Category: Beans

Ten Years Later

March 28, 2011

Do you have a best friend?  If so, what does that mean to you?  Is it someone who has seen you through a rough patch?  The friend you have known the longest?  A person you talk to each and every day?  What makes your best friend best?

I was always the person with a few close friends, not lots and lots of acquaintances.  I preferred it that way.  I would rather spend an evening with someone I really know than the first-date feeling of a casual acquaintance.  But somehow, I have found myself with many amazing friends – real true friends.  All of whom I really know, all of whom I would love to spend an evening with.  They come from different parts of my life – high school, camp, college, previous jobs, PEPS groups, preschool co-op, kids’ friends, etc.  It is a big circle.  But, if pressed, I do have to say that there is one “best” in there.

Lauren and I don’t talk everyday and I don’t see her nearly as often as I would like, but we have a strong and special bond.  We have been friends for 15 years.  She is a talented, creative, beautiful, smart, funny woman.  She is a straight-shooter and also very compassionate.  She is extremely loyal and supportive.  Just about everything you would want from a best friend.  I have been lucky enough to share many meals with her and her amazing husband John over the years.  Because I have an incredible memory for food (but not for, say, where I left my keys), I remember so many of the dishes we have made for one another.  She made this soup for me a long time ago and I have been meaning to make it ever since.

When I tasted this soup, it was a revelation.  How could something that took next to no effort and with so few ingredients taste so complex and delicious?  I asked her for the recipe, she made a copy for me, and then it sat in my soup notebook for oh, about ten years.  No exaggeration.  I would notice it from time to time and think to myself, “I’ve really got to make that soup”, but it never seemed to fit into a menu I was planning.  Now that I have made it, I will be planning menus around it.

I tweaked this recipe a bit.  The original calls for 2 tablespoon of soy sauce giving low-sodium as an option.  I use tamari in my cooking and WOW! did it make the soup salty.  And brown.  Fortunately, as the beans cooked, I had to keep adding more and more water so by the time I puréed it, the savory balance was just right.  I will suggest you use one tablespoon and add more to the finished soup if it needs it.  If you don’t want to garnish with peanuts, roasted sliced almonds would be nice.  You will want a bit of crunch in there.

One Year Ago: Blueberry Sour Cream Torte
Two Years Ago: Individual Coconut Blueberry Pound Cakes

Spicy Chickpea Soup with Cilantro and Peanuts
Adapted from Self
Serves 4-6

The cooking time for this soup will depend on how fresh your dried beans are.  Start with 8 cups of stock or water, you might need to add more if the soup gets too thick.

1½ cups dried chickpeas
1 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large onion, finely diced
8 cups vegetable stock, or water
1 tbsp. hot sauce (I used Tabasco)
1 tbsp. Tamari or other soy sauce
¼ cup chopped roasted peanuts
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

Soak dried chickpeas in water to cover overnight.

Drain the chickpeas and rinse well.  Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat.  Add the onion and sauté until starting to soften, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add chickpeas, vegetable stock, hot pepper sauce, and soy sauce.  Cover loosely and simmer until chickpeas are tender, anywhere from 1-3 hours.  Purée soup either using an immersion blender or a conventional blender (be careful when blending hot liquids).  Sprinkle each portion with chopped peanuts and cilantro.


Category: Beans,Soup,Super Healthy,Vegan
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Beans and Rice

December 27, 2010

Beans and rice.  What does that mean to you?  Meager food?  Hangover meal?  Food you cook when you have no money?  Side dish only?

I myself love beans and rice and have no problem making a meal out of it.  And not because it’s cheap.  Of course, it can’t be just white rice and canned re-fried beans, although if you put enough salsa and guacamole on a dish like that, I would not complain.  Black beans have a special place in my heart because they starred in one of the first “real” meals I ever cooked.  (Cue the story music…)

The year after I graduated college, I moved back to Seattle and lived at home.  I got a crappy job – one that I certainly did not need my brand new shiny degree for, and tried to plug back into the Seattle scene after four years away.  The advantages to living at home were many, not the least of which is that I got to eat my mom’s cooking.  She has always been a good cook, but during the time I was away at college, she also converted to vegetarianism.  It opened so many doors for her creativity and her food got really good.  My mom is territorial in her kitchen, so I was not helping her prepare any meals, but I think I learned by osmosis.  And I certainly learned to deeply appreciate the act of sitting around the table as a family and eating good, healthy, homemade food.

Just as I found an apartment and was preparing to move out, my parents took a trip to Europe.  My brother Michael, who is eight years younger than me, was still in high school and they asked that I stay with him and make sure he didn’t starve.  At the same time, my college friend Darcie was visiting and another couple from college was coming through town as well.  I realized that we all needed to eat and it was time to get in the kitchen.  So I did what my mom always did.  I got out her notebooks and cookbooks and spread them out on the table.  I chose three dishes that sounded good to me and I wrote up my shopping list based on the ingredients needed.  I shopped for the groceries and made the food, all the while being mildly surprised at how natural it all felt.  I lived in Paris for a semester during college and cooked for myself, but it was just me and I made the same four things over and over.  This time there was more responsibility and it came easily.  More importantly, everyone loved the food.  I realized that I could cook.

That little boost of confidence is what got me on the path to loving food and loving cooking.  I remember one of those first three dishes well and it starred black beans that had been simmered low and slow on the stove.  Up until that point, I had not known that beans could taste that good or could be something I craved.  The rest of the dish was a little odd so it did not stay in my repertoire, but I’ve been making similar beans ever since.

I make a fair amount of Mexican food because both Randy and I love it.  (In fact I am teaching Vegetarian Mexican Food class in March.  Find out more here.)  Whatever I make as a main, I always make beans because they are truly my favorite part of the meal.  I have eaten my share of either boring or excessively greasy restaurant rice, so I enjoy making it more to my taste at home.  Last week, I didn’t have the energy to take on burritos or enchiladas but really needed some beans and rice, so I made the rice heartier.  It was my intention to roast two poblano peppers, chop them up, and use them in the rice, but mine had gone south.  I wanted some kind of spicy bite so I opted for canned chiles instead.  If you happen to have poblanos in your refrigerator (doesn’t everyone?), I think they would be awesome here.

Oh, and by the way, don’t forget to tell me what your favorite holiday gift was.  You can win some awesome Vosges chocolate.  Check it out here.

One Year Ago: Peanut Butter (or Caramel) Candy Mini-Brownie Cups
Two Years Ago: Penne with Greek Style Vegetable Marinade

Hearty Beans and Rice
Dana Treat Original
Serves 4-6

Epazote is a delicious herb and can easily be found in the Penzey’s web site, but it is not necessary here.  For the beans, you control their consistency.  I like mine a little soupy but you can make yours drier by not adding as much water.

For the rice
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried epazote (optional)
1½ tsp. ground cumin
1 7-ounce can diced chile peppers, drained
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups water
1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
¼ cup “lite” sour cream
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
Kosher salt

For the beans
Vegetable or canola oil
1 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 small red bell pepper, diced
2 tsp. cumin
2 cans black beans, drained

Serve with guacamole and salsa.

Prepare the rice
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Lightly oil an 8×8 glass or ceramic baking dish.

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onion and a large pinch of salt, and sauté for 5 minutes, until soft but not brown.  Add the garlic cloves, oregano, epazote, and cumin and cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.  Add the chiles and corn, and rice and give it a good stir to coat the grains with the fat and the vegetables.  Pour in the water and bring to a boil.  Turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook undisturbed for 20 minutes.  Remove the cover, fluff the rice with a fork, then cover for another 5 minutes.

Remove the cover and carefully stir in the cheese, sour cream, and cilantro, trying not to mush the rice too much.  Taste for salt, adding more if necessary.  Scrape the rice mixture into the prepared pan, cover with foil, and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20 minutes.

Prepare the beans
Heat a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Drizzle in just enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan and then add the onions and red bell pepper plus a large pinch of salt.  Sauté for 5 minutes, until soft but not brown, then add the garlic and the cumin.  Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often.  Add the beans and about ½ a cup of water and turn the heat to medium-low.  Cook, stirring occasionally and adding more water as necessary, until the beans are hot and a bit soupy, about 20 minutes.  Season to taste.


Category: Beans,Dana Treat Original,Grains,Main Course,Mexican
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Lunch with Friends

July 8, 2010

Here is something you probably hear over and over.  Food bloggers are a friendly and fun group.  I live in a city where there are so many good ones and I have had the good fortune to meet some wonderful people locally just through keeping a blog.

Also, just in the last year, I have had lunch with Stacey in New York, Erin in Boston, Allison in San Francisco, and Ele and Hilary in London.  (Is it crazy ridiculous that I have traveled that much this year?  This is not usually my life.)  These are all women who, previous to our lunches, I had never met in person, just through their writing.  In every single case, I was delighted with the women I met and look forward to a chance to see each and every one of them again.

When I mentioned to Ele and Hilary that I was coming to London for one day, they immediately responded that we should go to Ottolenghi for lunch.  The restaurant is named after the owner who is originally from Israel.  He has turned his amazing food and aesthetic into a thriving business with four locations and a weekly column in the Guardian.  He himself is not a vegetarian but his column and his most recent cookbook is.

Periodically I have mentioned my imaginary Dana Treat restaurant.  You know, the one that is only open from 10-3pm?  The one where there I get to make whatever I want, change it up daily, where everyone loves my food and pays me well for it, and very nice magic fairies appear out of nowhere to do all the clean-up?  That restaurant.  Well, I would love my place to be a little like Ottolenghi.

Imagine.  Clean white space.  Big communal table and lots of little ones.  Huge bowls of the daily sides and salads that the servers come and take from throughout lunch.  Gorgeous and rustic sweets arranged just so – the kind you wish you had time to make yourself.  I could learn a lot from Ottolenghi – we all could.

Fortunately, there is that cookbook!  Actually there are two.  I bought the brand new one, Plenty, while in San Fransisco and then Ele and Hilary bought me the first one at the end of our lunch (so sweet!).  Please don’t ever quote me on this (and Randy! avert your eyes!) but I kind of feel like I could throw away all my other cookbooks and just cook out of these two books for the rest of my life.  They are that good.  Plenty is a wonder to behold.  The look of the book, quality of the paper, and the photographs are enough to justify the price, but then the recipes!  Swoon.  All vegetarian and all sound amazingly delicious.  The first book, Ottolenghi The Cookbook, features some meat and fish recipes but with plenty for the vegetarians and also has breads and sweets.  I’ve started with this book.

I have only been home for nine days, and already I have made three things from it.  All amazing.  This dish isn’t going to win any beauty contests but it was so incredibly tasty.  Thin pasta, rice, caramelized onions, and lentils make for a very brown dish so I would highly recommend making the (very tasty) tomato sauce to top it.  I don’t always like sweet flavors in my savory dishes, but the touch of cinnamon was most welcome here.

One Year Ago: Coconut Bars
Two Years Ago: White Beans with Roasted Tomatoes (still a fave, and yes, I made the same cake this year)

Kosheri
Adapted from Ottolenghi, The Cookbook
Serves 4-6

Being an English cookbook, all his measurements are in grams and milliliters.  In addition to changing that, I also played a bit with the proportions a bit.  I have found the Kitchen Pro app on my iPhone incredibly helpful.  There are lots of components here but the onions and the sauce can be done days ahead of time.

1 cup lentils
1 heaping cup basmati rice
2 oz. angel hair pasta, broken in to 2-inch pieces
1 2/3 cups vegetable stock or water
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
1½ tsp. ground cinnamon
1½ tsp. salt
½ tsp. black pepper
4 tbsp. olive oil

Spicy Tomato Sauce
4 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 red hot chiles, seeded and finely diced (I used a jalapeño)
2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes
1½ cups water
4 tbsp. cider vinegar
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cumin
¼ cup cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

Start with the sauce.  Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and the chiles and fry for 2 minutes.  Add the tomatoes, water, vinegar, salt, and cumin.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Remove the sauce from the heat, stir in the cilantro and then taste.  See if you want more salt, pepper, or cilantro.  Keep hot or leave to cool; both ways will work with the hot kosheri.

To make the kosheri, place the lentils in a large saucepan and then cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes.  The lentils should be tender but far from mushy.  Drain in a colander and set aside.

In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the raw pasta, stir, and continue frying and stirring until the pasta turns golden brown.  Add the rice and mix well until it is coated in the butter.  Now add the stock or water, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil, cover, and then reduce the heat to a minimum and simmer for 12 minutes.  Turn off the heat, remove the lid, cover the pan with a clean kitchen towel, and put the lid back on.  Leave like that for about 5 minutes; this helps make the rice light and fluffy.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and sauté over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until dark brown.  Transfer to paper towels to drain.

To serve, lightly break up the rice with a fork and then add the lentils and the onions.  Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.  Serve hot with the tomato sauce.


Category: Beans,Grains,Main Course,Pasta,Vegan
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The Short List

June 13, 2010

Most people who cook have some kind of short list.  Those go-to recipes that require very little thought, contain ingredients you either have on hand or that can be easily procured from any grocery store, and that taste delicious.  Those are precious recipes indeed and I need a few more in my arsenal.

For now, this Jamie Oliver dish is at the top of my short list which, if I haven’t made it clear, is very short.  No matter – I love this recipe.  I always have onions and garlic plus many cans of chickpeas, almost always have celery, and I have rosemary growing in my yard.  Give me half an hour and I will give you something healthy, appealing to most people, satisfying, and very tasty.  It is also a very forgiving dish so you can either eat it right away or allow it to sit for a bit with the flavor only improving.

The method is simple.  The onions and garlic get sautéed together in a bit of olive oil along with the rosemary, which immediately makes your kitchen smell wonderful.  The chickpeas are next in the pot along with the broth and after those have cooked for a bit, half of the chickpeas are scooped out and reserved while the goodness in the pot gets a quick purée with an immersion blender.  After everything is reunited in the pot, in goes the pasta.  As soon it is tender, you are ready for dinner.  Add some fresh herbs on top (which I always seem to have some remnant of in my crisper drawer) and you have a rich and creamy tasting (but very healthy) meal.

I change this up a bit from the original recipe by adding some red pepper flakes for a bit of heat, and I also add more pasta and broth.  I always seem to need even more broth as the cooking process happens and you can add even more than that if you want the dish to be more saucy.  I don’t think it is possible to screw up this dish, so do what you like.  You will see my changes in the recipe below.  If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can use a food processor instead – just be careful with the hot stuff!

What is on your short list?

One Year Ago: Chilled Avocado Soup
Two Years Ago: Ina Garten’s Outrageous Brownies

Pasta e Ceci (Pasta with Chickpeas)
Adapted from Jamie’s Italy
Serves 4

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 stick of celery, trimmed and finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and minced
½ tsp. red pepper flakes
Olive oil
1 sprig of rosemary, leaves picked and finely chopped
2 14-oz. cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 cups vegetable stock
5 ounces ditalini or other small pasta (such as orzo)
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Small handful of fresh basil or parsley leaves, picked and torn

Place a large skillet over medium heat and then pour in just enough olive oil to coat the bottom.  Add the onion and celery and sauté just until tender, about 6 minutes.  Add the garlic, rosemary, and red pepper flakes.  Sauté for 2 minutes, then add the chickpeas and the stock.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat to simmer and allow to cook just until the chickpeas are heated through, about 5 minutes.  Using a slotted spoon, remove half of the chickpeas and set them aside.

Purée the soup in the pan with a handheld immersion blender.  Add the reserved whole chickpeas and the pasta, season the soup with salt and pepper, and simmer gently until the chickpeas are very tender and the pasta is cooked, about 10  minutes.  Add more liquid as necessary.

Season to taste with salt and pepper and sprinkle with torn basil or parsley.


Category: Beans,My Favorites,Pasta,Soup,Vegan
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Simplicity

May 13, 2010

Two recipes that I want to share with you are waiting in the wings.  One is a beautiful potato salad that is definitely going on my favorite list.  The other is a birthday cake – a big fat chocolate birthday cake, perfect for feeding a crowd.

But those will have to wait.  I need to talk about chickpeas.

And before that, a word about the Seattle dining scene.  It was really not until recently, within the last ten years or so, that we even really had a dining scene.  You could always get incredible Thai food, Vietnamese food, and sushi in Seattle.  And fresh fish too.  But other than that, pickings were a little meager.  Slowly but surely, things are changing and some terrific new restaurants have opened recently.

One of our favorites is Cantinetta, a truly sweet spot found about 2 miles from our house.  Sometimes a restaurant just gets it right on all fronts.  Cantinetta opened right smack in the middle of a great neighborhood, but not in the bustling business corridor, more in the area where people live.  It is homey and welcoming inside.  The service is excellent.  The menu changes just often enough to make it interesting, but not so often that you mourn your favorite dish leaving before you could taste it again.  That menu is comprised of four different categories and you can spend the evening there tasting bits from each section.  The pasta is made on site and is some of the best I have ever had.  There are always plenty of vegetarian options and they are starred so I don’t even have to ask.

Soon after it opened, Randy and I ate dinner there with friends.  Then we went by ourselves.  Then we went with more friends.  We recommended it to everyone.  We had my 39th birthday dinner there and introduced it to my parents and brothers, all of whom loved it and have been back.  My youngest brother gave us a gift certificate to Cantinetta for Hanumass last year and it was probably the best gift he has ever given me.  It is a place whose food I crave and there are precious few restaurants in Seattle I can say that about.

(Sorry, I just had to share.  Almost all looking at the camera.)

My sister-in-law was in town last Friday and Randy and I thought Cantinetta would be the perfect spot for dinner.  We actually had not been in some time and I was excited about seeing a brand new menu.  Suffice it to say that absolutely everything we ate was delicious.  From the homemade bread that arrives on your table (featuring corn meal and olives) to the utterly creamy tagliatelle that I had for my main course.  We loved every bite.  In fact, we ordered so much and ate so much that none of us had room for dessert.

My favorite thing I ate that night, in a sea of good things, was the most simple.  Chickpeas, olive oil, Pecorino Romano, lemon.  The beautiful little dish came to the table and I was shocked to see green chickpeas.  Green means fresh.  Where did they get fresh chickpeas?  And can I have some??  I couldn’t really get a straight answer but after a moment I stopped asking and just started eating.  Sometimes, when every single ingredient is perfect and perfectly balanced, the simplest dish is the best.  That was absolutely the case with these little guys.

So, what’s a chickpea lover to do?  Try and re-create.  Since there was no way (that I know of) for me to get fresh chickpeas, I did the next best thing which is to cook up a bunch of dried beans.  I knew the somewhat mushy texture and tinny taste of canned beans wouldn’t work here, so I soaked and cooked up some dried chickpeas.  (I have nothing against canned beans when they are going into a stew like this one or this one.)  Because the restaurant dish featured tiny pebbles of the Pecorino – not flakes – I ground up a chunk of that amazing cheese in my mini-food processor rather than grating it.  Out of the refrigerator came a lemon and out of the pantry I pulled my best olive oil, sea salt, and pepper mill.  And away we went.  At the end of it all, I was somewhat surprised to find that what I had created was an awful lot like what I tasted at the restaurant.  Deceptively simple, incredibly delicious.

I served some to a friend who was over for dinner and she loved them.  I gave some to Randy and he thought they tasted just the same as Cantinetta’s.  I’m not sure about that exactly, but they are pretty darn close.  Please don’t roll your eyes and scoff – so simple Dana! – take just a bit of time, the best of ingredients, and decide for yourself.

One Year Ago:  Quinoa with Grilled Zucchini, Chickpeas, and Cumin

Chickpeas with Lemon and Pecorino Romano
Inspired by Cantinetta
Makes 2 cups

Definitely serve this dish at room temperature so the flavors can bloom and the chickpeas aren’t chalky.

2 cups chickpeas
1½ tbsp. olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
¾ tsp. kosher salt
Lots of coarsely ground black pepper
¼ cup ground Pecorino Romano

For the chickpeas, you might as well make a large batch and use them throughout the week.  They are great in all manner of stews and soups, in salads, and you will probably want to make another batch of this recipe.  Let dried chickpeas soak overnight in cold water that covers them by at least 2 inches.  The next day, drain the water and rinse the chickpeas.  Put them back in the pot, cover them again cold water and place on the stove.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat slightly, and allow to cook until chickpeas are tender, about 1 hour.

Mix together all ingredients for dish in a bowl.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.


Category: Appetizer,Beans,My Favorites
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