The Best Quinoa EVER

Throw away all of your other savory quinoa recipes - this is the last one you will ever need.

I'm serious.

Some people believe that food blogs should only be vehicles for New!Original!Wow!  but anyone who's read this blog for any amount of time knows i dont feel that way...  This blog is a way for me to chronicle my favorites - whether I created or just replicated - and share them with others. This is pretty close to a pure replication, from one of our favorite sources, Mark Bittman.

Since making it the first time, its become the default go-to recipe when we want a grain-y side and there isnt an otherwise-obvious answer (ie mexican food gets mexican rice)...  between the health benefits of quinoa and the overall yumminess of this recipe, i cant see any reason for it to lose its place at the top any time soon...

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The Best Savory Quinoa EVER
courtesy of Mark Bittman - How to Cook Everything (a variation on the Roasted Corn Quinoa) with minor revisions by Jordan

2 tbsp olive oil

2 shallots, minced
salt & pepper

3/4 c quinoa - rinsed and drained

1.5 c hot water with 1 large vegetable bouillon cube (the kind that makes 2 cups of stock) dissolved in it*

parsley (dried or fresh will do)

***

Place oil in skillet/saucepan (make sure it has a lid - you dont need it yet, but you will) over medium heat

Once oil is hot, add in the shallots and a little salt & pepper.  Stir to coat and then allow to cook 3 - 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the shallots begin to brown.

Once the shallots have browned, add in the quinoa.  Stir to coat with oil & to combine.  Allow to sit until grains start popping/toasting.  This will take about 5 minutes.  You can stir a little, but not too much, during this time.  Once the popping has begun (you'll see 'movement' among the grains) add in the broth (water/bouillion) and bring to a boil.

Stir and then cover and reduce heat to super-low so that the pot is just lightly simmering.

Allow to cook 15 minutes.  (you may want to check on it after 10 minutes to be sure that its not dry.  If it is, add another 1/4c of water and stir, reduce heat even further, and continue to cook)

Check after 15 minutes.  If water is gone but grains are still too crunchy for your taste (quinoa generally will have a slight 'crunch' to it) add in more water, 1/4 c at a time, until it is cooked to your taste.  If there is still water, continue to cook, checking every few minutes.

Once fully cooked, remove from the stove and add a few shakes of parsley (if dried or a small handful of chopped fresh) and a bit of additional pepper.  For some reason, this last step REALLY makes a huge difference - prior to adding the parsley, it can seem too salty and a bit blah, but afterwards, its perfect.  the parsley is truly more than just a garnish.

Stir and serve.

* you can obviously use 1.5 c of vegetable broth if you want.  In a small manhattan kitchen, its just easier to keep bouillon on hand than it is to keep containers of broth...

Mexican Brown Rice

You know how i was all 'new post! new post! new post!' and now its all radio silence?

its because i've seemingly forgotten how to cook... it appears that 2011 and kitchen concoctions dont mesh well for me.

lately, everything i make is a failure of some sort - even things i've made a million times before - even simple boring boxed pasta - i've lost the magic. and its really getting me down and making the idea of ordering in a lot more appealing...

while i try to figure out what the hell is going on, i will share this mexican rice with you... last night was cinco de mayo, so we opted for basic quesedillias, refried beans (hint: goya refried > amy's refried) and this rice.

Its not the most traditional of mexican rices - a bit more tomato and no peppers, but it was seriously the first thing we've made in a while that didnt make me apologize throughout the entire meal...

(oh yeah, and if jordan ever offers you a margarita? if you have anything to do the next day, run far, far away. 1.5 of his amazing margaritas has left me way HUNG OVER this morning...)

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Mexican Brown Rice
courtesy of me

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 of a medium red onion, diced
1 1/2 cups brown basmati rice (i'm sure any brown rice would do - just be sure to adjust your cooking time accordingly)
3 cloves minced garlic
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 can (14.5 oz) petite cut zesty tomatoes w/ liquid
 ~ 6 strands saffron

***

Heat olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat.

Add  the onion and saute for 3-4 minutes.  Onion should be somewhat softened, but not at all browned.

Add dry rice & saffron and stir to combine so that rice is coated with oil and cook with the onions for about 5 minutes or until rice gets 'toasty' - color will change a little and you'll smell it. 

Add in the garlic, stir well to combine & saute for one more minute.

Slowly add in broth, tomatoes & saffron threads. Stir to combine and bring to a boil. Allow to boil about 2 - 3 minutes and then turn the heat to super low and cover. 

Let it simmer for ~45 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Periodically check to make sure that there is still water in the pan (if your lid allows steam to escape, some of the liquid may evaporate before it can be absorbed).  If it gets too close to dry and the rice is still crunchy, add ~1/3 c of water & continue to cook.

Once all of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is cooked the way you like it, fluff with a fork & serve.

Pasta e Fagioli

growing up, the italian side of my family was pretty influential...  a few generations removed from italy, i was quite american, as my my dad married a non-italian girl making him pretty american (and obviously, that girl he married wasnt italian), but then there were my grandparents...  neither was born in italy, but i believe their parents were, so they'd grown up pretty italian.  and marrying eachother, they carried some of that into their own household.  which means once i was old enough to spell, they would speak italian around me so that i didnt understand...  (in hindsight, this excluded my mom as well...  hmmm...)

anyway, despite my lack of any semblance of fluency in italian, there are certain words that i learned quite differently than you probably did...

we all know what mut-za-rell (mozzarella) is, but do you know what a ri-gut is?  how about mana-gut?  how about Jordan's favorite - gan-ool?

No?  well, thats how my italian grandmother says ricotta (though, actually, we mostly called it pot cheese, which is apparently a cousin of ricotta...), manicotti and, jordan's favorite - cannoli...

and thats how i said all of those things until probably some time in high school when i discovered the Olive Garden or something...

anyway, whats my point?  Oh, i'm getting there - i promise...  anyway, when i was in high school, my father used to make us pastavazool...  and just like manicotti and canolli before it, i had no earthly idea that it was not spelled the way it sounded.  in fact, i dont think that i knew that it was something that anyone other than my family ate.  i mean, it was called pastavazool for chrissake - my dad must have made that up, right?  that word cant be real, can it?

So imagine my non-italian high-school boyfriends amusement when we were at his house one day, raiding the pantry, and i pulled out a can and asked him what 'pasta E fag-e-oli' was...  he's all - 'are you kidding?  your dad makes it all the time!'  and i'm all like, 'HUH?  thats how you spell that???  for real???  how in the world is pasta e fagioli possibly pastavazool???'

anyway, i dont know that i'd had pasta e fagioli since high school but during this past week, when it was snowing - YET AGAIN - i wanted something warm and hearty...  and i got pasta e fagioli in my head and went recipe searching...  yet nothing i found was really right.  pasta e fagioli translates to 'pasta with beans', so why was i finding so many recipes with MEAT in them?  or weird spices?  or no tomatoes?  or - the weirdest one of all - pureed beans?  wha-?  none of them lived up to my memory, so i set out to create my own...  a little from here, a little from there and a lot from my memory...

In the end, i dont know how close i was to what my dad used to make, but what i came up with is definitely "pasta with beans", heartier than a soup, 100% vegetarian (and would be vegan if you skip the parmesan on top) and exactly what a cold, snowy night calls for.

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Pasta e Fagioli
courtesy of me
click here to import recipe directly into Pepperplate

~ 2/3 of a box of ditalini pasta

1 - 2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 of a vidalia onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
1 small celery heart, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed & roughly chopped

1.5 tsp minced fresh sage (or .5 tsp dried sage)
1.5 tsp minced fresh oregano (or .5 tsp dried oregano)
1 tbsp minced fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried thyme.  dried rosemary isnt so great...)
1 tsp dried basil (or 1 tbsp fresh basil)

1 can stewed tomatoes (not drained)
2 c vegetable broth, divided (feel free to use chicken or beef broth if you are not vegetarian)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can cannelini beans
1 can red kidney beans

~ 12 turns of a pepper grinder - probably about 1/2 tsp if you do not have freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
2 - 3 dashes tabasco (optional)

***

These directions are incredibly flexible.  Below i'm giving you approximate cooking times, but all were determined by how long it took me to get to the next step...

Prepare pasta - cooking ~ 3 minutes less than the time indicated on the box for al dente pasta.  Set aside.

In a large, heavy pot (i used this one) heat oil over medium - medium-high heat until it shimmers

dump in the onion, stir briefly to coat all with oil and let it cook while you chop up your carrot, celery and garlic.  (for me, this was about 5 minutes...)

Add the carrots, celery and garlic & stir to combine.  let it cook while you start chopping herbs - again, probably about 5 minutes.  The veggies will be soft and might start to brown every so slightly.

Add the chopped herbs.  I used the fresh/dried combination shown above because its what i had on hand...  see my notes above about exchanges you can do between fresh & dried herbs...

mix and cook ~ 1 minute

Add the stewed tomatoes & their juices along with 1 c of the broth.  Break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon and allow to cook ~ 5 minutes.

Briefly remove from heat and puree ~ 1/3 - 1/2 of what is in the pot.  You want to break up any large chunks of anything but not reduce it to mush...  You can do this in a blender, food processor, with an immersion blender - whatever works for you - just be careful as the liquid is hot!

return the entire thing to the pot and return the pot to medium heat...

simmer 2 - 3 minutes.

add the drained diced tomatoes, the remaining cup of broth & both cans of beans (dont forget to rinse them)
along with ~ 12 turns of the pepper grinder (in a cooking class we took at Miette Culinary Studio we learned that fresh pepper should be used in a ratio of 3 turns of the grinder per serving as this is what most people will ask for in a restaurant.  I always like to leave a little room, so i dialed it back to the equivalent of 4 servings worth of pepper because you can always add more later...  and jordan did...)

add the crushed red pepper & tabasco, if desired.  stir to combine and allow to simmer another few minutes.

Add the not-quite-cooked pasta, stir to combine and allow to simmer ~ 5 more minutes.  Taste the pasta to ensure that it is cooked through and once it is, remove from heat.

Serve with freshly shaved parmigiano reggiano (if you have it or any other grated cheese if you dont) and crusty bread.

reheating note:  this reheats fantastically.  I packed some up for lunch - added a generous amount of parmesan cheese to it while it was still cold - and reheated it in the microwave at work for about 2 minutes, stirring once.

Braised Chickpeas & Spinach

(formerly known as miss congeniality)

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the bachelorette party of a friend from work.  She'd decided to take a slightly different route with the party plans - no penis straws, strippers or pole dancing classes - instead we'd be heading to Rustico cooking for a hands-on cooking class, lots of wine & a 3 course meal.

Kim (the bachelorette) got to set the menu and in a group of 16, you can imagine that meat wins out as the main course.  I was fine with this - i've made a meal of 'sides' more times than i care to think about - but the lovely ladies at Rustico asked if anyone was vegetarian and since i was the only one, i figured they'd just make sure that i got extra butternut squash raviolis or something...  However, when the ravioli came out and i got the same portion as everyone else, i just figured i was in for extra broccoli and potatoes.  No biggie, but when another friend offered up her leftover ravioli, i said sure...  When they came to clear the plates, they mentioned that they'd made something else for me as a main meal...  Cool!  what was it?  Chickpeas.  oh...

I'm not always a chickpea fan - sure, i like hummus as much as the next guy, but plain chickpeas had never really been my thing, so i held onto those extra ravioli anyway...  figured i'd choke down a few chickpeas but that would be it.

never did i imagine i'd end up not only finishing every last one, but then, two days later, emailing them to get the recipe...

this dish - while not particularly attractive - is incredibly healthy and wildly yummy.  it accomplishes all of those things a good vegetarian dish should - its not trying to be something its not (meat) and it uses spices to bring out the flavors in an otherwise bland main ingredient.  it went so well with the broccoli and potatoes (at the class) that the meat-eater and i decided to leave well-enough alone and make similar sides at home...  in the end, this is one of those super-easy, super-yummy, super-healthy dishes that is sure to find a permanent place in our rotation.

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Braised Chickpeas & Spinach
Courtesy Rustico Cooking with slight modifications by me

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
2 garlic cloves, minced
2/3 medium yellow onion, minced
2 tsp chopped Italian parsley
2 tsp chopped oregano

7 grape tomatoes, halved
2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch freshly ground black pepper

3 cups slightly packed baby spinach
2/3 cup vegetable broth

***

Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a heavy 2-quart pot over a medium flame. Add the chili flakes, garlic, onion, parsley, and oregano, and cook 5 minutes, or until soft.

Stir in the tomatoes, chickpeas, salt, and pepper, and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the spinach and the broth and cover; lower the heat to medium-low.

Simmer 1 hour, or until very tender, stirring once in a while and checking to make sure there is always a bit of liquid in the pot.

If the sauce is too liquid when the chickpeas are ready to serve, uncover and reduce over medium-high heat.

Serve hot, drizzled with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. <- super important step!!!

Snobby Joes

(originally titled: so good that i'm skipping past dessert...)

there are mint chocolate brownies waiting - no begging - to be posted.

but they will wait. because this - this MUST be made soon. while the weather is cold and craptastic. (did you hear it may SNOW at the end of the week? SNOW!)

i didnt make these up, i didnt really change anything (except the color of a pepper and that was just cause i used what i had instead of running to the store) but i need to share this, STAT.

vegan sloppy joes. also known as Snobby Joes. also known as a 5 pt dinner for all of you weight watchers out there...

onion, pepper, garlic & oil look good!

simmering lentils. ew, looks gross!

honestly, they couldnt be easier... i had 45 minutes between getting home and going back out and i put it all together and then let it sit so that all the flavors could really mush together...






now, i dont know about your childhood, but during MY childhood, there was really only one kind of packaged roll. i'm not sure if its cause they are so yummy or if its cause they are so full of preservatives that they NEVER EVER get moldy or hard, but we always, always, always had martin's potato rolls in the house. always.



honestly, aside from perhaps kraft mac & cheese with cut up hotdogs or perhaps hamburger helper (both things i no longer eat since there's meat in both), theres nothing that says childhood memories like sloppy joes... therefore, it would have been 6 ways wrong to put them on anything other than martin's rolls...



(there's only one in that picture, but i had 2. I'm a piggy...)

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Snobby Joes
Courtesy of Veganomicon, via the ppk.com - teeny tiny changes by me


1 cup uncooked lentils
4 cups water

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1/2 red pepper, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon salt

8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste

3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard (wet mustard)

potato rolls (or some other kind if you MUST)



Put the lentils in a small sauce pot and pour in 4 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft. Drain and set aside. Reserve 1/2 c of the liquid.

About 10 minutes before the lentils are done boiling. saute the onion, garlic and pepper in the oil for about 8 - 10 minutes, until softened.

Add the cooked lentils, the chili powder, oregano and salt to the onion/garlic/pepper combo and mix.
Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. If desired, add 1/4 - 1/2 c of the reserved liquid in order to allow the mixture to 'cook down'.
Cook for about 10 minutes over low heat, stirring frequently.

Add the maple syrup and mustard and heat through.

Turn the heat off and let sit for at least 10 minutes to allow the flavors to meld.

Serve on open face potato rolls. Should make about 6 sandwiches.

(1/6th of lentil recipe = 3 WW pts. 1 potato roll = 2 WW pts.)