Taking Advantage of Summer Vegetables: White Beans, with Sweet Corn, Zucchini and Yellow Tomatoes

Hi, everyone!  Yes, it's been an embarrassingly long time since I've blogged.   Rather than posting every day, I'll be easing back in slowly, with perhaps a post a week, most likely on weekend days where I have more time to cook and write.

Summer in the mid-Atlantic is a great time to experiment with vegetarian cooking.  Growing up in New Jersey, we ate a ton of fresh sweet corn, and I love to incorporate this into my summer meals.  Our local market also has tons of varieties of summer squashes - zucchini, eight ball, crookneck, bonita, pattypan and more!

My concoction today took advantage of our local market's bounty, as well as some pantry staples.  I'm a big fan of red onion - I feel that it adds color and great flavor to dishes. I diced that finely, and then diced a zucchini and quartered some yellow tomatoes and set them aside.  Then, I used my handy corn zipper to take the kernels off of two ears of corn. 

I got a small amount of olive oil going in a large pan.  We were running low on olive oil, and I was worried I wouldn't have enough.  In actuality, it worked out fine, which likely means I've been using too much.  I'll measure from now on and see how things go.

I sauteed the onions first, and then added the corn and zucchini.  While the veg was going, I rinsed a can of Goya white beans (rinsing helps take off the "canned" taste and reduces your sodium content) by pouring them in a colander and running them under cool water.  I then stirred the beans into the veg mix.

To season the dish, I used black pepper, cumin, sea salt and smoked paprika.  A little bit of smoked paprika goes a long way to add color, a smoky flavor and a spicy kick.  Once I could smell the aroma of the spices, I took the mix off the heat and added in some fresh chopped cilantro, and then topped my serving with a bit of crumbled feta.  You can easily omit the feta to make this dish vegan, but I wanted to use up our leftover feta from the boreks I made last weekend.

A dish like this is great if you're feeding non-vegetarians.  I had a larger serving as my main dish.  My non-vegetarian husband had it as a side with some leftover barbeque from lunch.  He commented that the colors were bright and summery and he liked the kick from the smoked paprika.

Not only did this dish taste good, but it cost next to nothing to make!  We already had the onion and yellow tomatoes in the house.  We got two ears of corn for 79 cents, the zucchini for 79 cents, the small bunch of cilantro for 69 cents and the beans for $1.09.  I have a few portions leftover for lunch this week. 

What vegetables are you experimenting with this summer?

Vegetarian Rosh Hashanah Part III: Bukharan Braised Baby Carrots

The third dish I prepared this evening for tomorrow's festival meal is another recipe from Olive Trees and Honey.  This dish has roots in Central Asia, where, according to Rabbi Marks, Jews often enjoyed savory carrot dishes.

For this dish, onions and carrots are sauteed at high heat, and then seasoned with fresh garlic, paprika, cayenne pepper, cumin seed, tomato paste and salt, and then braised on medium low hear until tender.

The baby carrots I used were quite large, so I extended the cooking time a bit, 15 minutes versus 10 on the initial saute, and 15 minutes versus 8 during the braise.  I also used smoked paprika instead of cayenne to cut the spice quotient a bit.  While the husband and I love spicy, I don't want to torture his grandmother with the level of heat we're accustomed to eating.  And, while the recipe called for cottonseed oil, which was the oil of choice in Central Asia, I used olive oil.

I love cooking with smoked paprika and cumin seed, so if the smell of this one is any indication, we'll enjoy it tomorrow!

Adventures in Farro

If you haven't tried farro, you are missing out.  When I googled it to provide you with a definition of this tasty whole grain, I encountered a number of articles that discuss how people often argue about what farro really is.  In my mind, this NY Times Article provides the best description:

Farro is not wheat, but a plant and grain all its own. A grain of farro looks and tastes somewhat like a lighter brown rice. It has a complex, nutty taste with undertones of oats and barley. But lacking the heaviness of many whole-wheat grains, farro tastes more elegant than earnest.

Farro needs to be soaked and then boiled, so if you are planning on including it in a quick dinner, I recommend doing what I did, which is to make a big pot of it on Sunday and stick it in the fridge.  The cooked farro will keep well.

When I got home from yoga, I heated some olive oil in a large saute pan.  When the oil was ready, I added chopped portabello mushrooms, yellow and red cherry tomatoes, pinto beans, minced garlic and kale.  To help the kale along, I put a lid on the saucepan so it would steam down.

I seasoned the dish with a pinch of sea salt, some freshly ground pepper, za'atar and smoked paprika.  I had thought about adding some goat cheese, but after starting my copy of Forks Over Knives on the metro this evening, I asked myself whether or not the dish really needed dairy and decided it would be fine without it.

The result was hearty and filling, with a nice dash of spicy-smokiness.

Adventures in Spices: Smoked Paprika and Za'atar

Awhile ago, I had bought some smoked paprika and za'atar with the intention of using them to season homemade pita chips.  I still haven't gotten around to making the pita chips, but I did decide to experiment with the seasonings in tonight's concoction.

Smoked paprika is sometimes  referred to as "Smoked Spanish Paprika."  It's made from "smoked, ground pimiento peppers," and, not shockingly knowing it's alias, it can be found featured in Spanish cusisine.

When I bought the smoked paprika at Whole Foods, the cooking consultant who helped me locate it recommended I pair it with Za'atar, a "mixture of sumac, sesame seed and herbs frequently used in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas."

Tonight, I put some wild rice up in the rice cooker. While that was bubbling away, I sauteed a finely diced Vidalia onion in olive oil and stirred in some cremini mushrooms, chickpeas, diced yellow pepper, shredded carrots, minced garlic and kale.  I stirred in the cooked rice and seasoned the whole thing with a teaspoon of Za'atar and half a teaspoon of the smoked paprika.  I definitely got the smokiness I expected from the paprika.  And, it was a nice flavor adventure compared to my typical Italian (oregano, basil) or Mexican (cumin, cilantro) influenced concoctions.