Traditional Spanish Lentils

Dori and I made a lentil dish a couple of weeks ago that was similar to the canned lentils I ate when I lived in Spain in college.  Seafood and pork are the mainstays  and there weren't a whole lot of veggie food options. I did find some excellent Italian places but couldn't afford to eat out a lot. So, I fixed Azucaritas! (Frosted Flakes), pasta and lentils at my homestay all the time.  Here is a fabulous lentil recipe.  We forgot to take a pic. :(

Traditional Spanish Lentils

Ingredients:

    1 medium onion, diced
    2-3 cloves garlic, mashed
    3 tablespoons olive oil
    2 cups dried lentils
    1 medium tomato, diced
    2 medium carrots, chopped
    1 large potato, diced
    1 bay leaf
    1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
    salt and pepper, to taste
    4 cups vegetable broth
    1 teaspoon Spanish paprika

Directions:

1. In deep pot, sauté onion and garlic in oil until it starts to color.

2. Add remaining ingredients, except hot sauce and chorizo, and bring to a boil.

3. Reduce to a simmer and cook until lentils are done--about 40 minutes.

Serves: 4-6, Preparation time: 30 min

Notes: 

1.  I used a combo of red, green and brownish lentils from the bulk section at Central Market.  The green and brown are much less expensive than the red.

2.  It's important to use Spanish paprika - not just regular paprika.  The taste is very different.

3.  If the lentils are still firm after 40 minutes, continue cooking and check after 5 minutes.

Black Bean and Mango Empanadas

I had a great time cooking with Dori and Sammy last night!  I had been wanting to try making empanadas.  I love sweet empanadas which are mainly what you find around here at Mexican bakeries.  Carl found some guava filled empanadas at Panaderia Chuy that were fabulous!  In Argentina, they eat more savory-type empanadas. Most of the time they have meat in them but I found some that were filled with veggies or cheese.  My favorite are stuffed with Roquefort, walnuts and celery.
Anyway, so I looked up some simple recipes for veggie empanadas and found one the was perfect.  The filling consisted of black beans, onions, mango (which I just happened to have), cilantro and lots of spices.  I'll definitely use the recipe in the future just to make black beans.  We cheated and use puff pastry for the dough. I am all about taking advantage of pre-made pie crusts dough, filo dough, etc.

Black Bean Mango Empanadas
Yields 12

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1-1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1-1/2 cups finely chopped mango
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves
• 1 package frozen puff pastry, thawed

Directions:

1.                        Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet over  medium-high heat.

2.                       Add onions and cook, stirring often, until softened. Add garlic, cumin, coriander, oregano, and cayenne and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

3.                        Add black beans and mango and season with salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, until black beans are heated through then remove from heat and let mixture cool completely. Stir in cilantro.

4.                        Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

5.                        Lay out a sheet of puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Roll it out until it is about 1/16-inch thick and about 12 inches by 16 inches.

6.                        Place a couple tablespoons of black bean filling on each square. Dip your index finger into the water and moisten the edges of the puff pastry.

7.                        Fold each square in half to form a triangle. Use the back of a fork to press and seal the edges of each empanda.

8.         Lightly brush the tops of the empanadas with oil and place on a large baking sheet. Bake about 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown and puffy

Notes:
1.  We made six large empanadas instead of twelve little ones.
2.  We also tried to make the empanadas look "more authentic" by cutting out circles in the dough so that when it is folded over it looks more like a half-circle than a triangle.  Probably easier to do it as the recipe describes.  I did find instructions on how to fold empanadas on the Puff Pastry website.
3.  I served them with Central Market's bulk regular salsa and avocado tomatillo sauce which are excellent!

Easter Brunch! Waffles with Bananas Foster Sauce

Amy was sweet enough to have a bunch of us girls over to Bill's house for Easter Brunch.  We totally pigged out on omelettes, potatoes, ham, spinach salad and a bunch of other yumminess.  I've had this recipe for bananas foster forever.  It is supposed to be the same as Brennen's in New Orleans. It is super easy but sounds and looks really impressive. :)  Usually I put it on top of Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla, but it's perfect for a topping on waffles, etc.  I cheated and just used Bisquick with Ener-G egg replaces for the waffles. :) 

BANANAS FOSTER 

1 cup margarine (not butter!)

1 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup Bacardi 151 rum

1/8 cup banana extract/liquer (it's OK to leave out)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 bananas, sliced

Heat a large saute pan on medium-high heat.

Add the margarine, sugar, extract and cinnamon and stir.

Add bananas and rum and light with a fireplace lighter. Be careful!

Stir around a bit until the flame disappears and served on top of waffles, ice cream, etc.

Serves 4.

Morning Glory Muffins

I was lucky enough to dog-sit for Dori and Tim last weekend which meant I got to stay at their place with the awesome Sammy!  Carl and I took him with us to dinner at Maudie's, and of course, everyone was in love with him!

The next night I stayed in with Sammy and decided to bake something for Easter.  I came up with Morning Glory muffins (aka Marvelous Morning muffins) just because they are so honkin' good. I figured my officemates might eat them since they weren't dessert.  Everyone (including myself) at my office is pretty good about eating well so it's hard to get them to eat anything yummy and sweet.
Anyway, after much searching, I found what claims to be the original Morning Glory Muffin recipe.
I tweaked it a bit to make it Vegan (mainly because I can't stand cooking with eggs - too slimy!) and the end result was fabulous!!  I had bought these really cute Easter muffin cups that looked like flowers but they kind of turned all brown in the process. :(

ORIGINAL MORNING GLORY MUFFINS

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups	Sugar
2 1/4 cups	Wheat pastry flour
1tablespoon	ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons	baking soda
1/2teaspoon	salt
1/2 cup	shredded, sweetened coconut
3/4 cup	raisins
1 large	Fuji Apple (peeled and finely chopped)
1 cup	crushed pineapple (drained, about 8 oz)
2 cups	grated carrots
1/2 cup	coarsely chopped pecans or walnuts
Ener-G	Egg replacer equivalent of 3 eggs
1 cup	vegetable oil
1 teaspoon	pure vanilla extract

Directions

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

Sift or whisk together the sugar, flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Add the coconut, raisins, apple, pineapple, carrots and nuts, and stir to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg replacer with the oil and vanilla. Pour into the bowl with the dry ingredients and blend well.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins lined with muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu With Kale and Red Pepper

Dori and I love making to tofu dishes.  There is a special way I cook the tofu called "dry frying." It makes the tofu turn out perfectly - not slimy or mushy.  I have posted all the details and instructions on cooking tofu under the "TOFU" tab to the left along with a bunch of fabulous recipes. 
I basically chose the recipe below because I had some kale and cabbage in the fridge.  So, I just Googled "tofu stir-fry kale cabbage" and found a bunch of recipes.  I often go to Allrecipes.com and do a search for recipes by ingredient if I have something in the fridge I need to use before it goes bad or if I'm just craving something with a certain ingredient.  You can type in exactly what ingredients you do and don't want in a recipe.
The dish came out pretty yummy but not as good as some other tofu recipes I've tried.  I tweaked it a bit below which I think would make it a lot better than the original recipe.  We ate it with some black and white quinoa (there's really no difference - it just looks cool. :) which is healthier and less fattening than rice. 
I forgot to take a pic so this one is from the the NY Times article where I found the recipe. :)

Spicy Stir-Fried Tofu With Kale and Red Pepper

1 bunch curly kale (about 10 ounces), stemmed and washed

1 14-ounce package firm tofu, sliced about 1/4 inch thick

3 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

1/4 teaspoon salt (more to taste)

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper, preferably white pepper

1/4 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon oil

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced (to taste)

1 red bell pepper, cut in 2-inch julienne

1/4 head green cabbage

1 small onion, chopped

2 teaspoons dark sesame oil (to taste)

1. Bring a medium saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil, add the kale and blanch 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl of cold water, drain and squeeze out excess water. Chop coarsely and place in a bowl near your wok.

2. In a bow, combine all of the ingredients except the vegetables.

4. Dry fry tofu. Add to bowl to marinate.

5. Cook the onion in olive oil until translucent.  Add the red pepper and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the kale and green cabbage. Add the tofu and marinade and the sesame oil.  Stir-fry for another minute.

Yield: 2-4 servings.

VEGGIE BURGERS and “HEALTHY” COLESLAW

I usually don’t even buy veggie burger patties to make burgers at home because you have to buy all the fixings to go on them. It’s much easier to just go to Hyde Park Café, EZ’s or Phil’s to get a great veggie burger.  Then I saw this recipe for quinoa-based patties and thought that sounded interesting and unlike anything I'd had in a restaurant.

Dori and I were meeting at my place last Sunday so I asked Carl if he wanted us to make one for him.  He said yes!  He's actually not scared of quinoa, tofu, etc. but won't really eat any veggies. In the end, he covered his burger with Stubb’s BBQ sauce so he probably couldn’t even taste the veggie patty. :)

Well, the burgers were tasty, but I can sum up my thoughts on the experience in two words: BOCA BURGER!  There were just so many ingredients and the burgers came out pretty messy.  I will add this to my list of things I will not try to cook again. which includes any type of Indian food (just can’t get the spices right!) or white bean dip (nothing is going to come close to Vesapio’s!)

QUINOA VEGGIE BURGERS

Makes 6 burgers

INGREDIENTS
⅓ cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
1 rib celery, finely chopped
2 cups baby arugula, blanched, shocked, finely chopped, and squeezed dry
1 (15-oz.) can chickpeas/garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained and mashed - (the recipe called for cannellini beans, but Dori and I love chickpeas)
2 cups cooked quinoa
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 tbsps. mixed fresh herbs such as basil, oregano, etc., finely chopped
1 egg or equivalent of Ener-G egg replacer to make it vegan
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

6 hamburger buns, split and toasted

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, carrot, onion, and celery, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and add arugula, quinoa, breadcrumbs, oregano, egg, and mashed beans; season with salt and pepper and mix well to combine.

2. Divide mixture into six 5 1/2-oz. patties, about 4" wide x 1" thick; place on a plate and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until ready to use.

3. Heat 2 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium-high heat. Add 3 burgers, and cook, flipping once, until toasted on each side and cooked through, about 6 minutes. Repeat with remaining oil and burgers. Divide burgers between toasted buns, top with relish and serve.

Note: Individual veggie burgers can be formed and then frozen, sealed, for up to one month. Thaw in the refrigerator and cook as needed.

Spinach Artichoke Pie

So, for last week's dinner, I went to Dori's place which is always a treat because I get to see Sammy - her amazing Ridgeback rescue! 
For some reason, I was in a savory tart/pie mood and had some leftover spinach so I started looking online for ideas.  Recipes for spanokapita kept popping up which sounded awesome, but I was looking for something less fattening.  I came across a recipe for Spinach and Artichoke Pie on which basically uses tofu instead of feta.  I'd only used tofu in stir-fries (I'll be posting some recipes soon!) but had never used it as a substitute for cheese, etc.  What the heck!  So, I tweaked it a bit and came up with the recipe below that uses pie dough instead of filo dough - easier, cheaper, less fattening and still yummy!

Spinach and Artichoke Pie

Ingredients

• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbs. olive oil
• 16 ounces baby spinach (I used the pre-washed, bagged kind)
• 1/2 of a 14oz. package of extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
• 2 tbsp. nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp. salt, or to taste
• 3 tsp. Italian spices such as dried basil, oregano, etc.
• 2 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice
• pinch cayenne
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 14-ounce can quartered artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, slightly crushed (or toasted pinenuts)
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 pie crust

1. Preheat the oven to 375 and prepare your pie crust as directed.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep non-stick skillet on medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for 3 minutes. Add the spinach and 2 tablespoons water, stir, and cover the skillet. Cook until the spinach is completely wilted and shrunken and barely any liquid is left. Set aside.
3. While the spinach is cooking, crumble the tofu and stir in the nutritional yeast, all the seasonings and lemon juice.  Add the artichokes, almonds, and the spinach mixture, and mix well.
4. Pour the mixture evenly into the pie crust. Put it in the oven and check after 20 minutes.  Continue baking if needed until the edge of the pie crust in golden brown.

Notes:

1.     Dori had some Penzey's Tuscan Sunset spice blend that we used for the "italian spices."  It was perfect!  There is a Penzey store in Austin at 45th and Lamar.

2.     I use pre-made pie dough instead of making crust. I've tried and it's just not worth it!  I buy Immaculate brand refrigerated dough from Whole Foods.
3.     I'd never used nutritional yeast before and didn't even know what it was. I'm still not sure that I do, but I found it at Whole Foods in the bulk section.
4.     Leave out the parmesan and choose a cust with no dairy or eggs to make it vegan.
5.     I also threw in some chopped roasted tomatoes.  You could add roasted red peppers instead.
6.    The website where I found this recipe is awesome!!  http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/