or 2 15-ounce cans, drained)
1 teaspoon salt (optional -- you may want to reduce the salt if using canned beans)
3 cups lettuce, washed and chopped

To cook the brown rice:
Bring 2 and 1/2 cups of water to boil in a small saucepan.

Add the brown rice and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat for 45 to 50 minutes.

Remove from heat and let sit covered for about 5 minutes.

To prepare the black beans and rice:
Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook for 10 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

Add the chile powder, cumin, and salt, and cook another 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the black beans and brown rice to the skillet and cook until heated through.

To assemble the rice bowl:
Place about 3/4 cup chopped lettuce in a large bowl.

Top with 1 cup cilantro lime slaw, and 1 cup rice and beans.

Toss and serve.

Makes at least 4 generous servings.

Cilantro Lime Slaw

This coleslaw makes a really good accompaniment for black beans and rice (check back Saturday for an example). I could also see it going well with enchiladas, quesadillas, or tofu-tillas. You can eat it right away, but it gets better after sitting for a bit -- if possible, at least 30 minutes before serving.

Ingredients
juice from 1 lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
scant 1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 small cabbage, washed and finely chopped

Combine the lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and olive oil in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, mix together the cilantro, green onion, and cabbage. Add the dressing and toss to coat.

(If time permits, let the slaw sit for at least 30 minutes.)

Serve.

Red Beans And Sticky Rice, With Gomashio

Like any good vegetarian, I'm always on the lookout for a new beans and rice dish. So, naturally, I was interested in a recipe for red beans and sticky rice, seasoned with black sesame seeds and salt, from Tea and Cookies. While the recipe was simple -- requiring only adzuki beans, sticky rice (aka mochi rice or sweet rice), black sesame seeds and salt -- it incorporated different flavors and textures than my usual beans and rice dish. And so, I decided to give it a try.

The beans and rice were easy to prepare. I soaked 1 cup of adzuki beans (twice what the original recipe called for) and 1 and 1/2 cups of sticky rice overnight, in separate bowls. The next day, I drained and rinsed the beans, then cooked them for about 20 minutes while I rinsed and washed the rice. When the beans had finished cooking, I drained them but reserved the cooking water. The rice and partially cooked beans then went into a larger pot, with about 2 cups of the reserved bean cooking water, and a dash of salt. Less than 20 minutes later, the rice and beans were done.

The gomashio (black sesame seeds with salt) is also easy to make, although I had to work through a couple kinks. I used a recipe for stovetop gomashio at Just Bento, which was written for people who have a kitchen scale. Since I don't have a kitchen scale, I spent a little time with on-line measurement equivalent tables and a calculator, and ultimately figured that the recipe called for about 7 tablespoons of black sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons of salt, and 1/2 cup of water. I decided to make a half batch, using 3.5 tablespoons of black sesame seeds, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1/4 cup of water.

The recipe said to toast the black sesame seeds in a pan over medium-low heat until they popped, and then add in salt water and stir until the water evaporated. I was worried about burning the sesame seeds (since I couldn't tell by color whether they were toasting), and so I may have started out with too low a heat setting. However, after about 25 minutes and several increases in temperature -- to almost medium heat -- my sesame seeds still weren't popping. Out of frustration, I tasted a seed and found that it was nice and toasty. So, perhaps the seeds don't really have to pop? I added the salt water to the pan and was rewarded with a wonderful salty sesame smell. The water evaporated in just a couple of minutes, leaving me with tasty gomashio to sprinkle over my beans and rice.

Since the gomashio can take some time to prepare, I would definitely recommend making it in advance.

Winter Vegetable Tian

A summer dish made with winter vegetables -- thin slices of sweet potato, parsnip, and fennel, layered over sautéed leek and garlic, sprinkled with thyme and ground fennel seed, and topped with gruyere cheese. Adapted from this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa.

I used one sweet potato, one parsnip, and one fennel bulb. In the future, I might try to wedge in another (sliced) fennel bulb -- who knew that fennel was so good with gruyere?

Grapefruit Ginger Smoothie

I'm please to report that I finally own a blender that doesn't leak. So pleased, in fact, that I've been making smoothies even though the temperature has been well below freezing, and the ground in Cheeseman Park hasn't been visible in weeks.

While winter might seem like a strange time for a frozen treat, smoothies made with winter fruits like grapefruit are really yummy. This smoothie combines grapefruit, ginger, vanilla yogurt, and a handful of strawberries.



Ingredients
sections and juice of 1 grapefruit (approx 1 and 1/4 cups)
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
4 strawberries (I used frozen)

Combine all of the ingredients in a blender, and purée until smooth.

Serve.

Roasted Cauliflower

Well, any good intentions regarding "moderation" went right out the window with these addictive little bits of roasted cauliflower. I ate half the batch in one sitting. Luckily, it was all more or less healthy stuff -- cauliflower, tumeric, garlic, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and a dash of salt.

It looks like there are lots of different roasted cauliflower recipes out there --I made this version working from a recipe at 101 Cookbooks. It's really simple, with 30 minutes of baking time, and maybe 5 minutes of hands-on time. These little guys will definitely be on the meal rotation for 2010 (perhaps with a dhal or chickpea curry?). I might try adding a little cumin seed, too.

Ingredients
1 cauliflower, washed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
dash red pepper flakes
3/4 teaspoon ground tumeric
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Cut the "branches" of the cauliflower away from the main stem. Discard the stem. Cut up the "branches" until they are in bite-sized florets.

Place the cauliflower in a 13x9 baking dish (or a baking sheet with a rim), spreading them out into a single layer.

Drizzle the cauliflower with the olive oil, then add the garlic, tumeric, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir until the cauliflower is more or less coated with the seasonings. (They will get even more coated when you stir the cauliflower during and after the baking process.)

Bake the cauliflower for 15 minutes. Then, carefully pull the baking dish out of the oven (with an oven mitt) and give the cauliflower a good stir. Let the cauliflower bake for another 15 minutes.

After the cauliflower has baked for a total of 30 minutes, remove it from the oven, and give it another good stir so that it's thoroughly covered with seasonings.

Serve immediately.

Soup with Red Lentils, Roasted Peppers, and Spinach

This soup has golden cooked lentils, bright flecks of puréed roasted peppers, and green baby spinach. It also provides a healthy dose of garlic.

You might be wondering why the title says "red lentils" but the description says "golden cooked lentils." Red lentils lose their pinkish color during the cooking process. However, they cook more quickly than the green and yellow varieties, and have a smooth consistency that works well in soups.

Ingredients
1 generous cup red lentils, picked over and rinsed
5 cups water
2 and 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 yellow, orange, or red peppers (or 1-pint mini-peppers), washed, seeded, and cut in strips
dash red pepper flakes (optional)
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cipollini onion or shallot, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups baby spinach, washed

Place the lentils and water in a medium sauce pan, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook the lentils 20 minutes, or until tender and falling apart.

While the lentils are cooking, toss the pepper strips in 1 tablespoon olive oil, then place on a baking sheet and roast at 400F for 15 minutes, or until tender and just starting to brown. Let the peppers cool.

Place the cooled peppers in a food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.

When the lentils are almost ready, heat the remaining 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil and the red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the garlic, then the onion, and sautée until the garlic turns golden-brown.

Stir in 1 teaspoon salt.

Carefully pour the cooked lentils and puréed peppers into the skillet, stir until thoroughly combined, and cook about 5 minutes.

Add the baby spinach to the skillet, and continue cooking until the spinach has wilted, stirring occasionally.

Serve.

Blueberry Ginger Jam

Each summer, when blueberries are in season, I wash and freeze a large baggie-full for use later in the year. Then, when I need a change from the usual winter produce, I head to the freezer for some berries. Last month, I used some of my stash to make blueberry chia muffins. This weekend, I went back to the freezer, and used some more berries to make blueberry ginger jam.

I'd never made jam before, but the recipe was simple: combine blueberries, grated ginger, port, sugar, and lemon zest in a saucepan; bring to a boil; and then simmer over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. That's it.

The original recipe called for four cups of blueberries. That would have finished off my stash, and so I made 1/4 batch. I omitted the port (although I think it would have been good) because I didn't have any on hand. Also, I used pineapple juice in place of the sugar. Towards the end of the cooking process, I deglazed the saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of hot water, so as not to miss out on any blueberry-ginger goodness.

Recipe here.

Yellow Split Pea Stew With Kale and Smoked Paprika

It's been an unusually cold week in Colorado. So, it seemed like a good time to try a recipe for Yellow Split Pea Soup with Smoked Paprika posted at Elana's Pantry. I liked the idea of a steaming bowl of soup with split peas and kale. I was also intrigued by the recipe's use of smoked paprika; my mom's family is Hungarian, so I'm familiar with paprika, but I'd never heard of the smoked variety. Turns out it's a Spanish cousin of the paprika that I grew up with. And deeelicious.
While I used many of the same ingredients as Elana, I changed things up a bit. Rather than using vegetable broth, I cooked the peas and kale together, to create their own broth. Also, I added the smoked paprika at a different stage of the cooking process, and didn't puree the split peas.

Ingredients
1 cup yellow split peas, picked over and rinsed
1 bunch kale, washed
5 cups water
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, washed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces mushrooms, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon salt

Tear the green portion of the kale leaves from the center veins. Discard the veins and chop the greens.

Place the split peas and kale in a large pot with the water and bay leaves. Bring to a boil and cook, covered, for about an hour, until the peas are tender and starting to fall apart. Remove the bay leaves and set the split pea mixture aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion, garlic, and smoked paprika and cook over low medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the mushrooms and sautée until tender.

Stir in the salt, then add the split pea mixture.

Increase the heat to medium, and cook until the stew is warmed through.

Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.

Vegan Chiles Rellenos

Kind of a chile relleno, kind of a (cumin-spiked) twice-baked potato.

There are a few different steps involved but none of them are complicated. You can break up the cooking time by preparing the poblano peppers and/or the potato-bean filling in advance.

Ingredients
6 cups yukon gold potatoes, washed and chopped
6 poblano peppers, washed
1 tablespoon canola oil, plus additional oil for brushing
1 onion, washed and chopped
1 teaspoon cumin seed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 15- ounce can (1 and 1/2 cups) black beans

Poblano peppers

Slice each poblano pepper in half length-wise, and gently remove the seeds and membranes, being careful not to cut through the pepper's outer wall.

Place the poblano pepper halves face down on a broiler-safe baking tray. Broil (monitoring carefully) until the peppers' skin bubbles and begins to turn black.

Remove the peppers from the broiler and use tongs or a spatula to place them in a large paper bag. Roll the bag shut and allow the peppers to sit for 15 minutes.

Take one pepper out of the bag, and carefully peel off the skin. (It's OK if not all of the skin will peel off, just be sure to get the bubbly/loose parts.) Repeat with the remaining peppers. Set the peeled peppers aside.

Potato-bean filling

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil, add the potatoes, and cook 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat one tablespoon of oil over medium-low heat. Add the cumin seed and onion and cook for about 10 minutes (until the onion is soft), stirring occasionally.

While the onion is cooking, pour the cooked potatoes into a large bowl and mash.

Once the onions are soft, stir in 1 teaspoon salt, then mix in the mashed potatoes.

Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in 1/2 cup water and the beans.

Assembling and baking the chiles rellenos

Preheat the oven to 375F.

Lightly brush a baking sheet (or two) with canola oil.

Pick up one of the poblano pepper halves. Use your other hand to scoop up about 3/4 cup of the potato-bean mixture, and gently pat it into the pepper. Place the stuffed pepper onto the baking sheet. Repeat until all of the pepper halves have been filled.

Bake the chili rellenos for 25-30 minutes, or until the potato-bean filling begins to brown on top.

Serve immediately.

Sweet Potato Truffles With Pecans, Coconut, And Chocolate

I know that, from my recent posts, it must look like I eat nothing but sweets and soup. That's not exactly true, but I do have another sweets recipe to share -- this time, homemade truffles, made with mashed sweet potato, pecans, coconut, and two types of chocolate.

They're tiny, so you might need to eat a few of them.

Ingredients
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup mashed sweet potato
1/4 cup shredded coconut (unsweetened)
3/4 cup pecans
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Dash salt
1/4 cup cocoa powder

Place the chocolate chips, sweet potato, pecans, coconut, vanilla, and salt in a food processor and process until the mixture becomes relatively smooth and forms a ball.

Scrape the truffle mixture out of the food processor and into a bowl; cover and refrigerate for one hour.

After about an hour...

Set out a piece of wax paper or parchment paper (to place the finished truffles on).

Remove the truffle mixture from the refrigerator.

Place the cocoa powder on a dinner plate.

Roll 1 teaspoon of the truffle mixture between your hands to create a ball.

Roll the truffle ball in the cocoa powder until coated, and place on the parchment or wax paper.

Repeat until all of the truffle mixture has been used.

Refrigerate until serving (or enjoy immediately).

Ginger Beet Soup

I'm don't know about you, but beets were not my favorite food growing up. In fact, I thought they were gross. Then, on a whim, I tried a bowl of ginger beet soup at a restaurant -- and discovered that beets weren't so bad after all. In fact, ginger beet soup was really really good.

This recipe from Maya at My Feasts creates a pretty close approximation of the soup I had that day. First, sautée leeks, ginger, and garlic over medium-low heat, and then add roasted beets, salt, pepper, and broth to the pot. After allowing the ingredients to simmer for a bit, purée, then finish with fresh lemon juice. It's a simple recipe, with great results. Not only does the soup have a nice ginger-beet flavor, but it will make your kitchen smell wonderful.

My only stray from the recipe was using water in place of broth -- happily, the leeks, garlic, ginger, and beets created their own.

Apple Yam Soup

From Paulette Mitchell's cookbook A Beautiful Bowl of Soup: a steaming bowl of apple yam soup, flavored with white wine, ginger, and curry powder, and topped with chopped pecans. A copy of the recipe can be found here.

Although the recipe calls for seasoned pecans, I just used plain chopped pecans (which are pretty amazing on their own), and saved the butter for the bread I ate along with the soup.

Cannellini Beans With Tomato And Basil

From Jack Bishop's Italian Vegetarian Cookbook: a vegan caprese salad, with seasoned cannellini beans in place of mozzarella cheese. The beans require a little work (the recipe calls for dried cannellini beans to be soaked and then simmered with garlic and bay leaves) but can be prepared in advance. Once the beans have cooled, simply toss them with basil, diced tomatoes, olive oil, salt, and pepper -- very easy, and very refreshing.

Served with polenta and spinach.

Lavender Chocolate Bars

Veggie Belly recently posted about several interesting things to do with lavender (both edible and not). It reminded me that I'd been meaning to write up the lavender chocolate bars that Rhubarb made. It's another recipe from Ani's Raw Food Desserts; the ingredients include lavender, almonds, raisins, and cacao powder. I'd never noticed it before, but raisins plus chocolate creates a wonderful caramel-like flavor. Lavender plus chocolate is simply divine. The bars need to be kept in the freezer, which makes for a cool, chocolatey summer treat.

Chocolate Cups With Almond Cream And Berries

I wanted to make a birthday dessert for someone who doesn't do wheat, rarely does dairy, and is cutting back on sugar. As someone whose dessert repertoire leans heavily on butter, sugar, and all-purpose flour, I was a little stumped. Then, wandering through the stacks at Powell's during a recent trip to Portland, I noticed Ani's Raw Food Desserts by Ani Phyo. The design was cute, the photos were pretty, and the recipes were not only simple, but also consistently wheat-, dairy-, and gluten-free. So, I decided to give it a shot.

The recipe I chose was "Almond Frangipane Kream," which I planned to serve as a pudding topped with fresh berries. How simple was it? Put some raw almonds in a blender along with agave nectar, vanilla, and water, and process for about 30 seconds (or until smooth). That's it.

The result was a pleasantly sweet, smooth blend that tasted of almond and vanilla. I really liked it, but I was worried that the dessert might need a contrasting flavor, and so I ran out at the last minute and bought some little chocolate bowls. (Yes, the bowls were a cheat, both in terms of being store-bought and in terms of containing some sugar and dairy...) In retrospect, my concerns were unfounded, as the berries themselves provided a good contrast to the cream.

This is the only recipe that I've tried from the book to date, but, so far, I'm pleased with my selection. The instructions are clear and easy to follow, and the book is accessible even to someone who isn't a raw foodie. Other recipes I'd like to try in the future include Pineapple With Ginger And Lime, Lavender Chocolate Bars, and Raspberry Ganache Fudge Cake (!!!).

Socca (Chickpea Pancakes)

I'm not very big on pancakes for breakfast, but I've discovered that I really like having pancakes for supper - or, at least, I like dining on socca (pancakes made with chickpea flour). The socca recipe is simple, requiring only chickpea flour, salt, pepper, olive oil, and water. After the batter rests briefly, the pancakes are poured into a skillet coated lightly with olive oil, then cooked for three minutes on one side and one minute on the other. One half-batch serves two people. Rhubarb and I ate them topped with zucchini and tomatoes, which were roasted with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. Very simple, but also very satisfying.