Quinoa Pasta with Quorn, Brussels Sprouts and Carrots

Since I know so many folks with gluten intolerance, I like to play around with various gluten free pastas.  Also, since I don't like to eat a lot of things made with refined white flour, I find that some of these pastas are good options in lieu of traditional boxed pasta.

Tonight, I decided to play with Ancient Harvest's Quinoa Shells.  The shells are actually a blend of quinoa and corn.  They're a little brighter yellow than your average pasta, but otherwise, the texture doesn't differ greatly, especially in a sauce.  I bet they'd be good in a soup, so I may try and make minestrone with the rest of the box.

For tonight's meal, I started with a sauce.  It was a shallot, soy-free Earth Balance and garlic base, which I deglazed with vegetable broth.  I then added the Quorn grounds.  Quorn does contain a trace amount of egg, so it's not suitable for those following a strict vegan diet.  So, if you prefer to make this dish purely vegan, but don't have a soy allergy like yours truly, any textured vegetable protein (TVP), such as Smart Ground, would be a good substitute.

I then added in some brussels sprouts I roasted yesterday, along with red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.  When I mixed the pasta in, I decided it needed a pop of color, so I added some shredded carrot to the pan.

I think I undercooked the pasta shells a bit, but I liked the contrast of the meatiness of the quorn with the carrots & brussels sprouts.  It also had a nice kick due to the healthy shakes of red pepper flakes I put in.
 

Light Saturday Lunch: Couscous, Bean and Vegetable Salad

I don't think it's a coincidence that two of my favorite ways to spend my free time, cooking and knitting, are both activities I associate with my grandmother.  So, it was nice to bring together these two activities today when I hosted a few friends at my apartment today for lunch and knitting lessons.

For lunch, I prepared a couscous, bean and vegetable salad.  The couscous was Bob's Red Mill Tri-Color Pearl Couscous.  The orange and green colors in the couscous come from tomato and spinach.  As I mentioned in a previous blog, pearled couscous is larger and rounder from regular old couscous.  I happen to prefer pearl couscous, or, as it's sometimes called, Israeli couscous, to the other kind.

I prepared two cups of the couscous according to package directions (1.25 cups of water for each cup of couscous, bring water to boil, add couscous, bring back to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes).  Since the couscous will absorb all the water, it has a tendency to stick to the pan, so stir it occasionally.

When the couscous was done, I transferred it to a bowl and immediately poured in a generous amount of my lemon vinaigrette (the same dressing I put on my salad for Wednesday's pasta and salad dinner).  A tip if you're reusing the vinaigrette & it's been refrigerated - let it come up to room temperature and shake it to help it recombine a bit.  Pouring the vinaigrette on the hot couscous helped the flavors really combine - you could smell the lemony goodness waft through my kitchen.


I then added one can of black beans (rinsed first), two handfuls of carrot shreds and a few generous handfuls of arugula.  I then seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper and let it set out at room temperature until my friends arrives.  Because of the vibrant green and orange of the arugula and carrots, the tri-color couscous didn't pop as much as I thought it might, but it was still good.

I also made some roasted brussels sprouts & shallots that folks could eat on the side.  I think I am on a mission to revive the reputation of the brussels sprout and let people know it can indeed be a tasty vegetable if prepared properly!

For dessert, we had some fresh strawberries provided by my friend Marie, as well as some vegan cookies provided by my friend Elena.  The Andean Dream Chocolate Chip Cookies are made with quinoa.  They're wheat-free, dairy-free, soy-free and made in a tree-nut free facility, so they are great for folks with allergy issues and gluten intolerance, but who are also living a vegan lifestyle.  And, they're tasty!


We also sampled Pamela's Ginger Cookies with Sliced Almonds.  These are also wheat-free, gluten-free, soy-free and non-dairy, but not appropriate for those with nut allergies.  They're chewy, gingery and tasty, which is a welcome treat after my sad discovery that the ginger snaps I've been getting have soy in them.

Homemade Cranberry Sauce and Roasted Vegetables

I decided to attempt homemade cranberry sauce this year.  The canned stuff scares me a little bit, frankly, and fresh cranberries are everywhere, so it seemed like a good time to give it a try.

Since I had never made it before, I did some googling, and saw a number of recipes, such as this one, that included pears and ginger.  I also saw a number that included cardamom and orange zest, so I decided to incorporate both of those flavors as well.

Orange zest and I go way back - I love to include it in both savory and sweet dishes.  But, I wasn't as familiar with ginger (beyond the fact that my grandfather loved candied ginger and always kept a container next to his other favorite treat, scotch, as well as knowing that ginger ale helps with an upset stomach) or cardamom.

So, in case you too are unfamiliar with these flavors, here's a quick background.  Ginger is the root of a plant that has roots (ha - unintentional pun) in Southeast Asia.  It's purported to have medical purposes, from helping with arthritis to curing nausea (hence ginger ale).  It can lend a little spicy zing to baked goods like gingersnaps and ginger bread, and it's also found in savory soups and dishes.

Cardamom is a member of the ginger family, and is native to India and Bhutan.  You can get it in the spice section in pod form or ground.  It's most commonly found in Indian cooking, but some Scandinavian dishes also incorporate it.

Most of the cranberry sauce recipes called for sugar, which makes sense given that cranberries have a natural tartness.  I decided this might be a great time to try Truvia, which is a sweetener made from the Stevia plant.  It's naturally sweeter than sugar, but doesn't have the caloric impact.  Also, you can use it in cooking and baking.  I'm a big Splenda user, but a friend who had consulted with an Ayurveda practictioner had great things to stay about stevia, so I'm working on making the switch.   If you are swapping Truvia for sugar, you need substantially less than the recipe calls for.  Truvia provides a handy conversion chart on their website.

Anyhow, here's the resulting recipe for my cranberry sauce:

Two packages of fresh cranberries, rinsed
Four pears, peeled and diced (I used bartletts, but other recipes suggest bosc or anjou - take your pick!)
Four tablespoons of grated fresh ginger root (a microplane is helpful here)
Zest of one large orange
2/3 cup of Truvia
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
2 cups of water

Mix all ingredients in a large saucepan.  Heat on medium until cranberries pop and mixture looks sauce-like (I was just over the 20 minute mark).  Set aside until cooled and chill overnight.





I've also made my roasted squash with corn and cranberries, as well as roasted brussels sprouts with shallots.  Since I've made both of these dishes before, I won't provide extensive details, but you do get to see a picture before they went in the oven:

Brussels sprouts weren't on my original list of things to make today, but I remembered that I have missed having a green vegetable at Thanksgiving these past few years, so I took matters into my own hands.  ;)  I did omit the parmesan cheese I usually stir in as I'm making everything vegan this year.

Bulgur, Bulgur Everywhere

On my ongoing quest to try more whole grains, I decided to cook with bulgur tonight.  Bulgur is a form of whole-wheat that has been parboiled and dried while maintaining most of its wheat bran.  From a nutrition standpoint, bulgur is high in fiber and protein, and is also an excellent source of iron.  If you've had tabouleh, you've had bulgur likely without realizing it.  If you're looking for some other ways to use bulger, the New York Times did a nice article on it awhile back.

Since bulgur has been pre-cooked, it has a much shorter prep time than grains like wheatberries, freekeh or farro.  So, it's an ideal option if you don't have a lot of time.  My bulgur took about 15 minutes to cook.

While I was making the bulgur, I crumbled and browned Field Roast Grain Meat Company Smoked Apple Sage Sausage (vegan and soy-free) in some olive oil.  I then stirred in some chopped brussels sprouts and minced shallots and seasoned the mix with salt and pepper.  I then added some minced garlic, chopped grape tomatoes and a few shakes of red pepper flakes.  Since the sausage created a lot of brown bits in my pan, I deglazed it with some white wine.

I was worried that it was going to be a bit too spicy, but the mildness of the bulgur helped mellow the flavors our a bit.  Next time, I'd add more tomatoes, perhaps both red and yellow, for more color contrast.

What the Freek is Freekeh?

Yes, I finally cooked something!  I had a yen for farro this week, but when I was in the grains section at whole foods this week, I stumbled upon freekeh and decided to give it a try.

"What is Freekeh?" you may ask.  It's roasted green wheat that can be served like rice or pasta.  According to Greenwheat Freekeh, the nutritional advantages of Freekeh include its high percentage of fiber, protein, calcium, potassium, iron and zinc, but low place on the glycemic index scale.  Thus, it's an excellent option for vegetarians and vegans.

Like farro, non-instant rice and other whole grains, there's some cooking time involved.  I brought the freekeh to a boil and let it simmer for 45 minutes.  While the freekeh was cooking, I reconstituted some sun-dried tomatoes in hot water.  Normally, I use fresh tomatoes, but I wanted the bite and texture of sun-dried for this dish.

I then minced shallots and sliced up some fresh brussels sprouts and, when the freekeh had about 15 minutes to go, sauteed them in soy-free earth balance.  I then added some garlic, freshly ground black pepper, the sliced sun-dried tomatoes, salt, some of the poaching liquid from the tomatoes, and a splash of white wine.  I finished the sauce off with red pepper flakes and italian seasoning, and then stirred in some vegetarian friendly parmesan cheese (no rennet was used, and the cows were not given rGBH - check your labels if you want to learn more!).  Vegans can easily omit the parmesan to make this a dairy-free meal.

I am happy with the result - the freekeh was chewy and nutty, and the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and red pepper flakes added a nice tang.  The sliced brussels sprouts were a cool contrast, and I liked the aged creaminess the parmesan added to the dish as well.  I have leftovers, so we'll see how it re-heats for lunch tomorrow.

Yet Another Concoction

It was time to use up what was in the fridge yet again, so dinner was a concoction.  Tonight's experiment involved roasted brussel sprouts (30 minutes at 425 - make sure to coat them with olive oil and season with salt and pepper).  In a saute pan, I worked some shallots, sliced mushrooms and garlic in olive oil.  After that was done, I stirred in leftover wild rice, the brussel sprouts and some parmesan cheese.

Seder Cooking Part 1: Vegetable Kugel, Roasted Potatoes and Roasted Brussels Sprouts.

We started our Pesach cooking today.  With full disclosure, I did make some non-veg dishes for the guests, namely beef brisket and gefilte fish.  That said, there are plenty of veg sides that will make a delicious meal for me and my non-red meat eating mother.

The three veg dishes I made today were:

Veg cooking away!

Vegetable kugel.  This is one of my favorite Pesach dishes.  Most recipes call for frozen spinach, but I used fresh.  We also added onion, celery, carrots and yellow pepper (the recipe called for green pepper, but we thought yellow would make it prettier).   After letting the veg cook for 20 minutes in broth, we strained it and mixed in an egg & matzoh meal mixture.  It then baked in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes.

Before baking.

The finished product.

Yummy browned potatoes!

We also made roasted potatoes, which were soaked in olive oil and onion soup mix, and then roasted in a 450 degree oven for about 50 minutes.

I also made my roasted Brussels sprouts with shallots.  Tomorrow, when we reheat them, I'll stir in some fresh parmesan.

Tonight, I will make the lemon "cream" filling for my cake, and tomorrow, it's the rest of the cake and Matzo ball soup!

Everything's Better Roasted

Well, not everything.  That said, if there's a vegetable that you're either 1)sick of  or 2)never particularly a fan of, I suggest you roast it.

I am still hacking away at last night's lasagna, but I had some veggies in the fridge that needed to be cooked before they went to waste.

My first veggie - Brussels Sprouts.  Few words seem to strike fear into the hearts of children and adults than Brussels Sprouts.  But, these delicious little creatures have gotten a bad rap.  Chances are, if you've eaten them and disliked them, they were frozen and boiled to death.  But, roasted with olive oil and shallots and a touch of parmesan, they are quite tasty.

Anyway, what is a Brussels Sprout anyway?   According to wikipedia:

The Brussels sprout is a cultivar group of wild cabbage cultivated for its small, leafy green buds, which are typically 2.5–4 cm (0.98–1.6 in) in diameter and visually resemble miniature cabbages. The sprout is Brassica oleracea, in the "gemmifera" group of the family Brassicaceae. . . Brussels sprouts, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contains sulforaphane, a chemical believed to have potent anti-cancer properties. Although boiling reduces the level of the anti-cancer compounds, steaming, microwaving, and stir frying does not result in significant loss.



If you've never prepared a fresh Brussel sprout, it's easier than it sounds.  Get a good knife, and cut off the woody stem.  Discard any yellowed outer leaves.  I like to coarsely chop mine, mix them with olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground pepper, and roast them for 20-25 minutes at 425.  Halfway through the roasting time, I stir in some chopped shallots, and, with four or so minutes to go, I stir in some shredded parmesan/asiago blend.

Second veggie - the yukon gold potato.  Why is this potato different from all other potatoes, such as a russet, a red, etc.?  There's actually a whole page of potato cultivars if you'd like to learn more.  But yukons have a more golden flesh than a russet and, at least to me, are a bit fimer.  I like to roast them with (again) olive oil, freshly ground pepper, sea salt and fresh rosemary.  The roasting time is 30-35 minutes, depending on how small you cut the potatoes (try and get them all the same size for even roasting).

Now, the roasting treatment doesn't just apply to Brussel Sprouts and potatoes.  I also enjoy roasting butternut squash, carrots, zucchini, cauliflower, eggplant and beets.  What do you need to have handy if you're going to be roasting veggies?

1.  Olive oil.  Lots of olive oil.  We go through it so much that I should really buy stock in whoever owns Bertolli.  Olive oil helps seasonings cling to your veg, and helps you develop that nice brown crust that tastes so yummy.

2.  Sea Salt.  Sea salt or other coarse salts give your food a nicer texture than table salt. 

3.   Freshly Ground Pepper.  I like this from a textural standpoint as well.  I use a kind that has multiple types of peppercorns, which adds some interesting visual contrast.

Happy roasting!