Recipe, interrupted

Recipe: Chickpea and Sunflower Seed Hummus

A neighborhood mom and fellow Park Slope Food Co-op member has for months been raving to me about sunflower seed butter. It took me a while to make room for yet another nut butter in the fridge (next to the peanut and almond butters) but when I finally got around to trying sunflower seed butter, I could definitely see its appeal. Slightly sweet, very creamy and very rich, but it has the delicate flavor of sunflowers. It was almost too rich for me to spread on a slice of bread. Doing that kind of felt like eating sesame tahini straight up. And that’s when I tried making hummus with this instead of tahini. With sunflower seed butter, the hummus is mellow and very smooth and buttery. So buttery, that I didn’t even need to drizzle in any olive oil. I added some scallions for a spike of sharp, green flavor and my new favorite hummus was born.

This hummus tastes just right to me when it’s had a chance to sit for about an hour or so. The garlic and scallion become more pronounced as time goes on. After a day or two, my kids deem it "too spicy" (but I still like it).

 

Makes about 2 cups

Preparation time: 5 minutes, plus resting time, if desired

 

2 cups cooked chick peas, with some of the cooking liquid reserved

3 tablespoons sunflower seed butter

3 scallions, white and light green parts roughly chopped

1-2 cloves garlic

Kosher salt to taste (start with about 1/2 teaspoon and add more as necessary)

Fresh lemon juice to taste (start with about a teaspoon, going up to about 3 teaspoons)

 

1. In a food processor or with an immersion blender, process all ingredients together until very smooth. Moisten with cooking liquid and process again until you get a thick, dip-like consistency that will hold on to pretzels, crackers, and veggie sticks.
    
2. Taste and add more salt and lemon juice as desired.

 

Recipe: Black Beans and Mini Roasted Sweet Peppers

More and more, I’m cooking with less meat and more beans, tofu, and whole grains. I’ve been motivated partly out of a desire to reduce my family’s carbon footprint and partly to eat more healthfully. But mostly, I’m subscribing to the Old Miller Lite “Tastes Great, Less Filling” philosophy. To me, there’s no point in eating a meat-heavy meal when a colorful, hearty vegetarian dish can satisfy me without leaving me overly stuffed and remorseful. I haven’t lost my taste for meat – I’ll still occasionally crave and happily eat a duck breast or a bison burger. But these days, I generally let vegetables take center stage and give meat a supporting role. A small amount of bacon or chicken broth can go a long way.

Here’s one example of something that can be easily and inexpensively prepared for an entirely vegetarian weekday dinner. The mini peppers come from a local, organic farm. Outside of their season, I typically don’t buy peppers. Conventionally grown ones tend to be very high in pesticides and organic peppers are often packed in plastic and shipped from far away. If you can get organic peppers, use them. If they’re the big ones (not these cute miniature ones), roast two and seed and dice them before stirring them into the beans. If pepper season has passed you by, don’t fret, try using mini pattypan squash instead.

 

Makes 4 servings

1 hour, plus soaking time

 

1 ½ cups dried black beans, soaked overnight, drained and rinsed (If you prefer, you can use 3 cups canned black beans, skip the soaking and start at step 2. I often use canned beans, but in this case I like to cook my own – the texture of canned black beans tends towards the mushy.)

1 pint miniature sweet peppers

3-4 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

2 tablespoons minced garlic, plus 4-5 whole cloves smashed in their skins

1 medium onion, diced

1 ½ teaspoons dried oregano

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 ½ teaspoons fresh lime juice

2-3 cups cooked brown rice

Optional: sour cream or strained yogurt (such as Greek style)

1. If using dried beans: Bring beans and enough water to cover them by about ½ inch to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until tender but still holding its shape. Cooking time can vary greatly, but usually takes about 45 minutes. Remove from heat, add a generous pinch of salt, cover again, and set aside.
    
2. Preheat oven to 500°F.  Toss the peppers and whole garlic cloves with about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle lightly with salt. Spread on a baking sheet and roast in the upper third of the oven for about 10-15 minutes (shaking pan partway through to get more even roasting), until softened and browned in spots. Cover with a casserole pan or aluminum foil to steam for about 5 minutes. Most of the garlic will be charred; toss them out. If there are any soft cloves left, peel their skins off and add the cloves to the beans.
   
    
3. While peppers are cooking, heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a wide, shallow saucepan or saucier over medium heat. Add onions and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add oregano and chopped garlic. Stir and cook an additional 3 minutes, until garlic is softened.
    
4. With a slotted spoon remove the beans from their cooking liquid (reserving liquid), and stir into onion mixture. Salt to taste. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes to let the flavors mingle, adding cooking liquid as necessary to moisten. Remove from heat, stir in cilantro and lime juice. Add salt to taste if necessary. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil if desired. Serve over brown rice and garnish with sour cream or yogurt if desired. 

 

Recipe: Toasted Okara

A recipe that calls for okara, the soy bean pulp leftover from making soy milk, may seem kind of esoteric. But these last weeks, I'd been working on a how-to post for Serious Eats about silken tofu and soy milk. So the question of what to do with all the by-product of okara, was a practical one. When I made my first couple of batches of tofu, I just dumped the okara in the compost bin. But after a while, I started having a guilty conscience over wasting the stuff, considering that it's supposed to be very nutritious and that many dishes could be made out of it.

It needs to be cooked further before eating, as the soybeans aren't fully cooked. One night, I simmered them with some vegetables, ginger, soy sauce, garlic, mirin, and added lots of lime juice. That was great, but I couldn't serve okara every night this week. Then I focused on making something I could keep in the fridge and add to whatever dishes I happened to be making.

This toasted okara comes together very quickly and easily and makes a savory vegan and gluten-free substitute for breadcrumbs. It's also a nice protein-packed topping on salads and steamed or sauteed vegetables.


Makes about 1 cup

Preparation time: 25 minutes

1 cup okara

2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil

2 tablespoon raw sesame seeds

1. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 300F. Whisk together all ingredients.

2. Spread okara mixture on a baking sheet.

3. Bake until deeply golden and crisp, about 15-20 minutes, stirring halfway through to ensure even toasting. 

4. Cool completely. Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Recipe: Barley with Fava Beans, Pecorino Romano and Black Pepper

Just delicious... Next time though, I'll garnish with shaved Pecorino Romano rather than grated.

Sometimes a few simple ingredients can come together in a way that is so satisfying. From Roman spaghetti classic, Cacio e Pepe, I borrowed the Pecorino Romano and cracked black pepper. Instead of spaghetti, though, I used pearl barley. And I added fava beans. This time of year, when they are fresh, how could I resist them? With five-year-old fingers assisting me on the shelling, this dish was as much a pleasure to make as it was to eat.

In this recipe, I also include the ingredients and procedure for an accompaniment of roasted carrots and asparagus. I considered putting it in the title, but that was just too much of a mouthful. With the red onion tossed into the hot veggies at the end, an especially tasty mouthful.

 

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Serves 4

 

1 ½ cups pearled barley

2 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter

Kosher salt, to taste

4 ounces Pecorino Romano, grated (about 1 cup)

½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

1 cup cooked fresh fava beans (see link for preparation instructions)

½ pound or so each of fresh asparagus and carrots (roughly speaking, this is a hefty fistful, or one bunch of each as they are typically sold in the market)

about 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup very thinly sliced red onion (I recommend using a mandoline if you have one)

Juice of ½ lemon

 

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
   
   
2. In a saucepan, bring barley, 3 cups water, 1 teaspoon butter, and a dash of salt to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer gently until barley is plump and tender and the water has been absorbed, 20-25 minutes. Turn off heat and keep covered for an additional 5 minutes. Stir in remaining butter, cheese, and pepper. Add salt to taste, though you may not need much – Pecorino Romano is very salty. Gently fold in the fava beans.
   
   
   
3. While barley is cooking, prepare the asparagus and carrots. Cut thicker carrots lengthwise so that they roughly match the thickness of the asparagus. Toss vegetables with 2 tablespoons olive oil and salt. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast for about 10 minutes, until vegetables are tender and browned in some spots.
   
   
4. As soon as the vegetables come out of the oven, toss in the red onions on the baking sheet. Just before serving, dress with lemon juice and an additional tablespoon of olive oil.
   
   
5. Serve barley and vegetables while hot. 

Technique: How to Cook Fresh Fava Beans

For their simple, delicate, unassuming appearance and flavor, fava beans sure are a lot of work. It’s not hard work or complicated work, just time-consuming. For me, it helps to think of it as a kind of “ritual of spring” package deal. Enjoying fava beans during their brief season requires slowing down to take each step in their preparation and observing them – maybe even appreciating them if the shelling goes easily – in their original form. Going from whole pod to whole bean to peeled bean is like playing that old birthday party game “Pass the Parcel.” Getting down to the little treasure inside is a good bit of the fun.

Here's how to do it:

Split open the outer shell and remove beans. This can take a while. It’s nice to have an extra set of helping hands.

Steam or boil beans 3-4 minutes over/in salted water, until the skins are slightly shriveled and the beans inside them are tender and bright green.

Shock beans in ice water or run cold water over them to stop the cooking process.

Peel away and discard the outer skin of the beans. Eat the beans as is or use in your favorite springtime fava bean recipe.

A big produce bag full of fava beans in their pods may yield only this scant cup of cooked beans. It's better to start out with more than you think you might need. You're not likely to have leftovers and you may have to wait a year for seconds. 

 

Recipe: Red Lentil and Red Pepper Soup

I like to blend this soup into a rich and velvety puree, but you can leave it on the slightly chunky side if you prefer. Red lentils have a great way of just melting when you cook them, so either way the result is very delicate and tender.

 

The seasoning lends a lightly spiced flavor to the soup, along with some brightness from the cilantro and roasted red pepper. If you are serving the soup as a first course, it’s subtle enough that it won’t leave you unable to taste the rest of your meal.

In the photo above, I’ve garnished the soup with sprouted lentils. (Be on the lookout next week for my Serious Eats post on how to grown your own bean sprouts.) A little fresh cilantro also makes a nice garnish.

By the way, if you reheat leftover soup, you’ll likely need to add a little extra liquid. Red lentils also have a way of thickening over time.

 

Serves 4

Preparation time: 30 minutes

 

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1 small onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed (and minced if not pureeing soup)

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 ½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds

½ teaspoon ground coriander

Kosher salt, to taste

1 ½ cups red lentils, rinsed, picked over, and drained

4 cups light vegetable, chicken, or seafood broth, or water

1 large roasted red pepper (the ones from the jar are fine), chopped

¼ cup chopped cilantro

 

1. In a saucier or wide saucepan, heat the coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, and a pinch of salt to the pan and stir to combine well with the oil. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir occasionally, and cook until onions are tender and everything is fragrant, about 5 minutes.
   
2. Add the lentils and broth or water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, partially cover, and cook until lentils are very tender, about 20 minutes.
   
3. Add red peppers and cilantro. Puree soup with a hand blender. Add salt to taste.
   
4. Serve hot.

 

Recipe: Braised Hijiki Salad

I served this salad warm, but you can also eat it hot or cold. This recipe is loosely based on the one I grew up with, which had more liquid (hijiki ragu?) and had the traditional abura-age in it. I love the sweet fried tofu in inari sushi but sometimes find it a bit too sweet in this dish. So instead, I used tempeh in this version. (I'm on a bit of a tempeh kick now after discovering that I no longer dislike it.) I browned it well before stirring into the hijiki and, while it really isn't a typical Japanese ingredient, it added a pleasant and substantial meatiness.

 The shiitake, carrots and, of course, the hijiki (which my father told me would give me "beautiful hair") were all in the childhood dish. I've been told that every Japanese family has their own variation of this dish. With a little experimentation, you can come up with your own 'house' standard.

Serves 4-6 as a side dish

Preparation time: 20 minutes

2-3 ounce package of dried hijiki

8 ounces tempeh, cut into roughly 1/8-inch by 1-inch slices

3 tablespoons neutral oil, such as grapeseed

3 ounces (about 1 cup packed) thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms (stems removed)

1 carrot, julienned

1/2 cup shelled edamame beans (frozen or fresh)

2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1. Soak the hijiki in a large bowl (it will triple in volume) of cool water for 10 minutes. Rinse and drain.   
2. While hijiki is soaking, heat a wide saucepan or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, spread the tempeh evenly in the pan, taking care not to crowd them. Brown them well, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove and set aside.  
3. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and saute the mushrooms over high heat until softened and lightly browned, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in the hijiki, heating it and coating it with the oil in the pan.   
4. Stir in the tempeh, carrots, and edamame. Add the soy sauce, mirin, vinegar, and 1/2 cup of water, stir well and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes until hijiki is tender, but not mushy, and most of the liquid has been reduced and absorbed. The cooking time will vary depending on the brand of hijiki. Add water if the hijiki is not fully cooked and the liquid is gone. 
5. Serve immediately or refrigerate and allow the salad to come to room temperature before serving. 

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Purée

 

 This purée functions beautifully as a side dish or a dip. As a side dish, it is especially well-suited as a bed for roast lamb. When I plan to serve it with crackers or crudite, I just make it a little saltier and thicker. In either role, the purée is earthy, velvety, and just slightly sweet from the caramelization on the roasted garlic. It is one of those dishes that I love to make time and time again.

Serves 6 as a side dish

Preparation time: 1 3/4 hours (mostly inactive cooking time)

 

For the roasted garlic:

1 head of garlic

1 teaspoon olive oil

pinch Kosher salt

3 sprigs thyme

 

For the beans:

1 ½ cups dried Cannellini or Great Northern beans, soaked overnight

2 sprigs thyme, 1 stem parsley, top half of a stalk of celery, 2 bay leaves, tied in a bundle

about ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

 

 

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Prepare the garlic for roasting. Slice off the tips of the garlic head to expose the garlic cloves. Reserve the small bits of garlic (outer skin removed) for the beans. Drizzle the olive oil over the garlic, sprinkle the salt over it and place the thyme on top. Wrap up the garlic with aluminum foil. Roast in the oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the garlic is slightly caramelized and very soft. Allow them to cool enough to be handled comfortably. Squeeze the cloves of garlic out of their papery skins and set aside.

   
   

       

   click images to enlarge 

3. While the garlic is roasting, put the beans in an oven-proof saucepan or Dutch oven along with the bundle of herbs and the garlic scraps, cover with about 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer.  Cover the pot and bake in the oven for about an hour and a half, checking occasionally to make sure the beans are not drying out and adding water if necessary. Take pot of beans out of the oven when the beans are tender, salt them, and let them cool in their cooking liquid at room temperature.
4. Using a food processor or immersion blender, purée the beans, the roasted garlic, and a good pinch of salt together. Slowly, with the food processor or blender running, drizzle in the olive oil until it reaches the desired consistency. If you are using the puree as a side dish (and therefore want it less rich), you may want to use less olive oil and add some of the bean cooking liquid. Taste and add salt if necessary.

 

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