Posts Tagged vegetarian

Chickpea Pancakes & Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Recipe for a perfect night:

1 Sunny Friday evening in Portland, Oregon
1 Dear friend, Mari
2 Glasses chilled Rosé
1 Porch swing
2 Chickpea pancakes
1 Generous helping of warm shaved Brussels sprout salad
2 Tickets to the Trailblazers vs. Lakers game at the Rose Garden
1 Huge victory over the Lakers by the Trailblazers

Combine all of these elements together and you have a (nearly) perfect evening.

The only reason I say nearly perfect – as opposed to completely perfect – is simply because my husband wasn’t able to join in on all the fun. He had to work late (boo, hiss).

But, my friend/food blogger/Blazer nerd Mari is a lovely substitute when the husband isn’t available, and we did it up right last Friday.

We drank good wine.
We soaked in the sun.
We ate good food.
We watched a great basketball game.
We wore our matching LaMarcus Aldridge Jerseys (like the dorks we are) and cheered on our boys.

We even met Blaze the Trail Cat (YES. Our mascot is really a cat. And, yes. His name is really Blaze the Trail cat.)

The food was fabulous, the company was superb, and the basketball game was nothing short of amazing.

But, enough of this basketball craziness. This is, after all, a food blog (as opposed a basketball blog), so I feel the need to tell you about the food that contributed to our perfect evening.

The chickpea pancakes are a recipe I’d seen on the almighty Tastespotting. I always keep an arsenal of Gluten Free recipes around for nights when Mari visits, and this recipe was at the top of my list. Not only was the recipe gluten free, but it was vegan (yay Lent!), required minimal prep and/or ingredients, and it looked unbelievably tasty.

The original recipe paired the chickpea pancakes with a lovely green salad. I didn’t have the makings for a lovely green salad, but I did have a bunch of Brussels sprouts that I needed to use up. So, then, I simply made up a “salad” using the Brussels and various other ingredients I had laying about. The result: a warm shaved Brussels sprout salad with shallot, almonds, and lemon. It was the perfect compliment to the chickpea pancake.

I served the warm salad atop the chickpea pancake, with a drizzle of Goddess dressing over the top.

Recipe: Chickpea Pancakes (Socca) with Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad
3 cups Brussels sprouts, outer leaves removed
1 small shallot, diced
The juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons slivered almonds
Dash of red chili flakes
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

Using a knife or mandoline, slice Brussels sprouts very thinly.

Toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium high heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn. Set almonds aside.

In the same skillet, warm 1 tablespoon quality olive oil (or clarified butter). Add minced shallot to the pan and cook until translucent.

Add in sliced Brussels, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until sprouts are starting to wilt (but are still green and crisp). Remove pan from heat, and toss the Brussels mixture with lemon juice, salt, pepper, chili flakes and toasted almonds. Serve warm.

The recipe for the chickpea pancakes can be found at Whole Living Daily.

Recipe Swap: Chocolate Spice ‘Depression’ Cake

So, I’ve been involved in this recipe swap for awhile now. For those of you who may not know, Christianna at Burwell General Store created this swap a few months back, in order to encourage creativity in the kitchen. Back then, it was just the two of us, but it quickly grew into a large group of foodies from all over the world.

I love the swap for so many reasons: but mostly, I love seeing how one recipe blossoms into so many tasty things (from so many talented people!). Every month, CM emails us a recipe from a darling old cookbook/hymnal – All Day Singin and Dinner on the Ground – and we re-interpret the recipe however we see fit.

For this swap, CM asked us to create our own versions of “Wacky Cake” (Original recipe pictured below).

When I first saw this recipe, I panicked. First off, I’m not much of a baker. Secondly, this cake is made with VINEGAR. Vinegar?! I was stumped. I’d never heard of using vinegar in a cake! I just didn’t see how it could possibly be good. I had no idea what to do.

So, I did the only thing I could do: googled the heck out of “cake made with vinegar”. Thanks to Google, I found out a lot of interesting things about cakes made with vinegar. Namely, I found out that Wacky Cake is an old wartime recipe (it can also be called Depression Cake – a name which I personally prefer). It was originally created out of necessity, when butter, eggs, sugar and other common ingredients were rationed and hard to get. (If you want to know a little bit more about the history of this ‘wacky’ cake, listen to this great NPR piece about one family’s history with this particular cake.)

All that to say, after a little bit of research I was completely inspired by this cake. I loved the idea of a cake being borne out of hardship. It is a true testament to perseverance and ingenuity. When you don’t have eggs or butter – by golly, use vinegar.

In order to keep with the spirit of the original recipe, I decided to limit myself to ingredients that I had on hand. To be honest, I happened to have some pretty stellar ingredients lying around: one blood orange, local raw wildflower honey, and Scharffen Berger cocoa powder. But, the rest of the ingredients were quite simple.

I must say, I was totally surprised at how great this cake turned out. The vinegar worked wonders! The cake was amazingly light and fluffy, yet moist with just the right amount of density. The dark chocolate cocoa powder and fresh ginger gave the cake a flavor somewhat akin to a traditional gingerbread. It wasn’t terribly sweet (which I love) and it paired so nicely with the honey orange compote. Did I mention that it’s vegan?!

Please do check out all the other amazing creations from my fellow recipe swappers. You can find them all on CM’s Recipe swap page!

Chocolate Spice ‘Depression Cake’ with Honey Blood Orange Compote
(Cake recipe adapted from The Perfect Pantry)

1.5 cups white flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown or muscovado sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup cold water

Method:
Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda and salt. Using a spoon, create an indent (or ‘hole’) in the dry ingredients. Pour remaining ingredients (in the following order) into the indent: vinegar, oil, water. Mix well.

Pour mixture into a greased 8×8 cake pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

For the compote:
1 blood orange
1 Tablespoon good quality honey
Dash of nutmeg

Peel and cut blood orange into segments or supremes. Gently mix orange segments with honey and nutmeg. Serve with chocolate spice cake. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

My husband made an observation about me the other day, and I thought it was rather funny (and yet strangely true). He’d been at work all day at his new job, which happens to be on the other side of town. When he got home, he found me finishing up a bunch of projects: namely, laundry, mopping the floors, and baking a batch of whole wheat apple muffins. He took one look at me (and our sparkly house) and said: “Whenever I leave you at home alone for an extended period of time, I know one of two things are going to happen. One: you’re going to cook. Two: You’re going to clean. Honestly, you’ll probably do both.”

Its funny because he’s right. If left to my own devices, I will do one (or both) of those things. So, now I’m left to wonder: when did I get so predictable? Or, rather, when did I get so darn domestic?

You see, Nich and I share a car and I’m still getting used to being “stuck” at home when he’s at work on the other side of the city. Thankfully, with the way our work schedules overlap, I’m not stuck at home too much (and if I really wanted to go out and about, I can just walk or bus. I’m not actually stuck). And, really, I’m starting to realize that I like this new arrangement. I like having a few hours at home by myself as it gives me a chance to clean, get organized, catch up on emails, etc. More importantly: it gives me a chance to work on cooking projects!

As I mentioned in my last post, I tend to be a bit of a busy bee. So, in a weird way, this new arrangement is somewhat of a blessing. I actually really enjoy cooking and cleaning and now I have ample time to do both. Nich, bless him, places absolutely no expectations on me. Because of this, I feel a certain freedom with getting things done around the house. I’m domestic because I want to be, not because its expected of me. I cook and clean because I find it relaxing and rewarding.

So, then, getting back to the whole wheat apple muffins. I made a batch of these on a Saturday when Nich was at work. I had the day to myself, a few extra apples lying around, and I was itching for something to bake. I discovered this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and thus my Saturday plans were decided. I baked to my hearts content and the muffins turned out splendidly!

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen
(Makes about 1 and a half dozen)

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup dark brown or muscovado sugar
1 large egg
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
2 large apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 450°F. Prepare the muffin tins: Grease or line 18 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together butter, white sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown/muscovado sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Gently mix in the yogurt. (Note: I found the mix to be a little thick and dry at this point. I added a couple tablespoons of water to thin the batter) Stir in the dry ingredients and then fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Note: These make for great on-the-go breakfasts! I froze the muffins and would grab a couple every day for breakfast at work. 30 seconds in the microwave (and with a little bit of butter) and they were as good as fresh!

blood orange, escarole & hazelnut salad

Oftentimes I find that the best dishes aren’t the ones that are carefully planned out. Rather, the perfect dishes are haphazardly thrown together at the last minute. This is one of those dishes.

A few nights ago, Nich and I decided we were going to stay in, make a fabulous dinner, and watch a movie. We knew that we wanted to make risotto for dinner (more on that in my next post), but I wasn’t sure what to make alongside it. Risotto is so rich and delicious, so I wanted to pair it with something fresh and vibrant.

So, as we meandered about Pastaworks gathering supplies for our dinner, I decided to let the produce do the talking. I was thrilled to see that they had a good selection blood oranges onhand. I happen to looooooove blood oranges. So much so, that I might go out on a limb and say that they are the sexiest of all fruits (and they are in season!). In addition to the blood oranges, I picked up a head of escarole (a bitter green in the endive/frisee family) and knew that I had the beginnings of a killer salad.

With such fabulous base ingredients, I didn’t need to add much to make this salad sing. I decided to toss the escarole and blood orange segments with toasted hazelnuts and fresh grated parmesean, along with a blood orange vinaigrette. It was perfect (if I do say so myself). Each ingredient stood out on its own, while complimenting the salad as a whole. And, if you’ll excuse me while I pat myself on the back a bit more – I was also really pleased with the blood orange vinaigrette that I “invented”. Since I got all fancy and segmented the blood oranges, I was left with the peel and ‘innards’. I was struck by the gorgeous blood red color, and decided to do something about it. I soaked the orange peel and innards in olive oil for awhile, then macerated the orange bits and strained out the oil. What I was left with was essentially a blood orange infused olive oil – and it was every bit as tasty as it was pretty! I then made a relatively standard vinaigrette (with garlic, vinegar, s&p…) using the infused olive oil. It was magical.

I will now sign off and simply urge you to make this simple and seasonal salad. Come on now, try the magic out for yourself. ;)

BLOOD ORANGE, ESCAROLE & HAZELNUT SALAD

Salad:
1 head of escarole, trimmed and cut into bite sized pieces. (Frisee or any other bitter salad greens would work just as well)
2 small blood oranges, peeled & segmented (*if you want to be fancy like me and make proper “suprêmes”, The Kitchn has a handy little tutorial.)
1/2 cup whole hazelnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
Freshly grated parmesan cheese

Blood orange vinaigrette:
1/2 cup good quality olive oil
Rinds & trimmings from the segmented blood oranges
1 small shallot, finely minced
1-2 tsps pomegranate or red wine vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Method:
Soak the blood orange rind and peel in 1/2 cup (or more) of good quality olive oil. Let stand for 30+ minutes. After the mixture has had time to sit, macerate the orange (with the end of a wooden spoon, a mojito muddler, a potato masher – whatever you can find to beat up the orange bits and get them to release flavor!). Strain out the oil, using cheesecloth or a fine mesh sieve.

Combine oil with minced shallot, vinegar, and salt and pepper (to taste). (Hint: The longer you let the vinaigrette sit before you use it, the better it will taste!)

Toss escarole, hazelnuts, and blood orange segments together with the vinaigrette. Grate fresh parmesan over the salad and gently toss. Serve immediately (and of course, enjoy!).