It is no secret that Rob and I may choose our next vacation destination based on its cuisine. Obviously, Iceland wasn’t picked based on its cuisine, although the food I had was top-notch (although not Icelandic).

One country that is creeping up in our list of places to visit is Jamaica. I don’t know how widespread the Rastafari movement is, but with its mostly-vegan cuisine (called ital), vegan options free of chemical and artificial additives should be available throughout Jamaica. According to wikipedia, they prefer more natural vegetables and fruits such as coconut and mango. Rob would be in heaven.

There are Rasta communities around the world, including Toronto where I’ve been to One Love, which serves ital and other Caribbean vegan meals. However, my introduction to Rastafarian cuisine was in Japan of all places. Around the time I was heading to Japan, Heidi gushed over Tokyo’s only ital noodle shop. Sure enough, a lover of food but not even vegetarian at the time, we scoped out this teeny tiny restaurant completely off the tourist track. We enjoyed our noodles and other veggie dishes. While this was Heidi’s best meal of her trip, I will admit that my fresh sashimi was unbeatable at the Tsukiji Market.  If I were vegan at the time, I would have really appreciated the vegan soba noodles. In Japan, fresh soba noodles are richer because they are typically made with Japanese fish broth, dashi.

Now that I am vegan, I was stoked to try Rasta Pasta that I found in Big Vegan. A bowl full of vegetables (green beans! mushrooms! collards!, tomato!), with some noodles, too, in a coconut-curry-tomato sauce. It had a lot of the similar ingredients as my favourite Kelp Noodles, Baby Bok Choy, Broccoli and Red Pepper with a Coconut-Peanut Sauce but it was so different.  The recipe called for 1 tbsp of curry powder. I’ve made other Caribbean dishes that were unpalatable by their heat (ok for Rob, just not me), so I went tame. I didn’t even use curry powder. I substituted 1 tsp of garam masala instead.

It was a quick noodle stir-fry. With the garam masala, it was savoury. It lacked the sweetness from coconut-peanut sauce, and originally I thought it was rather pungent but truthfully, as I ate the leftovers, that was exactly why I liked it. Nothing too crazy and creamy, just a savoury veggie and noodle dish. However, now that the Madras curry powder has been given the green light in my kitchen, I’d love to try this again with curry powder. If you try it, let me know how you like it!

As a vegan, where would you prefer to travel?

This is my submission to this week’s Presto Pasta Nights, hosted by Ruth, to this week’s Wellness Weekend and to My Kitchen, My World for Jamaica.

Rasta Pasta

1 tbsp coconut oil
3 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp garam masala (or 1 tbsp curry powder if you dare!)
1/4 tsp allspice
1.5 cups collards (100g), thinly sliced
1 cup fresh tomato, chopped
1 cup green beans, chopped
1 cup edamame, thawed
4 oz mushrooms, chopped (I used oyster mushrooms but white ones would be ok too)
1/2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes
1 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup coconut milk
2 tbsp tomato paste
12 oz kelp noodles, washed (or your favourite  thin and long noodles – soba, angel hair, etc – get it boiling while you make the veggies)
1/2 tsp salt

1. Heat a large frypan with the coconut oil over high heat. Add the green onions and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Add the garam masala and allspice, stirring to lightly toast. Add the collards, tomato, green beans, edamame, mushrooms and chili flakes. Stir-fry over medium-high heat until they have softened, around 3 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, stir together the stock, coconut milk and tomato paste in a small cup. Pour over the vegetables in the pan and brign toa  simmer. Simmer until it was slightly thickened. Season with the salt.

3. Add the pasta, and toss to coat well. Remove from heat and serve hot. Leftovers are great chilled, too.

Serves 4.

Here we go, another salad with roasted beets!

I just can’t get enough of them.

This time I used red beets. There are a few differences between red and golden beets:

1) Golden beets are more mild and taste sweeter.

2) Red beets bleed. They make me look like I’ve been bleeding. Golden beets don’t bleed.

3) Red beets make my pee turn red. Golden beets do not.

Please don’t be alarmed at the red pee side effect of loving beets.  In the summer, my pee turned red but I couldn’t recall eating any beets. I was worried something was wrong. Until I remembered that I had ordered an apple, ginger and beet juice at the restaurant. That was the culprit! Sure enough, by the next day, my pee was back to normal.

Beets work well with a lot of different flavours, but they definitely pair well with orange. I really enjoyed my chilled Orange and Beet Soup with miso, dill and carrots, and thought this rice-based salad sounded great. Adapted from Appetite for Reduction (original recipe posted here), beets and brown rice (wild rice would be good, too!) are coated in a zippy Asian-inspired orange sesame vinaigrette. Freshly squeezed orange juice is key to keeping this a light, flavourful dressing. The salad is spiked with currants for additional sweetness. Pile it overtop your favourite greens for a lovely meal-sized salad.

Keep all the components separate to maintain freshness… and keep the beets sequestered, else they will turn everything pink. Pink rice, ok, maybe do it just for kicks.

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays, to Simple and In Season, to this week’s Wellness Weekend and to this month’s citrus love blog hop.

Roasted Beet, Orange and Brown Rice Salad with an Orange Sesame Vinaigrette

1 lb beets, roasted

1 navel orange, supremed (or more)
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
2 cups cooked brown rice, cooled (wild rice was suggested in the original recipe)
1/4 cup dried currants
8 cups mixed baby greens

3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (2 to 3 navel oranges)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp Aleppo chili flakes
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger

1. For the roasted beets, preheat the oven to 425F. Peel and slice/chop the beets into medium-bite-sized pieces, but put all the pieces back together again. Wrap in tinfoil and roast for at least an hour. Roasting times will depend on the size of your beets. They are ready when they are easily pierced with a fork. Be careful when handling the hot beets, because they can easily leak. Set aside to cool.

2. Prepare your dressing, by mixing the orange juice, vinegar, toasted sesame oil, salt, chili flakes and ginger together.  Store separately until ready to dress the salad.

3. For the salad, gently combine the cooked rice, currants, orange pieces. Once you add the beets, the mixture will turn pink, but I see no harm in that.

4. Keep each component refrigerated until ready to eat. When ready to serve, plate baby greens, top with the rice mixture, and drizzle with the dressing. Devour!

Serves 4.

This week, kabocha squash was on sale. Half price. Score for me!

I had two problems, though.

1) While I have heard of such a highly-praised squash, I had never eaten it.  I figured there hadn’t been a squash that I hadn’t liked, so I still decided to scope them out.

2) When I made it to the grocery store, the sign was labelled as BUTTERCUP squash, though. The squashes had kabocha stickers, the flyer advertised kabocha squash, but the sign clearly stated buttercup squashes were on sale.

I haven’t tasted a kabocha, let alone really noticed them before (the one I bought at the Farmer’s market, that is still sitting in my kitchen, is a light shade of blue… and 8 lb.. and looked nothing like these squashes!). Furthermore, there was no way I could discern any differences from a buttercup squash. What to do???

If I had a cell phone, I could have done an emergency internet search… but I don’t have a cell phone. So I bought a bunch of squashes, drove home and then did my emergency squash search.

Turns out I am not the only person with the buttercup-kabocha quandary! Heather outlined the very subtle differences, focusing mostly on the butt of the squash.

Tell me how my squash butt compares. Did I buy a kabocha or a buttercup?

I suppose the proof is in the pudding.  Or wrap, in this case.

I decided to roast the squash so that I could really taste it. Drizzled with a little hazelnut oil and only salt and pepper, this was a delicious squash. Denser, yet drier than a butternut squash. I found it had more flavour though and possibly a bit more sweet. Plus, the definitive bonus of the kabocha squash is that you don’t need to peel it!! I buy butternut squashes because I have become pretty adept at peeling it, but eating the peel is even easier! (FYI- the buttercup squash tends to cook up softer and falls apart quite easily).

Next, I went just a bit more fancy and stuffed the roasted squash into a collard wrap smothered with mashed avocado and cucumber, an idea that I borrowed from Gena at Choosing Raw. Gena has a wonderful way with pairing seemingly odd ingredients together, yet they work so well (remember the delectable apple and zesty cashew orange spread wrap?). Anyways, this was a very decadent wrap with the seasoned avocado working as a dressing, the cucumber conferring crunch all highlighting the hazelnut-flavoured roasted kabocha squash.

How do you prefer to eat your kabocha squash?

This is being submitted to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Cindystar and to this week’s Weekend Wellness.

Hazelnut Roasted Kabocha Squash, Cucumber and Avocado Collard Wrap

1.5 lb kabocha squash
1 tbsp olive oil (I used hazelnut oil)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cucumber, sliced into 1/4 cm slices
1 avocado, mashed
8 large collard leaves (or Swiss chard, etc)

1. To roast the kabocha, preheat oven to 425F. Slice kabocha into wedges approximately 1-2 cm at its thickest (no need to peel!). Toss with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Evenly place on a silpat-lined baking tray (it just helps with the clean-up).

2. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes. Flip squash over and cooko an additional 15 minutes, until it can be easily pierced with a fork.  Set aside to cool.

3. To assemble a collard wrap, lay collard flat. Cut out the largest part of the stem, in the shape of a V (a good photo tutorial for making veggie-based wraps is here). Place a wedge of squash in the middle, although you may need to cut it in half to fit. Smear avocado overtop the squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, to taste. Top with cucumber slices. Roll as in the tutorial. Devour!

Serves 4.

There are very few purchased spice blends in our house.

I made my own dukkah and za’atar. Rob made panch phoran to quickly whip up this Cauliflower Dal.

I used to make my own garam masala until I discovered Arvinda’s garam masala, which is what Rob had in his kitchen. It tastes really good so we’ve stuck with it until our stash runs out.

Just as I have been averse to dishes named curry, I have been avoiding dishes calling for “curry powder”. I will typically substitute garam masala.

But this time was different. I forged ahead and tried some higher quality Madras curry powder. I knew that even if I hated it, there was a good chance Rob would adore this – a coconut curry is definitely up his alley! Of course, I wouldn’t be sharing the recipe here if I didn’t love it as well.

While there is definitely an Indian influence to this curry, this is a Jamaican curry that I spotted in Big Vegan. Lime-marinaded tofu chunks, sweet potatoes and carrots are combined with collards in a coconut-curry sauce spiced with thyme.  Caribbean dishes can be quite spicy, but I still used 1 tbsp of curry powder. The coconut milk helps to tame the heat. However, I omitted the Serrano pepper in lieu of my favoured Aleppo chili flakes.

Even though this wasn’t from Terry’s new cookbook we’re testing, we’ve started to rate all our meals as “love”, “really like”, “like”, “just ok”, “not good” as per our cookbook testing guidelines. As Rob put it: On the love-like scale, I give this a love. I gave it a really like, and let Rob polish off the rest of the leftovers. There are bigger battles to win!

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays, to this week’s Weekend Wellness, to this month’s citrus love blog hop and to My Kitchen, My World for Jamaica.

Jamaican Tofu Chowder with Collards

10 oz super firm tofu, pressed and cut in 1 cm
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
2 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp coconut oil
3 green onions, chopped (50g)
1/2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1lb sweet potato, cubed
1 carrot, chopped
1 tbsp mild curry powder (we used Madras, which is not always so mild)
2 large bay leaves
3 cups vegetable broth
14oz (lite) coconut milk
3 cups chopped collard greens (150g, prepped, half a bunch)
salt, to taste
rice, to serve

1. Mix together tofu with the lime juice and soy sauce and set aside.

2. In a large pot over medium pot, heat the oil. Add the green onions, chili flakes, thyme and garlic. Cook until fragrant, around 2-3 minutes.

3. Add the sweet potatoes, carrot, curry powder and bay leaves and stir over medium heat until the curry powder becomes fragrant. Deglaze the pot with the broth and coconut milk and bring to a boil while covered. Once boiling, uncover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.

4. Stir in the collards and tofu with its marinade, and simmer for a further 10 minutes until the leaves are soft and bright green. Season with salt and pepper and serve with rice.

Serves 6.

Split pea soup is underrated. Oftentimes, vegan authors are almost apologetic for including split pea soups in their cookbooks.

If you have a bland split pea soup in your cookbook, then, yes, you should feel ashamed. The folks at Rebar need not be worried, because their split pea soup is fantastic. In my notes next to the recipe, I wrote “silly good” and a few of my adjustments (smoked paprika for the chipotle puree, and yellow instead of green split peas). Do you write in your cookbooks? I feel kind of dirty doing it, but it is the best place to keep your notes!

Like most beans dishes, the spices and seasonings are integral to the final dish. Paired with the sweet peas, you add roasted garlic, smoked paprika and liquid smoke. Carrot, too. And while I added 1/4 cup of fresh sage, it wasn’t a dominant flavour. All the flavours mingle so well together, it creates a soup with different levels. This is definitely a soup I will warm up to again this winter.

This is being submitted to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Simona.

Smoky Split Pea Soup with Roasted Garlic and Sage

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, sliced
1 carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 cup fresh sage, minced, divided
1 cup yellow split peas, soaked overnight
4 cups vegetable stock
1 whole garlic bulb, roasted
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
Salt and pepper to taste

1. If you haven’t roasted your garlic yet, start now by chopping off the top, sprinkling with oil, salt and pepper. Wrap tightly in aluminum foil and roast at 400F for 45 minutes. Set aside to cool when finished.

2. Meanwhile, drain the peas and rinse in cold water. Heat the oil in a large pan and sauté the onion until soft. Add carrot, crushed garlic, smoked paprika and half of the sage. Stir and sauté for 10 minutes, then add in the split peas and stock. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the peas are soft and falling apart, approximately 45-75 minutes (it will depend on the age of your beans).

2. Squeeze the flesh from the roasted garlic bulb and add it to the soup pot with the liquid smoke, the remaining sage, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Use an immersion blender to blend the soup (consider pureeing only a portion). If it is too thick, feel free to add more vegetable stock, especially once it thickens as leftovers.

Serves 4.

Coleslaw just sounds so 1980s.

I know it was probably a disservice to rename the Raw Pad Thai as Coleslaw with a Spicy Almond Dressing. I mean, coleslaw? How lame…

How about cabbage salad?  The word coleslaw originates from the Dutch word koolsla which means cabbage (kool) salad (sla). Same thing, then!

But why am I raving about a cabbage slaw, you may be wondering…

Well, for some reason I have been craving fresh cabbage. A sweet, crunch salad with a hint of cabbage-y tartness.

So I made this and ate it throughout the day… lunch, snack and dinner….

The nice thing about this salad is the dressing, which I adapted from My New Roots. Not mayo-laden like typical coleslaws. Rather, tahini is used as a creamy base and the sesame is highlighted by toasted sesame oil and freshly toasted sesame seeds. The fresh twist comes from the orange zest and fresh lemon juice. Cilantro perks up the salad with further crunch from sunflower seeds.

The next day, I was sad I had none left and craved it once again… and so the cycle repeats itself!

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays, to Simple and In Season, to Ricki’s Wellness Weekend and to this month’s citrus love blog hop.

Crunchy Cabbage Salad with Orange-Tahini Dressing

10 oz green cabbage, thinly sliced (~3 cups)
1 large carrot, grated (1 cup)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/8 cup sesame seeds, toasted
1/8 cup sunflower seeds, toasted

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1.5 tbsp lemon juice (half a lemon)
1 tsp agave (or maple syrup)
1.5 tbsp tahini
1/4 cup water
zest of a clementine or small orange
pinch of salt, or to taste

1. Place cabbage, carrot, green onion and cilantro in a bowl and toss.

2. In a small cup, mix together the sesame oil, lemon juice, agave, tahini, water, zest and salt.

3. Plate salad, top with sesame and sunflower seeds and drizzle with dressing.

Serves 2-4.

While my Mom made new recipes for me, with new-to-her ingredients (TVP-what? chickpea flour-oh my!), I also reciprocated by bringing yet another Turkish dessert for my parents to enjoy. Yes, I will still bake with ingredients that I don’t eat myself. They both adore my baklava and were tickled pink by the Nightingale’s Nests I made last summer. When I spotted shredded phyllo dough at the grocery store (No Frills at Don Mills and Eglinton, for my Toronto peeps!), I knew I had to try to make Tel Kadayif, another Turkish dessert.

When I originally spotted the recipe in The Sultan’s Kitchen by Ozcan Ozan (recipe here), it looked like the most simple baklava. Instead of patiently layering each sheet of phyllo, you have a mess of shredded phyllo dough on the bottom, a middle of sweetened crushed walnuts, topped with more phyllo dough dusted with butter, then doused in a (not too) sugary syrup. Super easy and super tasty (so I hear). While we didn’t use all of the syrup, I think next time we’d even use less, because as you can tell by the photos, it was sopped up by the top layer as well.

While travelling in Turkey, my favourite dessert discovery was kunefe. I think I was in Fethiye, on the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, when I stumbled upon it. I was wavering between kunefe and Noah’s pudding (asure) on the menu. As I typically do, I consulted with the waiter – which did he recommend? Kunefe, hand’s down, he told us, if we didn’t mind waiting 20 minutes. It was made to order, he explained.

What arrived was a bowl full with toasty, crunchy shredded phyllo with a cheesy filling, doused with a not-too-sweet syrup. Delicious, melted cheese.

After I discovered  it in all its cheesy glory, I wanted to try it again. Sadly, the price doubled by the time we made it back to Istanbul (such is life in a larger city). But what was even more sad, even after I bit the bullet of the higher price, was that the restaurants were somehow “out” of kunefe that night. I couldn’t even find it! Too difficult to make, made-to-order, shenanigans is what I figured. We weren’t travelling during tourist season so they had likely scaled back their desserts. Sadly. However, if you swap this walnut filling for a cheese filling, you have kunefe! For a more glorious single serving, I think it gets made in a small frypan, made to order. Neither of my parents like cheese too much, so that’s one Turkish dessert, I likely won’t be making for them.

Up next? Who knows? But it may be Turkish delight! How does Bryanna’s Pomegranate and Walnut Turkish Delight sound to you?

(and a big thank you goes to Rob for the photos, since I didn’t even bring my camera to Ottawa!)

This is being submitted to this week’s Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted by Simona.

Tel Kadayif (Turkish Shredded Phyllo Dough with Walnuts, aka the Easiest Baklava!)

3 cups cold water
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 pound shredded phyllo dough, thawed if frozen
2 cups walnuts
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup unsalted clarified butter or ghee (olive oil if vegan)
ground pistachio nuts  (optional)

1. Heat oven to 375 F.

2. To make syrup, combine the water with the sugar.  Boil the mixture for 5 minutes, then lower the heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes.  The syrup is ready when it is light yellow and  a small spoonful dropped onto a wooden surface and cooled is tacky.  Stir the lemon juice into the syrup and let it cool.

3. Place the walnuts and sugar in a food processor.  Process until medium to finely ground –do not grind too fine.

4. Brush the inside of a 10 x 15 x 2-inch baking pan all over with a little of the clarified butter.  Separate the shredded dough in half by holding it upright and pulling it apart.  Spread half the dough evenly in the pan.  Dip a wide pastry brush into the butter and use it to drizzle half the remaining clarified butter over the dough.

5. Spread the walnuts on the dough, pressing gently.  Lightly sprinkle the  walnut filling with water–use a plant mister-to help the rest of the dough adhere to it when it is added.  Place the other half of the shredded dough over the walnuts and gently press down all over.  Drizzle the remaining butter over the dough.

6. Bake the dessert in the center of the oven for 35 minutes, or until it’s light golden.  Remove the pastry from the oven and immediately pour over the cooled syrup.  Cover the pan and let the pastry cool to room temperature.  If you like, sprinkle on ground walnuts or pistachio nuts.  Cut the pastry into square and serve with thick Turkish cream or whipped cream.

Makes 20 pieces.

When I suggested recipes for my Mom to make over Christmas, she was a bit shocked when she found out a few were new recipes. One of the cardinal rules of cooking for guests is to never try a new recipe on unsuspecting guests. I have long abandoned that rule, though.

Truth be told, sometimes it can be difficult to munch on a dish you’ve already made yourself but made by someone else. Sometimes, it will taste the same. We repeatedly return to our favourite hummus recipe (this one, too) because it is so reliable. But in the flash of a pan, a dish can taste different.

Therefore, I figured I would give my Mom all of the glory from a few fabulous new dishes.

The Chickpea Piccata, was a definite hit. I didn’t want to share any of the leftovers!

The second hit was this Pumpkin Chili. I originally spotted it on Isobelle’s site, but the recipe came from Ashlae. While I have made other chilis before, this is definitely my favourite so far. A savoury saucy chili, filled with beans and vegetables. Flavourful, not spicy despite using jalapeno peppers. The pumpkin puree adds a touch of sweetness but doesn’t leave you with a pumpkin flavour. The TVP plumps up to look just like ground meat, it is almost confusing. What isn’t confusing is how great it tastes: delicious.

When we trying to decide what to do with the leftover chili, I suggested my Mom freeze it and save it for the next time I visit. This way, there would be a surefire Janet-friendly meal already waiting for me.

However, after I went home, I called to make sure I had the right recipe for the tantalizing chili.  Only minor changes using canned tomatoes and beans. She even used jalapeno peppers! However, my Mom had bad news. There was no more chili left: my Dad had polished it all off!  Vegan chili so good it could fool the unsuspecting omnivore: I consider that a success. My Mom makes a tasty chili and I can’t wait to have it again.

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays, to Ricki’s Wellness Weekend, and to this month’s Bookmarked Recipes.

Pumpkin Chili

3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, diced
2 small jalapenos, finely chopped
28 oz canned whole tomatoes, undrained
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp lemon juice
4.5 cups cooked beans (my Mom used 1 19-oz can of mixed beans and one 19-oz can of red kidney beans)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
2-3 tbsp chili powder, to taste
1 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup TVP
2 tsp fine sea salt, to taste

1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, heat oil and sauté the garlic and onions, until the onions become translucent.

2. Add the jalapenos and tomatoes, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes.

3. In a medium bowl, mix together the tomato paste, broth, and lemon juice. Add to pan, deglaze the bottom and increase the heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the beans, cinnamon, paprika, and chili powder, then cover, reduce heat to the lowest setting and let simmer for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.

4. After two hours, mix in the pumpkin puree, TVP and sea salt. Let simmer, uncovered, for an additional 15 minutes, or until the chili thickens.

Serves 6-8.

While I typically bring food when I eat out, when I went home for Christmas, my Mom didn’t want me to cook. She wanted this to be a relaxing visit and thought that if I was cooking in the kitchen, I wouldn’t be on vacation. Trust me, I relish cooking, but it was wonderful to know that my Mom had already prepared some meals for me to enjoy.

Prior to arriving, at her request, I suggested a few possible meals. Some dishes that I had already made myself, but mostly dishes that I had bookmarked for a special occasion. My mom was so awesome that she went out of her way to make I didn’t feel left out: when everyone had her delicious quiche for brunch, she made my Mediterranean Crustless Chickpea Flour Quiche for me. For Christmas Eve, she made beef bourguignon for the gang and beans bourguignon for me.

For Christmas dinner, I had Chickpea Piccata on the menu. My recent meal at Candle 79 in New York City was a definite highlight with their delicious Seitan Piccata and I was itching to try something similar at home. But with much less work!

With a simple mise-en-place, this Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction, was easy for me to whip together as my Mom tended to the spaetzle to go with the rouladen.

Thankfully, this Chickpea Piccata did not disappoint. It had the perfect blend of flavours, with a not-too-tart lemon-caper-shallot sauce overtop braised chickpeas. I served it over spinach with a side of mashed parsnips. To be honest, for such a healthy meal, there is no need to reserve this solely for a special occasion. This definitely gets filed in the “You Can Make this For Me Anytime” category.

This is being submitted to this month’s Bookmarked Recipes, to this month’s citrus love blog hop and to Ricki’s Weekend Wellness.

Chickpea Piccata

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 scant cup thinly sliced shallots
6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons whole wheat breadcrumbs (or crushed Mary’s crackers)
2 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup dry white wine
A few grinds fresh black pepper, to taste
1/8 tsp dried thyme
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed if canned
1/4 cup capers with a little brine
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
6 cups baby spinach, or your favourite green

1. Heat oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Saute the shallots and garlic for about 5 minutes, until golden. Add the breadcrumbs and stir constantly for about 2 minutes, until they become toasted (they will darken in colour).

2. Add the vegetable broth and wine, salt, black pepper and thyme. Turn up heat and bring to a rolling boil and let the sauce reduce by 1/2, approximately 7 minutes.

3. Add the chickpeas and capers and cook for 3 minutes, until heated through. Add the lemon and turn off the heat.

4. Serve overtop your favourite green. A mashed side is also nice.

Serves 4.

As I said, I don’t really do anything different around January 1.

I had a long list of things I wanted to do over the holidays, though, but didn’t really conquer much of the list. Other than spend time with family and friends… and with myself. Sometimes, it may be more important to get a good relaxing vacation instead of worrying about work and other deadlines.

Rob and I had planned to do some spring cleaning, going through some of our stuff downstairs, but we procrastinated instead…

I know some people are really good about cleaning out their pantries of old food, but I tend to accumulate instead of purge. However, I’ve had 2 recent cooking mishaps from stale spices, so I am urging you not to follow my footsteps into the same fate! Toss those old spices!

In my case, I inherited a nice spice drawer when I moved into our new house. The drawer is lined by rows of jars with spices. Some new to me, like anardana, and others that I had never used before like marjoram, and others that I just didn’t have like chili powder and ground mustard. I quickly added in some of my own spices that were missing like smoked paprika, parsley and mint. While I know how old my spices are, I wasn’t sure how long the inherited spices had been there… but when this recipe called for ground mustard, low and behold, I had some and plundered on.

This is a recipe for a Trinidadian Black-Eyed Pea Soup from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian (recipe also posted here).  In addition to inheriting spices, I also was (very kindly) lent a slow cooker. This soup looked simple enough to simmer away in the crockpot, so I pieced it together and timed it so it would be ready by the time I got home after work. Since I was to be sharing this with a bunch of friends, I doubled the amount of black-eyed peas, carrot and spices, turning this into a stew instead of a soup.

There was so much stuff in the slow cooker, I was worried it would boil over! Thankfully, by the time I made it home, the stew was ready and Rob had already started to dish it out.

Everyone said they liked the stew, but I thought something was missing. The fresh cilantro and chives were important for flavour but the stew needed a bit more depth of flavour. I wasn’t happy with it. Someone ended up adding a spicy Dijon mustard and said it was superb. When I ate the leftovers, I agreed that the mustard really helped. But I thought to myself, I know I added the ground mustard – why can’t I taste it? So I went back to the ground mustard in the spice drawer… dipped my finger in it and tasted it. And what did it taste like? NOTHING! It definitely needed to be tossed!

Combined with lackluster results from Chili Lime Roasted Chickpeas due to stale chili powder, this has really gotten me to think about tossing the old spices! Out with the old and in with the new!

This is my submission to Deb for this week’s Souper Sundays, to this month’s Bookmarked Recipes,  to Ricki’s Weekend Wellness, to this month’s My Legume Love Affair, hosted by Chez Cayenne,  and to this month’s No Croutons Required featuring black eyed peas.

Trinidadian Black-Eyed Pea Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
1 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4 inch dice (1.5 cups)
1 large onion, cut into 1/4 inch pieces (2 cups)
3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch dice (2 cups)
1 lb dry black-eyed peas, rinsed (2-1/4 cups)
6 cups vegetable broth or water
6 tablespoons brown rice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp strong mustard, or more, to taste (original recipe said 1 tsp ground mustard dissolved in 1 tbsp water)
1/2 tsp Aleppo chili flakes (or to taste, this is supposed to be a spicy stew but this keeps it mild)
salt, to taste
1 tbsp finely chopped chives, for garnish
4 tbsp finely chopped cilantro, for garnish
lime or lemon wedge, for garnish

1. Add oil to a large pan over medium-high heat.  Add in the bell pepper, onion, and carrots and saute for 3 minutes or until the onion turns translucent and slightly browned at the edges.

2. Combine the sauteed veggies with the black-eyed peas, rice, ginger, allspice, thyme, mustard, and chili flakes in the slow cooker. Add broth so it just covers the mixture.

3. Set slow cooker to low and simmer for 8 hours or so. If you don’t have a slow cooker, simmer on low for 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally. You may need to add more water if it dries up.

4.  Taste and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the cilantro and top with chopped chives. Serve with lemon or lime on the side and add more mustard, to taste.

Serves 8.