May 31, 2011

Mango BBQ Beans

When I saw this Mango BBQ Beans recipe on The Taste Space blog recently, I was intrigued … but also a little hesitant to make them, because the beans were cooked on the stovetop rather than baked. After all, I’m a traditional baked bean kinda gal. But I fell in love with the flavor of these tangy, mango-y beans.

I made a few changes to the recipe, which originally appeared in the Appetite for Reduction cookbook, including:

– Pinto beans instead of kidney beans, because the soft texture of pintos is better here.

– Bean cooking liquid instead of vegetable broth, because why waste delicious bean liquid?

– Less than half the amount of liquid smoke, because it can be overpowering, and because this product freaks my friend Francine out!

The result was slightly sweet and smoky, and absolutely delicious. Next time will probably go all the way and bake them at 300 degrees for an hour or two instead of simmering on the stovetop. But that will simply be guilding the lily (or the beans, as the case may be.)

These beans go well on a traditional barbecue menu, but would also make a nice dinner when served with something simple like brown rice and braised collard greens, or maybe some quinoa-corn cakes. I’ll have to get creative with my menu planning this week, because even though these beans were a huge hit at my Memorial Day party, I have loads of leftovers!

One ingredient note – I had to send two friends on a hunt for Aleppo chili pepper flakes, but it was worth it. We were putting them on everything this weekend. They went in the potato salad, on bread & cheese, etc. They have an intriguing, slightly smoky flavor that’s different than regular crushed red pepper. So do hunt some down for yourself.

Photo prop fun: Eagle-eyed readers of this blog will notice that I’ve featured these salt & pepper shakers once before. But I just can’t get enough of these kitties. Can you?

Mango BBQ Beans

3/4 pound dried pinto beans (1 1/2 cups)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 cups chopped fresh ripe mango
1 cup canned tomato sauce
1 cup bean cooking liquid
1/2 teaspoon Aleppo chili flakes
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon freshly ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
1 tablespoon agave nectar
Salt and pepper, to taste

Place the beans in a large bowl of cold water and soak overnight. Drain, return to the pot and cover with cold water by 1-2 inches. Bring to a boil, skim off any foam, then reduce heat and simmer until tender. This may take anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes, depending on the freshness of your beans. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid.

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic in the oil for about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent.

Add the mango, tomato sauce, bean cooking liquid, pepper flakes, allspice, coriander, beans and salt. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove off the heat and stir in the agave nectar and liquid smoke. Add more salt to taste, and serve.

Serves 6.

 

Just in time for Memorial Day, I’m bringing back my Authentic Smoked Seitan recipe. Truth be told, this stuff is just too good to languish in the early pages of my blog!

As I said originally, this comes as close to real barbecue as vegetarian food can get. It’s smoky, crispy and chewy – and perfect on a bun with a vinegary, North Carolina-style sauce. If you don’t have a smoker, you can smoke in a Weber grill.

Trust me, if you make this, people will be talking about your amazing vegetarian barbecue for months to come!

Step 1:  Make Seitan

1 ½ c. vital wheat gluten*
¼ c. nutritional yeast flakes*
1 c. + 2 T. ice water
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 t. lemon zest
2 t. paprika
¼ t. cumin
1 t. freshly ground black pepper
½ t. chili powder

Liquid for simmering:

10 cups extremely cold water
1/3 c. low-sodium soy sauce or tamari

Combine gluten and nutritional yeast in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together water, soy sauce, ketchup, garlic, lemon zest and spices.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and combine. Knead dough in the bowl for about 3 minutes until you have a spongy dough (this will look and feel like the most disgusting food ever). Excess liquid will accumulate in the bottom of the bowl, and that’s fine – just leave it in the bowl.  Let rest for a few minutes, then shape into a log about 7 or 8 inches long. Cut into 3 pieces.

Put the cold water and soy sauce in a large saucepan and gently put the pieces of dough in the liquid. Partially cover the pot and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for one hour, turning the pieces occasionally.  Let it cool for ten minutes, then remove the seitan. As soon as it’s cool enough to handle, squeeze out all the liquid you can, being careful not to break the hunks of seitan.  Wrap each piece in plastic wrap or place in a zip lock bag and refrigerate for several hours or overnight.

* Vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast are available at any health food store or markets like Whole Foods.

Step 2:  Rub and smoke

Dry rub:

3 T. paprika
1 T. black pepper
1 T. sugar
1 T. chili powder
2 t. garlic powder
2 t. onion powder
1 t. cayenne pepper
½ t. dry mustard powder

Start a fire in your smoker.  Soak wood chips (preferably hickory) for 45 minutes or more. Coat the seitan pieces in the dry rub mixture and put it on a grill basket or right on the grate. Throw some wood chips on the hot coals and close the  cover. Smoke for 1 ½ hours, adding more soaked wood chips occasionally.   If your smoker has a thermometer, keep the temperature at about 225.

Step 3:  Sauce and eat

Barbecue sauce:

1 c. water
1 c. cider vinegar
2/3 c. ketchup
1 T. sugar
½ t. red pepper flakes
½ t. freshly ground pepper
1 t. salt

Whisk the sauce ingredients together until sugar dissolves. Let the smoked seitan cool for 5 minutes, then slice, drizzle with sauce and serve plain or on buns.  (Note: It’s best served right after you smoke it – if you reheat it in an oven later, the edges will lose the crispiness.)

May 23, 2011

Smoky Black Bean Soup

A black bean soup recipe from Eating Well caught my eye because it contained coffee. I’m a notorious coffee hater, yet the idea of using it in black bean soup was oddly appealing.

The recipe suggested using a ham hock – but as you can guess, ham hocks aren’t exactly on my diet plan. So I substituted a couple of chipotle peppers to add smokiness. Between the coffee and the chipotles, this soup is earthy, smoky, and spicy. My three favorite qualities, all in one bowl!

The crowning glory of this black bean soup is the cilantro-chive pesto I made using some of the zillions of chives growing in my garden. It’s so good, you’ll want to use it on tofu, potatoes, tacos and anything else that could use a Southwestern or Mexican flavor boost. Here’s the, uh, recipe: take a large fistful of chopped chives, one bunch of cilantro (leaves and small stems), a couple tablespoons of olive oil, the juice of a small lime and a pinch of salt. Puree in a food processor.

Smoky Black Bean Soup
Adapted from Eating Well magazine

1 pound dried black beans
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
5 cups water
1 1/2 cups brewed coffee
2 chipotle peppers from canned chipotles in adobo (use only 1 if you’re a wimp), chopped
1 bay leaf
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 to 1½ teaspoons salt, to taste

Yogurt (regular or soy) or sour cream, for garnish
Cilantro-chive pesto, for garnish (see above)

Rinse the beans and place in a large bowl of cold water. Soak overnight, then drain.

Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onions, pepper, celery, jalapeño and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the cumin and cook for 1 minute more.

Add the beans, water, coffee, chipotles and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until beans are very tender, about 1½ hours. Remove the bay leaf. Stir in the pepper and 1 teaspoon of the salt. Add more salt if needed.

Puree half the soup in a blender or with an immersion blender until very smooth. Return to the pan with the rest of the soup and reheat. Garnish with sour cream or yogurt, and cilantro-chive pesto.

Other black bean recipes you might enjoy:
Black Bean and Sweet Potato Salad
Black Bean Chili with Butternut Squash

May 16, 2011

Pineapple Frappé

A cardiologist who’s also a serious foodie is my dream come true. And that’s exactly what today’s guest poster Dr. Elizabeth Klodas is. A specialist in preventative cardiology, Elizabeth is also obsessed with great food, and I’m thrilled that she’s not only taken a liking to my blog, she’s offered to share one of her favorite recipes:

I find that many people are under the misconception that healthy food is complex to make and tastes bad. Nothing could be further from the truth! The beauty of healthy eating lies in its simplicity – and the wonderful flavors come naturally from the quality ingredients used. And cooking healthfully does not have to be expensive. With this Pineapple Frappé, you’ll get 4-6 desserts out of one fresh pineapple!

I love this recipe for its sheer purity. The blended pineapple takes on the consistency of a very light c, and the flavor is sublime. The strawberries give it just enough texture to make it interesting and the flavor of strawberries complements the pineapple perfectly. I have made this in larger quantities for elegant dinner parties and backyard barbeques in the summer, and never fail to receive rave reviews and a request for the recipe.

Pineapple is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory powerhouse that boasts:

  • A high vitamin C content
  • Phytosterols that compete with cholesterol for absorption, so they help lower cholesterol levels
  • Manganese, which is an important co-factor for the enzyme superoxide-dismutase, a powerful free radical scavenger.

So all in all, a great way to end a meal!

Pineapple Frappé

1 fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into chunks, chilled until extremely cold (along with any juice from cutting the fruit)

10-12 ripe fresh strawberries sliced or quartered

Put the pineapple chunks in a blender (in batches if you’re doing whole pineapple) and puree until very smooth (you may need to push the chunks down into the blender intermittently – with the motor off – to get the mixture to start liquefying). Pour into wine or champagne glasses, garnish with the strawberries and serve immediately.

Serves 4-6

Recipe notes from Cathy:

-I added a sprig of mint as an additional garnish. It looks nice, but it’s not essential!
– Be sure serve immediately. In time, it will separate a bit, as you see in my photo.

 

An old fashioned recipe for date walnut bread caught my eye recently. It’s the kind of thing your great grandmother would have baked.  If she did, she probably baked it in Campbell’s Soup cans. Yep, that’s the way it used to be done. Why?  I haven’t the foggiest idea – but it made this bread even more intriguing to me. I also liked the fact that you soak the dates and then use the soaking liquid as part of the batter.

Of course, the traditional date walnut bread is made with white flour, butter and white sugar. Today I’ve given it the Cathy treatment:

– I substituted a heart-healthy oil for butter

– I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of refined white flour

– I cut the sugar in half, and used raw sugar which is less refined

– I added oats and flax for even more health benefits

These are the standard heart-healthy changes I make to recipes for baked goods, and it generally works well (although I’ve had my share of failures, believe me!)  Here, it worked brilliantly. The bread has a hearty personality thanks to the whole grains, yet it’s tender and moist. I can’t think of anything better to have with my morning or afternoon tea.

Oh, and if you’re the type to plan ahead, December 22 is National Date Nut Bread Day. Um, why? I guess it’s just another one of those date nut bread mysteries.

Whole Grain Date Walnut Bread

1 cup chopped dates
1 cup boiling water
1 egg
3 tablespoons organic canola oil
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup oat flour (or old-fashioned oats, ground in a food processor)
2 tablespoons ground flax
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup chopped walnuts

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the dates and boiling water in a small bowl and let stand for 15 minutes.

In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the egg, oil, sugar and vanilla.

Combine the flours, flax, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the dates with their liquid, along with the egg mixture and stir just to combine. Fold in the walnuts.

Pour into a lightly oiled 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and bake for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool thoroughly before slicing.

Hope you’ll share this recipe by Liking, Tweeting, or Stumbling!  Also be sure to visit my new Facebook fan page. Thanks!

 

 

The combination of butternut squash and warm spices with the piquant flavors of olives and preserved lemons give this Moroccan chickpea stew the kind of sweet, salty and tangy complexity I can’t resist. This recipe is also proof (like I needed more proof) that you don’t need meat to make a hearty main course. This is about as satisfying – and nutritious – as it gets.

I based this stew on an Aida Mollenkamp recipe, but used a more interesting spice mixture – including ground caraway seeds and coriander – as suggested in Martha Rose Shulman’s chickpea stew recipe from her book Mediterranean Harvest.

The harissa is an essential ingredient here, both in the stew and as a garnish. I bought a commercial brand, but here again, you can easily go the DIY route. I had never used preserved lemons before, and was quite taken with them. In fact, I might add even more of it next time I make this. Interestingly, when Deb from Smitten Kitchen made the same Aida Mollenkamp recipe, she hated the preserved lemons. I have to wonder if it was something about the particular brand, because the ones I bought were delicious. It’s also easy to make your own.

While you can make this with canned chickpeas, I do hope you’ll cook your own from scratch if you have time (it takes about two cups of dried chickpeas.) Not only are they tastier than canned chickpeas, it will save you a few bucks. And who doesn’t need that?

Moroccan Chickpea and Vegetable Stew

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large Spanish onion
6 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground caraway seeds
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
pinch cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 pound butternut squash, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1/2 pound carrots, chopped
¾ pound new or Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 teaspoons harissa
pinch crumbled saffron threads
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes, with juice (recommend Eden Organic tomatoes, which are diced very small)
3 ½ – 4 cups vegetable stock
½ preserved lemon, finely chopped
1 cup large green olives, such as Cerignola

Garnishes:

Toasted sliced or slivered almonds
Chopped fresh cilantro
Plain yogurt (soy or regular)
Harissa

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot. Add the onions, garlic, spices, salt and pepper and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the squash, carrots and potatoes and cook for 5 minutes. Add chickpeas harissa, saffron, and tomatoes. Add vegetable stock to just barely cover the vegetables. Cook, covered, for about 20-30 minutes, until vegetables are tender. Season with additional salt to taste, then stir in the preserved lemon and olives. Serve, garnishing with the suggested additions as you like.

Serves 6

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