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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust

Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust

I'm leaving you—and my husband and child—for a little over a week. By the time you read this, I will be cruising the Caribbean with my parents and sister. But at least I'm providing you with a new holiday dish (and the family with leftovers). Since I won't be getting back until just before Thanksgiving, too close to create a dish, photograph it, and post the recipe before the big day, I decided to get out the good china and serve my Thanksgiving meal a little early.

Thanksgiving dinner, to me, is about comfort food, not necessarily fancy food. Mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, and anything with gravy all spell "comfort" to me. So it occurred to me to revisit a comfort food of my youth, chicken pot pie. In our home, there were two types of pot pie: those frozen ones in the little aluminum pans and my mother's big casserole dish version, which she topped with biscuits. I cringe a little now to think that my brother and sister and I may have at first preferred the frozen pies to my mom's, which seemed to our childish minds somehow counterfeit with no crust to break into and biscuits dotting the top but never covering it completely.

As I grew older, and past the novelty of food from the freezer, I came to love my mother's homecooked casseroles and to see the beauty of the biscuits topping it, each one, dumplinglike, sopping up just a little of the dish's gravy on the bottom while remaining crusty and biscuity on top. In my own kitchen, I've experimented with stretching the dough across the top of the casserole, but I found it actually tastes better, less bready and overwhelming, when it's cut into biscuits.

Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust

My recipe uses seitan instead of chicken, of course, and it's a bit of a production for something that looks so homey and old-fashioned. It starts with a base of vegetable stew; once that's cooking, I make up a batch of homemade seitan and add it to the stew to cook and soak up some of the vegetables' flavors. When the stew is ready, I make the biscuits (pumpkin biscuits in this case because they look so festive), pour the stew into a casserole dish, top it with biscuits, and bake until they're done. You can make this with a little less work by using cubes of baked tofu, TVP, or store-bought seitan instead of homemade and reducing the amount of water you start with, but to me part of the gift of a holiday meal is making it all myself.

This isn't a fussy recipe, so you can make it in whatever baking dishes you have on-hand. Serving it in individual casserole dishes, each one a little different from the others, can make for a charming presentation, but just be sure that your dishes are deep enough (see the instructions below) or you'll find that you're serving mostly biscuit and little pie.

Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust

Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust

(printer-friendly version)

Use any combination of baking dishes--several smaller or two larger--but be sure they're deep enough to hold about 1 1/2-inches worth of stew plus another inch for the topping.

You can easily turn this into a shepherd's pie by substituting mashed potatoes for the biscuit topping.


2 pounds potatoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 large onion, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
8 ounces mushrooms, quartered
2 large carrots, diced
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper -- or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 1/2 cups frozen baby peas
3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon mellow white miso
6 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 4 tablespoons water

Seitan

1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup Imagine No-Chicken Broth, cold (or other veg. broth)
1 tablespoon tahini or other nut butter

Biscuit Topping

2 cups unbleached white flour
2 cups white whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup pumpkin (canned or cooked and water pressed out)
1 cup unsweetened soymilk --mixed with 2 tablespoons lemon juice
additional soymilk or water as needed

Put 12 cups of water on to boil in a large (at least 6-quart) soup pot. Add each vegetable (potatoes, onion, celery, mushrooms, carrots) to the pot as you chop it. Add the bay leaves, thyme, sage, garlic, poultry seasoning, onion powder, celery salt, soy sauce, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the seitan: Mix the dry ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. Combine the broth and nut butter. Stir the broth mixture into the dry ingredients until well blended. Knead gently 10 times. Turn out onto a cutting board and press it as flat as possible. Let it rest for about 5 minutes. Then using a sharp knife, cut it into 1/2-inch cubes. Add the seitan cubes to the simmering vegetables, taking care to separate them before they go into the pot. Stir well and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 45 minutes, remove the bay leaves and add the peas. Mix the miso in a small bowl with a little of the hot broth, and then add it to the stew, along with the nutritional yeast. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil, stirring often. When mixture thickens, reduce heat and allow to simmer while you make the biscuits. (If stew does not seem thick enough, add a little more cornstarch/water.)

(You can make the recipe up until this point the day before serving and refrigerate the filling. When ready to assemble, reheat the stew as you make the biscuit topping. Stew should be hot when the biscuits are placed on top.)

Preheat oven to 400 and oil two or more deep casserole dishes (any combination of casserole dishes or pie pans to hold about 6 liters). Mix the dry ingredients for the biscuits in a medium bowl. Stir in the pumpkin and the soymilk/lemon juice. Add additional soymilk or water a teaspoon at a time as you stir until all flour is moistened and dough forms a ball. Turn out onto floured board and knead two or three times. Roll out to 1/2- inch thick, and cut into circles using a 1 1/2-inch wide floured glass or biscuit cutter. Gather remaining dough and use it to cut additional biscuits. You should have between 24 and 30. (Alternately, cut the biscuit dough to fit the pans, leaving about an inch all around to allow for dough to expand.)

Pour the stew into the prepared pans, making sure there is at least 1/2-inch free at the top. Place the biscuits on top, spacing them evenly. Bake until biscuits are lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to stand for a few minutes before serving.

Servings: 12



Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 344 calories, 21 calories from fat, 2.5g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 986.1mg sodium, 785.4mg potassium, 63.5g carbohydrates, 7.7g fiber, 4.4g sugar, 20.3g protein, 6.3 points.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Celebration Pot Pie with Pumpkin Biscuit Crust

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who celebrate it!


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Monday, November 09, 2009

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Pumpkin Pie Bites

My daughter and I go kind of pumpkin crazy this time of year. It starts when we see the first small pie pumpkins in the grocery store and she convinces me that we just have to have one. She takes it home, decorates it with permanent markers, and then refuses to let me cook her work of art. (Since it's now covered in toxic ink, I'm not too eager to cook with it anyway.) She then demands that we buy more pumpkins so that we'll have something to make pies with. So I hide the markers and buy more pumpkins.

My pumpkin-buying mania extends to canned pumpkin. In October and November, I find so many ways to add pumpkin to my meals that I'm convinced that I will want to cook with it all year long, and driven by the fear that it will disappear from the stores after the winter holidays, I buy can after can. Naturally, I never get around to using it all. The pumpkin dishes that seem so appealing in the Fall lose their allure by April, when there are asparagus to play with. As a result, before I can go on my canned pumpkin frenzy and buy more this year, I needed to use up last year's stock, so I sat down to plan out a new recipe.

While my daughter was envisioning pumpkin pie, for some reason I just kept seeing bars. Specifically, oatmeal bars. Obviously, a compromise was in order, so I designed these bites to appeal to both of our cravings. The gluten-free crust is made up mostly of oatmeal, while the filling is sweet, spicy pumpkin. Each one is like a two-bite pumpkin pie, but I doubt you'll be able to eat just one.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Now I know that some of you are going to wonder why I didn't use fresh pumpkin in these bars. One thing that canned pumpkin has going for it is that its moisture content is consistent. When I tell you to use 15 ounces of canned pumpkin, whether you live in Seattle or Asheville you'll be able to cook the recipe with results that are pretty much like mine. Working with fresh pumpkin is a little trickier; once you've gotten it cooked, it may be more or less watery than the pumpkin I use, and your pumpkin pie bites might need more thickener to get them to set. So while I encourage you to use fresh ingredients whenever possible, I made the recipe using canned pumpkin so that it will work for most people. If you're using fresh pumpkin, just make sure you drain it well after it's cooked so that its consistency is close to canned.

One more thing: I made these using sorghum flour so that they'd be gluten-free. (I don't need to eat gluten-free, but a lot of my readers do, so I like to make it easier for them to make my recipes.) The fat-free, sorghum crust is a little dry right at first, but I found that it softened overnight, so if you can, make these bites the day before, or use a softer type of flour, such as whole wheat pastry flour.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

Pumpkin Pie Bites

(printer-friendly version)

The topping, which contributes about 10 calories per bar, is optional, though I think the crystallized ginger adds a lot of zing to these tasty bites. They improve with age, so consider making them a day ahead of serving.

Crust
1 1/2 cups quick or rolled oats* (divided)
1 cup sorghum (or other whole grain) flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar firmly packed
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup apple sauce or apple butter
2 tablespoons water

Filling
15 ounces pumpkin (canned or cooked and water pressed out)
12 ounces extra-firm silken tofu (lite preferred)
1/2 cup turbinado sugar (or regular sugar)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated)
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon rum extract (optional)
2 tablespoons agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1 teaspoon salt

Topping
1/4 cup quick or rolled oats*
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons crystallized ginger (I used Penzey's but here's a vegan option)

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch nonstick baking pan with parchment paper.

Crust: Place 1/2 cup of the oats in a blender and crush them to a fine powder. Mix the oat flour with the other dry ingredients of the crust in a medium mixing bowl. Add the apple sauce and water and stir until well-moistened. If necessary, add additional water a teaspoon at a time until all flour is moist. Pour it into the prepared pan and press it into the pan until the bottom is evenly covered.

Filling: Place all the filling ingredients into a blender or food processor. Process until all ingredients are thoroughly combined. Pour filling on top of crust and smooth with a spatula.

Topping and Baking: Mix the topping ingredients together and sprinkle on top of the filling. Bake for 40-45 minutes, until pumpkin is set in the middle. Remove from oven and run a non-metal knife or spatula around the edges. Cool for at least 15 minutes before cutting into 48 squares.

Servings: 48
Yield: 48 squares



Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 68 calories, 8 calories from fat, less than 1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 62mg sodium, 56mg potassium, 13.5g carbohydrates, 1.3g fiber, 5.8g sugar, 2g protein, 1.2 points.

*Gluten-free results depend on using certified gluten-free oats and other ingredients.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.


Bonus cat photo for those of you who read this far:

Pumpkin Pie Bites

This is what happens when you photograph your food in a house with a fearless and incorrigible kitten in it. While I was trying to get one final shot of the bites, our newest family member took a fancy to them. He actually managed to grab a small piece. Though he seemed to like it, I'm not recommending you share these treats with your pets!



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Monday, November 02, 2009

Stir-fried Tofu and Vegetables with Miso Sauce

Stir-fried Tofu and Vegetables with Miso Sauce

I don't post a lot of stir-fry recipes because, as I've mentioned before, I tend to make them by feel, adding whatever amounts of vegetables and sauce feel right. Since I usually use the same basic ingredients, most of my stir-fries taste about the same. But not this one. Adding a miso-based sauce to my stir-"fried" veggies (they're really stir-steamed) took this easy dish to a new level. And if I hadn't had a tub of miso that I needed to use up, I never would have thought of it. If you love the rich flavor of mellow white miso, you're going to love this dish!

2009 Veggie AwardsBut before I get to the recipe, I have a thank-you, an update, and a recommendation for you: First of all, thanks to everyone who voted for this blog in VegNews' Veggie Awards, we won! I am so honored that, with all the excellent vegan blogs out there, you chose to vote for this one. Thank you!

My update involves another thank-you, to all of you generous people who have contributed to the Walk for Farm Animals or have adopted turkeys through Farm Sanctuary this year. As you can see from the Firstgiving ticker in the right sidebar, we are very close to our goal of $2000. But if you haven't already given, don't let that stop you! Going over goal would mean just that much more help for the animals.

Finally, a recommendation for all of you who are planning your Thanksgiving menus. Nava Atlas has once again compiled a Thanksgiving e-cookbook, A Bountiful Vegan Thanksgiving. This year she's asked at least a dozen vegan cookbook authors and bloggers to contribute some of their favorites (you'll find two of mine there) for a total of 65 delicious recipes. All the profits go to charity, and for $8.95, it's a bargain.

Now, back to that stir-fry...

The only time-consuming part of this recipe is the chopping. I used packaged baked tofu (not something I usually buy but I got it on sale for half-off) and sliced the vegetables extra thin so that they cooked in a flash. Then, I served the cooked vegetables over buckwheat soba noodles because they also cook quickly, but if you're in less of a hurry than I was, brown rice, quinoa, or your favorite whole grain would also make a nice "bed" for the stir-fry. Just do serve it on top of something--the sauce is intentionally thin and plentiful enough to deliver that great miso flavor to whatever's underneath it.

Stir-fried Tofu and Vegetables with Miso Sauce

Stir-fried Tofu and Vegetables with Miso Sauce
(printer-friendly version)

Having the vegetables pre-chopped and the sauce made is the key to this quick stir-fry, which cooks for about 5 minutes.

2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 pound baby bok choy
1 large carrot
6 ounces mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper
8 ounces baked tofu

Sauce
2 tablespoons shiro (white) miso
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon sriracha or other chile sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1 teaspoon agave nectar (or other liquid sweetener)
1/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (optional*)

Wash bok choy, cut off the green tops, chop them coarsely, and place in a bowl. Slice the white parts about 1/2-inch thick and place in another large bowl. Cut the carrot into matchsticks and add it to the white bok choy bowl. Slice the mushrooms, and put them with the carrots. Slice the bell pepper thinly and add it to the bok choy greens. Dice the tofu and set aside.

Place the miso and cornstarch into a bowl and gradually add the water as you whisk it to combine smoothly. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and set aside.

Heat a large non-stick skillet or wok (or regular skillet that has been rubbed or sprayed lightly with canola oil). When it's hot, add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the white bok choy/carrot mixture and 2 tablespoons water and cover immediately. Steam for about 2 minutes. Add the bok choy greens, cover, and cook until just wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the tofu and the sauce and cook until tofu is heated through and sauce is slightly thickened. Serve immediately over noodles or whole grain.

*The sesame oil adds only 1 gram of fat and 10 calories to the entire dish (all three servings combined).


Servings: 3



Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 169 calories, 51 calories from fat, 6.1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 623.9mg sodium, 820.2mg potassium, 19g carbohydrates, 4.3g fiber, 9.8g sugar, 13.4g protein, 3.1 points.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.



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Labels: CORE, Eat to Live, Gluten-Free, Higher-Fat, Soy

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Monday, October 26, 2009

Fat-Free Pumpkin and Raisin Biscuits

Pumpkin Spice Biscuits

I used to love biscuits. I was raised on my mom's Bisquick biscuits and sometime during college graduated to baking and devouring Southern-style biscuits made with White Lily flour and lots of butter or margarine. Living alone in my tiny student apartment, I would bake up batches of huge, fluffy, melt-in-your-mouth biscuits on the weekend and eat them all by myself, and it didn't take long before I developed huge, fluffy thighs to match.

Fast forward x-number of years (I don't want to think about how fast that time went!) Today I firmly believe that all that white flour and fat isn't good for me, my thighs, or my arteries. So I rarely make biscuits. I could indulge in a biscuit or two for an occasional treat, but the truth is, I don't want to re-develop a taste for them. And since it's the fat that gives biscuits their light, flaky texture, fat-free biscuits just don't have the same texture, no matter what you do.

But if you're not expecting them to be lighter than air, it is possible to make biscuits that are a new type of comfort food, tasty and filling without fat or white flour. For these biscuits, I've replaced the fat with pumpkin puree, and though they they're not going to float off the plate, you definitely won't break a tooth biting into them. In keeping with my goal of making them as healthy as possible, I didn't use any sugar at all; raisins provide the only sweetening, so if you want to sweeten them up, you can top them with icing, as in the photos (that's the orange icing from Chocolate-Orange Cake). But D, who doesn't have much of a sweet tooth, preferred them plain, and E and I liked them spread with apple butter or drizzled with agave nectar for a sweet yet more natural taste.

Note: My gluten-free friends might want to check out this Cindalou's Kitchen recipe.

Pumpkin Spice Biscuits

Fat-Free Pumpkin and Raisin Biscuits
(printer-friendly version)

If you want to make the dough itself a little sweeter, substitute agave nectar for a couple tablespoons of the soy milk. Or, if you want sweetness without calories, try adding a little stevia or your favorite sweetener to the batter.

2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup pumpkin (canned or cooked, pureed, and drained)
1/2 cup plain soy milk (plus additional, as needed)
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425F and lightly oil a non-stick baking sheet. Mix the dry ingredients together well (flour through raisins). Add the pumpkin and mix until crumbly (do not overmix). Combine the soymilk and lemon juice and add it, stirring until a soft dough forms. If all flour is not moistened, add additional soymilk a teaspoon at at time until dough forms a ball.

Turn out the dough onto a well-floured surface and sprinkle the top lightly with flour. Roll out about 3/4 inch thick. Using a 1 1/2-2-inch wide biscuit cutter or glass dipped in flour, press straight down without twisting to cut into 12-15 biscuits.

Place the biscuits, sides lightly touching, on the oiled sheet. Bake until tops are lightly browned, 9-11 minutes. Serve hot.

Servings: 14
Yield: 12-15


Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 75 calories, 5 calories from fat, less than 1g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 203.7mg sodium, 123.2mg potassium, 16.1g carbohydrates, 2.8g fiber, 2.2g sugar, 2.9g protein, 1 points.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Pumpkin and Raisin Biscuits


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Monday, October 19, 2009

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash

At the farmers' market a couple of weeks ago, I picked up two butternut squash that were each about the length of my hand. Since I love roasting butternut with a touch of lemon, I was considering cooking them in that tried and true (but unimaginative) manner when I got the idea to roast one of the squash and mix it in with my favorite grain/seed, quinoa. The results were a light and lemony side dish that goes with practically anything.

I served it with baked tofu, gravy, steamed broccoli, and a salad for a sort of traditional American meal, but the lemony flavor makes a great accompaniment to everything from Thai food to Italian. I'm considering making it a part of my Thanksgiving dinner this year.

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash

(printer-friendly version)

The pine nuts really complement the lemon flavor, but if you decide to leave them out, you can deduct about 30 calories and 3 grams of fat per serving.

10 ounces butternut squash (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup chopped shallots
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons (about 7/10 ounce) lightly toasted pine nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives (optional)

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds and strings (using a grapefruit spoon makes this easier). Peel and cut into 1/2-inch cubes and toss with the 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Place them on a non-stick baking sheet (or silicone mat), sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Place the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse it well and allow to drain. Heat a deep, non-stick pot. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until shallots soften slightly. Add the quinoa and toast it until it has dried out and begins to exude a toasty aroma. Add the squash along with the thyme and vegetable broth. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook, stirring once or twice, until all broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir in the lemon peel and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if needed.

Serve with toasted pine nuts and chives sprinkled on top.

Servings: 4 large side-dish servings


Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 240 calories, 50 calories from fat, 5.7g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 291.8mg sodium, 576mg potassium, 41.2g carbohydrates, 5.2g fiber, 1.7g sugar, 8.4g protein, 4.5 points.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Update:

Our effort to raise funds for Farm Sanctuary is going well! As of this writing, 1,650 dollars have been generously donated by you wonderful readers, and I know that many of you have adopted turkeys. Thank you all so much!



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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Spiced Rice and Lentil Squares

Spiced Rice-Lentil Squares

(A huge thank you to all of you who have donated to Farm Sanctuary so far. We're almost 3/4 of the way to our goal!)

Unlike a lot of people who love to cook, I don't tend to pick up cookbooks and read them like novels. The majority of the cookbooks on my shelves are there for reference only, useful when I need to check an ingredient's preparation or cooking time. But Delights from the Garden of Eden by Nawal Nasrallah has changed all that. Lately I often lug the 3 1/2 pound, 650-page tome with me to bed just to read the fables, stories, and snippets of personal and cultural history woven among the 400 recipes.

Delights from the Garden of EdenDelights traces Iraqi cuisine back to ancient Mesopotamia and the first documented cookbook in history, written on clay tablets about 3700 years ago in Babylon, and explores the history of some better-known recipes (hummus, baba ghanouj) while bringing to light many that were new to me (I had no idea black-eyed peas were used in Iraqi cooking) . Though it's far from vegetarian--avoid particularly the section called "Recipes Not for the Faint of Heart"--the cookbook has chapters on vegetarian appetizers, snacks, sandwiches, and side dishes. Nasrallah points out that medieval diners thought of vegetarian dishes as "counterfeit," though they valued them as snacks and accompaniment to to the meat dishes, so most of the main dishes contain some meat. She often notes when the meat can be left out without hurting the dish, and for other recipes, I've found that it's easy to replace it with a vegetarian alternative, as in the case of this recipe.

Called "Hassle-free Kubbat Halab" in the book, this recipe is a simplified, "lazy day" version of Kubbat Halab, which is made by stuffing a dough made of grains such as bulgar or rice with a spicy meat filling and forming it into balls or disks that are then fried. (The football-shaped kibbeh found in Middle Eastern restaurants here in the U.S. is a variant of the same dish.) In the hassle-free version, all of the ingredients are mixed together and formed into patties and fried or spread into a pan and baked. I've substituted lentils for the ground beef and changed the spicing a bit to make the recipe a little more accessible for those of us who don't want to buy a jar of baharat seasoning for just one dish. I've also doubled the amount of raisins because, frankly, I misread the recipe. If you're wary of putting raisins into a savory dish, let me tell you bluntly that the raisins, in my opinion, save this dish, which would be bland without them. They give these crispy yet tender patties a certain spark that you don't want to miss.

Spiced Rice-Lentil Squares

Spiced Rice-Lentil Squares
(printer-friendly version)

1 1/2 cups uncooked short-grain brown rice (or 3 cups cooked rice)
1 1/4 cup cooked (or canned) brown lentils (drained, liquid reserved)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 teaspoon salt (to taste)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper freshly ground
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1/4 teaspoon cardamom
1/4 -1/2 teaspoon cayenne or other red pepper
1 flax or chia "egg" (see Tips, below)
1/2 cup raisins

Cook the rice according to package directions or use leftover rice. Put it in a large mixing bowl and cover until ready to use.

Preheat oven to 375F. Brown the onion in a non-stick pan. Add it to the rice along with all remaining ingredients. Stir well so that seasoning are distributed evenly. If mixture appears dry, add a little of the reserved lentil broth.

Spread mixture into an oiled 9x12-inch pan. Use a spatula or knife to score into 12 equal rectangles. Spray top lightly with olive oil if desired and bake until top is lightly crispy, about 40 minutes.

Allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Tips:

For flax "egg," mix 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed with 3 tablespoons of warm water. Let it sit for a few minutes until thickened.

For chia "egg," pour 1 tablespoon of chia seeds into 9 tablespoons of water and stir well. Allow to stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, until a thick gel forms, at least 30 minutes. Use 4 tablespoons of this gel to replace one egg. Refrigerated, the unused portion will keep about 2 weeks.

Servings: 12
Yield: 12 squares


Nutrition Facts

Nutrition (per serving): 139 calories, 10 calories from fat, 1.2g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 100.3mg sodium, 166mg potassium, 31.2g carbohydrates, 3.9g fiber, 4.9g sugar, 3.9g protein, 2.1 points.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.



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Thursday, October 08, 2009

A Thanksgiving Tradition

E and friend

My daughter E had her first turkey when she was in preschool. Her class was learning about Thanksgiving, coloring pictures of turkeys and folding paper into pilgrims' hats, and her father and I decided to start a family tradition so that when it was time for her to stand up and tell the class about her Thanksgiving dinner, she would have something to share. So we got our first turkey. Her name was Serendipity, and we adopted her from Farm Sanctuary.

Serendipity* arrived a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving in the form of an adoption certificate and a photo. E was somewhat disappointed not to receive an actual live turkey in the mail, but she was glad to have Serendipity's photo and proudly carried it with her to school to show all the other kids her Thanksgiving turkey, which, still having feathers and a head, looked much nicer than theirs. On Thanksgiving day, Serendipity's photo had a place of honor at the dinner table, somewhere between the sweet potato casserole and the mushroom dressing.

We've been loyal supporters of Farm Sanctuary ever since. Though we don't always adopt a turkey, each year we are happy to donate whatever we can to support the animals it rescues as well as its educational programs. If I don't watch her carefully, E has even been known to stick a $5 bill into an envelope with no return address and send it off to F.S. with instructions to buy a treat for a certain animal. (My dire warnings about cash sent through the mail have no effect.)

Cows ask for your support!

This year my family and I are asking you to help, too. The annual Walk for Farm Animals helps fund Farm Sanctuary's education and advocacy efforts, so that more children like E can learn about the realities of factory farming and have the opportunity to support more compassionate treatment of animals. Please make a pledge of support for farm animals in need by making a donation. Every little bit helps.

Walk for Farm Animals

We'd like to reach--or exceed--our goal of $2000, so please give what you can. Otherwise, I'm afraid that E will be breaking into her piggy bank to make up the difference!

Thank you!

(*E has informed me that Serendipity was not the first turkey we adopted but a more recent one. I'm sure she's right--her memory is better than mine--but I continue to think of that turkey as Serendipity; I guess I just like the name.)



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