Recipe: Vegan Shepherd’s Pie (and a confession)

I have something very important to own up to here today.

Are you ready for it?

I don’t understand the full-on pumpkin obsession that is happening right now.

I just don’t.

As a foodie, a blogger, and a huge fan of fall, I feel a little bad about this.  I mean, anyone who has browsed through a blogroll lately, walked past a bakery or coffee shop, or even taken a trip to the grocery store has surely seen the pumpkin explosion that is taking over the food world.

Pumpkin is a big deal, y’all.  And, I just don’t get it.

It’s fine, I guess.  It’s alright. It’s O.K.   But, honestly, it’s not a flavor that I get excited about.  I think my pumpkin gene never fully developed.  I get excited about other fall flavors, namely apple, ginger, nutmeg, vanilla, and cinnamon.  I go nuts for steaming bowls of soup, rich broths, and earthy aromas.  I’m crazy about casseroles, root vegetables, and pots of warm chili.  But, pumpkin?

Eh.

I could take it or leave it.

I realize I probably just lost a lot of cred with you all, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I felt it needed to be said.

In that vain, I hope you enjoy this dish.  It is perfect for a chilly autumn evening, eaten in a setting where you feel comfortable and cozy, in the company of those you’re most at home with.  And with nary a pumpkin in sight.

For those who are disappointed with me and think I’m missing out, don’t worry . . . I’ll probably cave in and bake some pumpkin bread soon.

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Vegan Shepherd’s Pie

Tweaked just a smidge from the wonderful Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

•  2 lbs potatoes (I used red), cubed (peeled or unpeeled – it’s up to you)
• ½ cup soy milk creamer
• 1 tblspn Earth Balance (or oil or butter)
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 ribs celery, diced
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cups green beans, chopped into ½ inch pieces (I used frozen)
• 2 cups packed spinach, chopped
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1-2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tblspn Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (could sub soy sauce or tamari)
• 1 tblspn red miso
• 1 tblspn fresh thyme (or 1 tspn dried)
• 1 tblspn fresh rosemary, minced (or 1 tspn dried)
• 1 tspn fresh oregano (or ½ tspn dried)
• ¼ tspn dried, ground sage
• 1 1/2 tblspns corn starch
• 2 tblspns water
• Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Prepare the potatoes by boiling them in a large pot of salted water until tender, about 15 minutes.  When tender, drain and toss into a large bowl (if using a hand mixer/masher) or the bowl of a stand mixer.  Add soy milk and Earth Balance and sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper.  Mix/mash until soft and creamy.  Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, spray a large cast iron skillet or large sauté pan with cooking spray and warm over medium-high heat.  Add the onions and cook until they are soft and begin to brown.  Add the garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms to the skillet and cook, stirring regularly, about 5 minutes longer.
3. Next, add the vegetable broth, Bragg’s, miso, kidney beans, green beans, and herbs.  Bring the broth up to a low boil and then reduce heat.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender and cooked through.
4. Add the spinach to the skillet and mix well.  Let the spinach wilt over the heat for 2-3 minutes.  Finally, mix together the corn starch with the 2 tablespoons water until smooth and stir into the skillet.  Cook for a few minutes longer, until the sauce has thickened up a bit.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. Remove from heat and turn on your broiler to high.  If you used a cast iron skillet, leave the vegetables in the skillet at this point and spoon the mashed potatoes evenly onto the top.  If you used another sauté pan, transfer the vegetables into an oven-safe baking dish and then continue on by spooning the mashed potatoes onto the top.    Place skillet or dish under the broiler for approximately 5 minutes.  Serve immediately.

Recipe: My Victory Loaf

Do you know what victory looks like?  If you’re not sure, I’ll show you.

Meet my Victory Loaf.

Besides finishing my first marathon, I can’t think of another victory I’ve had anytime recently that has felt this sweet.

Prior to finding out that I’m gluten-sensitive/intolerant, I ate a lot of bread and bread products.  Granted, I was almost exclusively eating whole grain, healthier bread varieties, but bread was a staple in my dietary routine.  Since having to give up gluten that has obviously changed.  For those of you are about to say, “Wait!  There are several gluten-free options available these days – eat those!”, please allow me to remind you that I am also supposed to be avoiding yeast, eggs, and dairy.

That eliminates most all the prepared bread and bread dough products I have been able to find in stores or online.

This has been one of the most discouraging parts of my gluten-sensitive diagnosis.  And, just to be clear, it’s not just about bread.  It’s really about having things that have traditionally brought me pleasure and comfort all of a sudden turn into things that harm me.  It’s about being excluded from social situations because I can no longer join in with the group in quite the same way.  It’s about feeling tense and afraid that I’m going to sick anytime I’m eating something I haven’t prepared with my own hands.  It’s about activities (baking/cooking) that I grew so used to turning to for relaxation and joy all of a sudden being fraught with stress and unease.  It’s about loss and grief and life changes that are at times complex, sad, empowering, challenging, freeing, and frustrating all at once.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that there’s a bigger picture here, People.  And all of this is why this bread, this Victory Loaf, left me standing over my kitchen counter shedding a few little tears of joy.

I have tried gluten free, yeast free baking a few times since my diagnosis (most of what I baked before was vegan, so that part wasn’t so tricky to adapt to), and it never turned out very well.  Some items went straight into the garbage.  Others got nibbled at with desperate hopefulness and then found their way to the trash, too.  While a couple of items got eaten entirely, it was with some sense of disappointment because they still weren’t quite up to my standards.  All of this was done by strictly following recipes.  I had lost trust in myself.  Not yet feeling any level of confidence with the new flours and gums and grains that have taken over my pantry, I was hesitant to stray at all from recipes and followed them all to sub-par results.  I don’t know if I was just selecting bad recipes or if I was executing them poorly (maybe a combination of the two), but I was more than a little discouraged.

Until I decided to give myself a chance.

Drawing upon what I had learned about the new ingredients available to me and the kitchen skills I have gained over the last few years, I put together my own recipe.  I knew that it could fail miserably, but at least I was prepared to do so on my own terms.

But, it didn’t.

It didn’t!

In fact, it went better in so many ways than any gluten free baking I had done.  It was incredible.

I made bread that looked like bread, tasted like bread, and exuded nothing less than absolute delight when I took my first bite.

It was pure victory.

I ate my Victory Loaf dry, with Earth Balance*, with jam, with sunflower seed butter, with peanut butter, dipped into soup, and with edamame hummus.  I ate it every way that I could.  I ate it with joy, with pleasure, with feelings of empowerment, with smiles, with fervor, with delight, and with relief.

And every time it felt like a little victory all over again.

*This was my favorite pairing.

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Victory Loaf

A Move Eat Create original recipe

Makes 1 standard loaf

** Note:  You should note that this bread does taste of buckwheat and dark grains.  If you’re looking for a soft, white bread, this is nowhere near that.  But, if you like whole grains, dark breads, and buckwheat, then this just might work for you.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups buckwheat flour
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1 cup millet flour
• 2 ¼ cups room temperature water
• 1 tblspn molasses
• 2 tspns salt
• 1 tspn baking soda
• 1 tspn fresh lemon juice
• 2 tblspns shelled sunflower seeds
• 1 tblspn millet

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a loaf pan by coating with cooking spray.
2. Combine flours and salt in large mixing bowl and set aside.
3. Add water and molasses to the flour mixture and stir until just combined
4. In a small bowl, combine baking soda with lemon juice and whisk together.  It will bubble/foam (this is the yeast replacement and will help create a similar rise effect).  Quickly pour into the rest of the batter and stir all ingredients until well incorporated.  There is no need to mix aggressively or to knead this dough.
5. Pour batter into loaf pan and gently pick up the pan an inch or two and drop it on the counter in order to settle the dough and get it to level out.
6. Lastly, combine the sunflower seeds and millet together and sprinkle on top of the batter for a seeded crust.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Savor every bite.

Recipe: Iron Boosting Spinach Pesto Rice with Navy Beans

I have an iron deficiency.  Have I mentioned that?

One of those pesky side effects of the gluten-damaged system that I am still healing is a lack of nutrient absorption.  Combine that with all the running I do and it adds up to a significant lack of iron in my body.

Iron deficiency is no joke, as it results in poor oxygen delivery throughout your system and can leave you feeling weak, tired, and cranky.  And, really, who wants that?

While taking iron supplements is great for getting that very low level up initially, I don’t want to have to rely on supplements forever.  I’d prefer to get as many of my nutrients from food as possible, and as such, I offer this dish here – brimming with iron boosting ingredients.

Spinach is a favorite of mine, anyway, and I don’t need any extra excuse to eat it.  But it certainly is a bonus that is so iron rich.  One cup of spinach has just as much iron as 3 ounces of chicken.  So, for all my fellow vegetarians and vegans out there, feel free to fire that fact back at those who think iron has to come from animal products.  It’s just not so.

Continuing to up the iron ante in this dish, I’ve included navy beans (which, seriously, are just like overflowing with the stuff), the bell pepper (one standard green pepper has the same amount of iron as the aforementioned cup of spinach), and pine nuts.  To top it all off, I’ve included lemon juice.

Why is the lemon juice important, you may ask?

Well, besides the fact that it’s delicious, consuming vitamin C (as is found in citrus) with iron increases your body’s absorption rate.

How ‘bout that?!

So if you’re looking to address an iron deficiency of your own, I highly recommend this meal.  It will have you covered, nutritionally speaking, and will certainly be more satisfying than popping a supplement.

If your iron levels are just fine and where they’re supposed to be, I still highly recommend this meal.

It’s delicious.  And nourishing.  And simple to prepare.  And, did I say delicious?

Iron or not, that’s a winning combination.

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Iron Boosting Spinach Pesto Rice with Navy Beans

Serves 6

Ingredients: 

** For the pesto (makes about 1 cup):

• 3 cups packed baby spinach leaves
• ¼ cup pine nuts
• ¼ cup packed basil leaves
• 1 tblspn fresh oregano
• 1 tblspn fresh thyme
•  ½ tspn black pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 tblspns vegetable broth
• 2 tblspns lemon juice
• ½ tspn salt
• 2 tblspns olive oil

The rest:

• 2 tblspns vegetable broth
• ¼ of a large white onion, minced
• 3 small carrots, cut into matchsticks
• 1 bell pepper, cut into strips about ½ inch long
• 2 cups cooked navy beans
• 2 medium zucchini, cut into half moons
• 1 cup of spinach pesto (recipe above), divided in two
• 3 cups cooked brown rice (about 1 ½ cups dry)

Directions:

1. First, prepare the pesto.  Place all pesto ingredients, except olive oil, into a food processor and pulse a few times to chop ingredients.  Then, let food processor run while you slowly pour in the olive oil.  Continue to process until ingredients are well chopped and combined.  Set aside.
2. Warm large sauté pan over medium-high heat.  Add vegetable broth first, then add onion, pepper, and carrots.  Saute vegetables in the broth for 5-7 minutes, until vegetables have softened.
3. Add beans and zucchini to the pan and continue to cook all ingredients, stirring often, for 5 minutes.
4. Add cooked rice and ½ cup of spinach pesto.  Stir all ingredients together and mix well over heat.  Let all ingredients cook for 3-4 minutes, to warm everything through and combine.  Serve immediately with the remaining ½ cup pesto to be drizzled onto individual servings as desired.

Recipe: Vegetable Marinara Pasta Bake with Popped Amaranth Top Crust

I don’t know that I’ve ever really declared this here on my blog, but I’m pretty much a geek in a lot of ways.

I’m a running geek who eagerly awaits her issues of Runner’s World and Running Times each month – then immersing myself in training methods, splits, and gear.

I’m a pop culture geek who can spend days philosophizing about the socially important messages and critiques in a single episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and who counts the regeneration of The Doctor as a significant stressor in her life.

I’m a HUGE literary geek.  Tired of being around me?  Just shove me in a bookstore or library and I’ll be entirely happy on my own until I realize I haven’t eaten in days.

And, of course, I’m a kitchen geek.  I get excited about kitchen gadgets and culinary ephemera.  An orderly mise en place sets my world on fire and learning a new cooking technique is an exciting adventure.

So when I learned about how amaranth (a nutritious, tasty, and gluten free grain that I can safely eat!) can be popped like popcorn on the stovetop, I KNEW it was something I had to try.  I got excited about this.  Like REALLY excited.

My excitement only grew throughout the process of popping the amaranth and making this dish.  I ended up with amaranth all over my kitchen because I got a little over excited and didn’t cover it well at first, but it was worth it.  This was fun and totally delighted my inner-culinary geek who marveled at watching this mighty little grain go!

If you’re hesitant to try this technique or just don’t have access to amaranth, you can certainly make this dish with a traditional breadcrumb topping or no topping at all.  But, if you’re feeling adventurous – find some amaranth and get ready to have some fun in your kitchen – just keep a broom handy for the errant traveling seeds you’ll find later!

**Note: As is the case with so many meals, feel free to customize this dish with your favorite vegetables or what you have on hand.  I like this combination of mushrooms, onion, pepper, and spinach for the complimentary mix of tastes, colors, and nutritional benefits, but you could certainly swap other veggies to suit your needs.

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Vegetable Marinara Bake with Popped Amaranth Top Crust

A Move Eat Create Original Recipe 

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 16 oz gluten free penne (or pasta of choice)
• ¼ cup amaranth
• 3 tblspns vegan Parmesan cheese
• 1 tblspn chopped fresh basil
• 1 ½ tblspn olive oil, divided
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 1 ½ cup chopped cremini mushrooms
• ¼ tspn ground fennel
• ½ tspn crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tblspn nutritional yeast
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves, chopped
• 25-26 oz jar of marinara sauce (or equivalent of homemade)
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare an 11 x 7 baking pan by coating with cooking spray.
2. Cook pasta noodles to just al dente, according to package directions.  Drain and set aside.
3. Prepare the ingredients that will be the topping for the pasta bake.  To pop the amaranth, warm a dry pan over medium-high heat on the stovetop.  When heated, add 1 tablespoon of amaranth at a time to the pan.  If you have one, cover with a splatter screen.  The amaranth will begin to pop like popcorn.  Agitate the amaranth in the pan until most has popped.  Transfer popped amaranth to a bowl and repeat until all amaranth has been popped.  Be especially careful, as the amaranth can burn if it is not kept almost constantly agitated by shaking the pan or stirring.  The amaranth will pop quickly.  Once all amaranth has been popped, add vegan Parmesan, chopped basil, and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil to it and mix well to combine and coat ingredients with the olive oil.  Set aside.
4. Heat remaining ½ tablespoon oil in a sauté pan over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, and pepper, along with a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
5. Add chopped mushrooms and cook another 3-4 minutes.
6. Add fennel, red pepper flakes, nutritional yeast, and chopped spinach to pan.  Mix well and cook just 1-2 minutes until spinach starts to wilt.  Turn off heat and add cooked pasta noodles to the pan, stirring well to combine all ingredients.
7. Line bottom of prepared baking pan with a light layer of the marinara sauce.  Pour noodles and vegetables on top of sauce and spread evenly.  Pour remaining marinara sauce onto top of noodle/vegetable mixture evenly.  Finally, sprinkle prepared topping across the entire casserole.
8. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes at 350 degree.  Uncover and continue to bake for 10 more minutes.  Serve with additional salt, pepper, and vegan Parmesan to taste.

Recipe: Spicy Potatoes and Cabbage in Herby Tomatoes

Have you ever eaten a meal that is so humble it takes you by surprise?

There are no big super foods here.  No crazy punch of unusual or particularly bold seasoning.  No exotic ingredient, rare or peculiar.

What we have here are the basics – potatoes, tomatoes, cabbage.  Staples.  Hearty, strong ingredients that have fed people for centuries.  Nothing in this dish screams of specialness or excitement, but in my mind, that’s precisely what makes it so good.  My first bites of this meal were taken with a lack of enthusiasm.  I expected nourishment, but nothing to get worked up about.  As I continued to eat it, though, working my way through my plate, then seconds, and then leftovers the next two days, I fell in love with this humble meal.

While I’ve called this dish simple, I don’t mean it as a slight.  It’s a compliment.  Hearty vegetables dressed up with aromatics and emboldened with a bit of peppery-heat make for a dish that feels like the best kind of old friend – familiar and warm, but still able to catch you by surprise.

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Spicy Potatoes and Cabbage in Herby Tomatoes

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 small-medium head of green cabbage, shredded
• 2 lbs potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 2 ½ tblspns tomato paste
• 1 tspn agave
• 1 tblspn olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 large bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tspn dried oregano
• ½ tspn ground cumin
• 5 small tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 jalapeno, minced
• 1 serrano pepper, minced (optional, depending on your heat preference/tolerance)
• 3 tblspns lime juice
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• Hearty sprinklings of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Submerge chopped cabbage in water and blanch for 5-6 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
2. Return pot of water to stove and return to a boil.  Add chopped potatoes and boil 5-7 minutes, until tender.  Drain potatoes, reserving ¾ cup of the cooking water, and set aside.
3. Add tomato paste and agave into reserved cooking water, stir to combine, and set aside.
4. Warm oil in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  When warm, add onion, garlic, and bell pepper.  Cook, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes until vegetables soften.
5. Add tomatoes, chiles, tomato paste/water mixture, oregano, and cumin to the pot.  Continue to cook for 5-6 more minutes.
6. Add cabbage and potatoes to the pot.  Add a hearty sprinkling of salt and pepper, too.  Stir to combine all ingredients and let cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, just to get everything combined and warmed back up.
7. Turn off heat, add lime juice and cilantro, and stir to combine.  Taste and add extra salt and pepper if needed.
8. Serve over rice or quinoa, or with warm tortillas.

Recipe: Broccoli and Mushroom Risotto

Risotto is an easy, cheap version of therapy for me.  Well, I should clarify that cooking risotto is an easy, cheap version of therapy for me.

Eating it is good, too.  I’ll never forget my first taste of risotto (made by a professional chef – not by own hands).  The experience stunned me.  That creamy, rich and bright delicious first bite ranks high amongst my greatest food experiences.

But cooking risotto is even better.

People say it’s difficult.  They say it’s tricky or precarious or too easy to ruin.

I say: Bah!

None of that is true in my own experience.  Risotto takes more attention than a casserole or a soup, maybe, but it is attention that I’m glad to give.  The slow, deliberate process behind a good risotto is better than meditation or a good sleep for calming any negative energy or frayed nerves that I my be harboring.  I’m drawn to the smell of the dry rice toasting up before any liquid is added.  Then I am soothed by swirling the small batches of broth into the pan, time and time again.

The gentle stirring is like a lullaby and the scents like the very best aromatherapy.

Plus, I am continually fascinated by the transformation of a small pile of dry rice into a heaping mound of creamy, rich risotto.

It’s pure culinary brilliance.

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Broccoli and Mushroom Risotto

A Move Eat Create Original Recipe, inspired by countless recipes viewed over time

Serves 4-6

Feel free to use this recipe as a guideline for quantities and method.  If broccoli isn’t your thing, you could easily sub asparagus, for instance.  No mushrooms on hand?  Try zucchini or yellow squash.  The vegetables, as well as the herbs, can easily be adapted to your preference and pantry staples.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mushrooms, diced (I used a mixture of portobello and white button)
• 7 cups vegetable broth (consider making your own)
• 1 tblspn olive oil
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium shallots, minced
• 2 cups Arborio rice
• 1 tspn salt
• ½ tspn black pepper
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 2 cups (about 1 small head) broccoli, chopped finely
• 1 tblspn Earth Balance (may sub butter or other butter substitute)
• 1 tblspn nutritional yeast (can sub Parmesan if not vegan)
• 1 tblspn fresh marjoram, chopped
• 1 tblspn fresh basil, chopped

Directions:

1. Pre-cook your mushrooms by tossing them into a large non-stick pan over medium heat.  Cook for 3-4 minutes, until they shrink in size a bit and start to brown.  Remove from pan and set aside.
2. In the meantime, pour your vegetable broth into a large saucepan over medium-low heat.  You’ll want to keep the broth warm through the cooking process, as it should not be added to the rice cold.
3. Add oil to the pan.  Once warmed, add shallot and garlic.  Cook 3-4 minutes, stirring often, until they are translucent and fragrant.
4. Toss your rice, salt, and pepper into the pan with the shallot and garlic.  Toast the rice briefly, about 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Increase heat slightly, then add wine.  Mix ingredients together and let the wine deglaze the pan and cook off for 1-2 minutes.  Once the wine has cooked down, lower heat again to just below medium.
5. Begin to add your warm broth in ½ cup increments.  Between each addition, stir rice frequently, mixing the broth into the ingredients slowly and deliberately.  When most of the broth is absorbed, add the next ½ cup full.  Continue this process until all but 1 cup of the broth is used and rice has become soft and very plump.  This process should take somewhere around 30 minutes.
6. When its time to add in the second to last ½ cup of broth, add broccoli to the pan.  Stir together broccoli, rice, and broth.
7. With the last ½ cup of broth, add pre-cooked mushrooms.  Stir mushrooms and final batch of broth into the rice.  When all broth has been absorbed, turn off heat.
8. Add Earth Balance, nutritional yeast, and fresh herbs to the pan and stir gently to incorporate all ingredients together.  The heat from the risotto will melt the Earth Balance and help blend all ingredients together.  Serve immediately.

Foodie Firsts: Mung Beans

Foodie Firsts is a Move Eat Create weekly feature focusing on my adventures in the world of food.  Over the course of a few short years, I have transformed from a picky, fearful eater to a curious and open-minded foodie.  In a commitment to continue to expand my culinary experiences, I have started Foodie Firsts.  Each week I will commit to trying something new and sharing that experience with you.  My endeavors may include experimenting with cooking techniques I’ve never tried before, testing a single new ingredient, or drawing upon my creativity to combine foods in ways I never imagined.  Whatever it is, I will eat (or maybe drink) it and share it all with you.  You can decide for yourself whether you, too, would like to try.  Let’s be bold and eat good food!

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Another bean is on the agenda this week.  This time I’m talking about mung beans.  Mung beans, from my perspective, are rarely used in American households (they certainly were in mine) and it’s a shame.

A sad, sad shame.

Why?

Well, mung beans (also called moong beans) are fantastic.  I knew next to nothing about these tiny green/yellow legumes when I set out to cook with them, but I quickly learned that they are incredibly versatile.  Quite frankly, given how many things you can do with them, I’m surprised they are not more of a kitchen staple.  Maybe I need to start a ‘Eat Your Mung Beans’ campaign.

Mung means can be made sweet or savory, cooked whole or broken down, turned into dal or bread, sprouted, or broken down into a paste.  Clearly, they are flexible little things.  I obviously didn’t have time to try all of these manifestations for today’s post, but I did decide to commit to trying mung beans in two different preparations.  I went with a basic savory dish and also tried my hand with bread making in the form of dosas.

I should also mention that mung beans are incredibly healthful.  Like their other various bean cousins, they are a low-glycemic food, are great sources of protein and fiber, and have cancer fighting properties (protease inhibitors).  So, hooray for health!  (I see my campaign coming to life.)

Of the two mung bean dishes I tried, one was successful and one was  . . . not so successful.  Why don’t we start with the good news first?

I decided to combine some of my mung beans with lentils and prepare a dal, as this is one of the most traditional uses of this ingredient.  Also, dal is delicious and I’ll eat it pretty much whenever I can.  So, there’s that.

I loved the mung beans this way and found them incredibly easy to work with.  They partnered well with the red lentils and created a tasty and satisfying dinner.  I’ve seen mixed notes on whether or not mung beans need to be soaked overnight (as you might with other dried beans).  I’m sure you could do so, but I will say that I skipped this and they cooked up wonderfully without any soaking whatsoever.

As for the dosas . . . well, I will try them again.  In all honesty, I think the problems I had with them were entirely my fault and not the fault of the recipe or the ingredients.  I had never eaten nor prepared any type of dosa before, so it was a new process.  They actually had good flavor, but the thickness, size, and texture was off.  Dosas are meant to be large, thin discs of bread, but my batter didn’t seem to spread very much and instead of forcing it to, I just went forward and made them thicker than they should have been.  The result was disappointing, as they didn’t fully cook through well and had an undercooked, too doughy consistency in the middle.  In the future, I think thinning the batter a bit with water will be necessary.

Yet another cooking lesson learned, I suppose.

Regardless of my less than stellar dosa making skills, I’m definitely pro-mung bean.  I’ll be adding them into my repertoire and will likely swap them for lentils from time to time to add a bit more variety in my kitchen.

Notes & Final Thoughts:

Serving Suggestions:  I highly recommend going the traditional route and using mung beans to make a dal.  Use your favorite dal recipe (there are plenty out there) or try this one here, which I used as a basis for the one I made.

I also just saw this blog post pop up from Heidi over at 101 Cookbooks and think a mung bean hummus is a wonderful idea.

Get sprouting!  I haven’t sprouted my own beans yet (maybe this is a future endeavor for me), but I know enough to know that it can be done in any home kitchen.  Sprouts are delicious added to salads and wraps and I especially love the crunch they give to a good stir fry or bowl of noodle soup (like pho).

Lessons Learned:  The world of beans is an endless bounty of delicious and nutritious foods.  A different variety exists for even the smallest preferences in color, texture, size, and taste.  I love this.  When I think about how many times, since becoming a vegetarian and switching to a mostly whole foods/minimally processed foods diet, I have read or heard others ask the inevitable questions about my ways of eating (You know the ones:  Where do you get your protein?  What do you possibly eat as a main dish?  Do you just eat salads all day?), I have to laugh and think about things like this.  I understand the questions – really I do.  I would have asked them once, too.  But, it’s funny to me now.  All the foods I have discovered in the last year, the delicious dishes I have savored, and the ingredients I have become infatuated with have only broadened my culinary world – not limited it.

Apple-Rhubarb Refrigerator Jam

If you were to ask me what my favorite vegetable is, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with an answer.  I’m a big fan of veggies and am not likely to turn many of them away.  But there is one vegetable (that doesn’t even really feel like a vegetable – it feels more like a fruit if you ask me) that probably generates a particular kind of excitement in me that others can’t match.

I’m talking about you, Rhubarb.

Mmmmm. . . rhubarb.

I suppose the reason that it excites me so is that it comes and goes so quickly.  It’s that whole limited supply, time-constrained marketing ploy that Mother Nature clearly figured out long before the fancy advertising executives did.

Plus, it’s delicious, so it has that going for it.

Rhubarb fascinates me, actually.  It’s beautiful.  Really truly beautiful.  The tall stalks are lovely and when you chop them up, the layers of color inside create an ombre effect that is so visually stimulating.  I love how it’s so firm in its raw state, but cooks and bakes up softly with ease.

This year, I have decided I need to stock up and freeze some rhubarb so that I can enjoy it for months to come, but for right now, I made jam.  Instead of going the traditional route, combining rhubarb with strawberries (which also would have been great, I’m sure), I decided to combine my rhubarb with apples and whip up a satisfying spread that delivers just a touch of sweetness to whatever it graces.

Enjoy.

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Apple-Rhubarb Refrigerator Jam

Makes 1 – 1 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• 2 cups rhubarb, chopped
• 1 cup apple, unpeeled, chopped (I used a Granny Smith)
• 1 cup sugar or sugar alternative of your choice
• ¼ tspn ground ginger
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Method:

In a heavy bottomed pot, combine all ingredients over med-high heat.  Bring to a low boil and then reduce heat to low-medium, so that it simmers gently.  Cook, stirring frequently and skimming off any foam that may develop on the top.  Using the back of your spoon or a potato masher, break up the chunks of rhubarb and apple as they soften and break down.  The jam is ready when it has become thick and viscous enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.  Remove from heat.  Pour into a glass jar and let sit, uncovered at room temperature until cool.  The jam will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks.

Foodie Firsts: Beluga Lentils (With Recipe for Black Lentil and Edamame Patties)

Foodie Firsts is a Move Eat Create weekly feature focusing on my adventures in the world of food.  Over the course of a few short years, I have transformed from a picky, fearful eater to a curious and open-minded foodie.  In a commitment to continue to expand my culinary experiences, I have started Foodie Firsts.  Each week I will commit to trying something new and sharing that experience with you.  My endeavors may include experimenting with cooking techniques I’ve never tried before, testing a single new ingredient, or drawing upon my creativity to combine foods in ways I never imagined.  Whatever it is, I will eat (or maybe drink) it and share it all with you.  You can decide for yourself whether you, too, would like to try.  Let’s be bold and eat good food!

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You may think that because you’re vegetarian, simply don’t eat seafood, or, you know, not wealthy, that caviar is out of your reach.  But, let me tell you something I recently learned.

It’s not.

It’s not, because you can still have the caviar of lentils!  Yes, I am serious.

Black lentils, also known as beluga lentils, are called such because they glisten like caviar.  Or so the internet tells me, at least.  I suppose I see it, though I’ve never actually been around caviar up close and personal, so I’ll take the internet’s word for it.

What I do know first hand is that these little legumes are delightful.  Who needs caviar?!  Not I, my friends, not I.

Now, being a HUGE fan of lentils, I have had green lentils, brown lentils, French lentils, and red lentils in a myriad of preparations, but this particular variety was new to me.  I snagged a bag a couple of weeks ago when I saw them on a shelf at a local specialty market and they seemed to call my name.  They were so pretty, so appealing, and just shouted out to come home with me.

So they did.

And a new saga in my lentil love affair was born.

I wasn’t quite sure how to best use them, so I did some perusing to see what others were whipping up with their black lentils.  I found loads of salad recipes, some very tempting braised lentil creations, and a few soups, but when I came across the idea for lentils combined with edamame in a patty, I was sold.

The recipe required me to boil the lentils first, without any seasoning or other elements to start, which was perfect because it gave me a chance to see how they cooked up in their pure state.  I was really VERY pleased with how this process went.  They cooked quickly (20 minutes), but what was most remarkable to me was the final texture of these lentils when they were done.  While red lentils can be quick to sort of fall apart during cooking (making them perfect for dal, in my opinion) and green or brown lentils can appear firm, but actually be a bit mushy to the touch if you don’t watch them carefully, these little gems held their texture amazingly well.  They were still perfectly shaped when I drained them, and when I took a spoonful to taste they seemed to melt in my mouth.  Absolutely dreamy, these lentils are.  The taste sans seasoning was savory and earthy, as a good lentil should be.

Part of me was quite sad that I was about to toss them into a food processor and obliterate the sublime texture of the belugas. . . but I did it anyway.

As it turns out, they also make a mean patty.  The patties I made held together well, were incredibly easy to prepare, shape, and bake and did a nice job at offering an eating experience that could best be compared to a falafel, I think, just . . . different.  I personally would not call these a burger.  The texture and overall experience is not one of a veggie burger to me, but definitely more of a falafel-like patty.  The seasoning could be changed to suite your desired flavor profile, for sure, and they can be eaten as part of sandwich or wrap (others with me ate them in pitas) or sans bread on top of vegetables (as I did).  And, while they held their shape and consistency really well, they crumble nicely, too, so that’s a whole other world of possibilities.

In this meal the lentils definitely melded into the other ingredients and simply became part of an overall dish, so I am actually looking forward to making them again when they can stand on their own and I can enjoy their nicely cooked texture once again.  I’m thinking served on top of some rice and seasoned generously with spicy flavors.

This was a truly exciting find for me.  While many of the things I have tried so far in my Foodie Firsts adventures will be eaten again from time to time, I foresee these becoming a regular event.

Notes & Final Thoughts:

Serving Suggestions:  As you can likely tell, I recommend the recipe below for black lentil & edamame patties.  In addition to that, though, I really think these would be fantastic boiled for 20 minutes to soften and then added to some sautéed veggies (onion, garlic, peppers, maybe carrot) with some of your favorite herbs & spices tossed in.  This preparation would allow you to experience them in more of a pure state.

Lessons Learned:  I love how just when you’ve think you’ve got something figured out (in this case, the humble lentil), you can always discover there is more to learn.  This week’s venture reminded me that the world of food is truly limitless when it comes to options and varieties.  While I could have happily gone the rest of my days with the standard green, brown, and red lentils filling my plate, discovering this other variety with a personality all its own was a lesson to me to continue looking for new experiences and not to just move through my cooking and eating life with a narrow focus on what I already know.  This is one lesson that I will surely be keeping with me beyond the kitchen as well.

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Black Lentil & Edamame Patties

Adapted from Quiche-A-Week

Makes 12 small patties

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups of black lentils, cooked and drained (about ¾ cup dry)

1 ½ cups shelled edamame, defrosted

1 cup finely ground corn meal

3 tblspns nutritional yeast

1 ½ tblspn Ener-G egg replacer + 6 tblspns water (or the equivalent egg/egg replacement option for 3 large eggs)

1 tspn chili powder

½ tspn kosher salt

½ tspn onion powder

½ tspn garlic powder

¼ tspn black pepper

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & prepare your baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.
2. Combine cornmeal and nutritional yeast in a small bowl and toss together until well combined.  Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, prepare your egg replacer and set aside.
4. In a food processor, combine defrosted edamame, cooked lentils, salt, pepper, chili, onion, and garlic powders.  Pulse until ingredients are broken down and combined.  You can leave some chunks of edamame and lentils if you like them for texture or puree until mostly smooth.
5. Remove lentil mixture from food processor and combine with the prepared egg replacer in the large bowl.  Work the egg replacer into the mixture with your hands (you could use a spoon, it’s just not quite as efficient).  Then, in batches, pour in the combined cornmeal and nutritional yeast and work that into the mix.  ** I recommend adding this in batches because you may find you don’t need as much of it as I did (it may vary depending how much moisture came out of your lentils and edamame).  Add and incorporate until the moisture is well absorbed and the mixture will hold together.
6. To form 12 small patties, scoop a ¼ cup of the mix into your hands, squeeze/pat together to form a patty and place onto your prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.

**  We ate these with a variety of sauce toppings, too.  I enjoyed Annie’s barbecue sauce, garlic sauce was also a hit, and mustard wasn’t bad, either!

Foodie Firsts: Ugali (Is it really magical running food?)

Foodie Firsts is a Move Eat Create weekly feature focusing on my adventures in the world of food.  Over the course of a few short years, I have transformed from a picky, fearful eater to a curious and open-minded foodie.  In a commitment to continue to expand my culinary experiences, I have started Foodie Firsts.  Each week I will commit to trying something new and sharing that experience with you.  My endeavors may include experimenting with cooking techniques I’ve never tried before, testing a single new ingredient, or drawing upon my creativity to combine foods in ways I never imagined.  Whatever it is, I will eat (or maybe drink) it and share it all with you.  You can decide for yourself whether you, too, would like to try.  Let’s be bold and eat good food!

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If you’re a runner, you may have heard of ugali.  If you’re not a runner, that’s okay, too, because I’m going to tell you about it.

Kenyan runners have been dominating competitions for several years now.  The question of what makes them so good, so fast, and so strong has been asked over and over again, but the answer has yet to be fully articulated.  In fact, one man, Adharanand Finn, wrote an entire book in a quest to answer this question.  In Running With the Kenyans, Finn travels to Africa to live amongst, train with, and learn from some incredible athletes.  I found this to be a highly valuable book, not just from the standpoint of a runner, but as someone who appreciates getting glimpses into cultures different from my own and learning about people in general.  It is an engaging and insightful read and I do recommend it.

But back to the food.  One of the many aspects of Kenyan life examined in the book is the diet of a typical Kenyan runner.  What do they eat?  Do they have a secret food or ingredient that gives them some sort of edge?  The answer (sorry to spoil it for you) is: not really.  A Kenyan athlete’s diet tends to be relatively high in carbohydrates, based in whole, real food found naturally in their environment, and eating quantities which provide nutrition, satisfaction, and fuel for their high training levels, but not to points of excess.

Taken in those terms, it sounds pretty similar to what I eat and how many other runners (and non-runners) eat.  One food that did get a lot of mention, though (besides bananas – which we all know are GREAT runner food), was ugali.  Ugali is a simple dish, really, not to say that it doesn’t serve extraordinary purpose.  It’s made from only 2-3 ingredients (maize, water, and optional salt) and is a staple in many parts of Africa.  If I were to offer a comparison to something that most Westerners may be more familiar with, I would harken it to polenta.  I wasn’t sure what I would think about ugali, but as a runner and a foodie, I absolutely knew I had to give this dish a try.

Ugali is made by combining maize (or cornmeal) with boiling water.  I had read that taking the time to let the cornmeal sift slowly through your fingers into the water was important, so that’s how I chose to do it.  It is then cooked over medium-low heat until the water is absorbed by the cornmeal, creating the thick, mushy pot of ugali.  Ugali is traditionally eaten with one’s hands, so the thickness serves an important purpose.  Once served, you can roll the ugali into a ball, press your thumb into the ball to create a well, and use it to scoop up soups, stews, and other fare.  I gave this a try, but I’ll admit that I eventually put my ugali right into my bowl of stew and ate it together with a fork.  It was totally enjoyable both ways.

I ate my ugali with a version of kitheri (African kidney bean and corn stew).  I was totally unsure of what I would think of this meal going in and I am happy to say that I was blown away with how much I loved it.  The ugali was hearty, dense and provided a perfect base for the chunky stew of beans, corn, zucchini, potatoes, and onions.  It was simple food that tasted wonderful due to quality, fresh ingredients, and not too much fussing to muck anything up.  Perfect.  Plus, I couldn’t get enough of this as leftovers.  I took it to work the next two days, layering some ugali on the bottom of the stew to warm up for lunch.  It was incredible.  The textures and flavors held up remarkably well.

As I said, simple as this dish may be, it is quite impressive in other ways.  To say that ugali is a staple seems to belittle its prominence in African cuisine.  From what I have learned, it is a dish that nearly every family knows how to make and nearly every restaurant serves next to your main dish.  Plus it serves double-duty as a utensil for a variety of stews and provides a warm dose of comfort, familiarity, and reassurance to many Africans with each meal (sounds a bit like white, starchy bread here in the States, doesn’t it?).

There are many moments in Running with the Kenyans, where the presence of ugali is shown to be fundamental to their lives.  Runners needs carbohydrates – lots of them – and ugali provides that in spades, but it was also clear that this dish is more than just nutritional necessity.  It is a food so deeply embedded into culture, family, and life in that community that to attempt to replace it with some other starchy food would be impossible.  The carbohydrates can be made up in other ways, sure, but the connection to the tradition and meaning of that food most certainly cannot.

Notes & Final Thoughts:

Serving Suggestions:

Follow this simple recipe found here at Runner’s World for making the ugali.  Serve with a hearty stew like I did.  I used this recipe for kitheri, though I did modify some quantities to suit my available and desired vegetables.  Delicious.  Eat the night before a long run to fill up those glycogen stores!

Lessons Learned:

I’m not going to run like a Kenyan (surprise!), but I can eat like one.  I can also learn from them.  This may sound a tad bit cheesy, but having read this book and admired what I learned about the culture, I felt a bit more connected to the elite runners when I prepared and ate this meal.  I realized that maybe some of the magic of ugali for them isn’t a special ingredient or a magic carbohydrate ratio, but rather it just may be the feelings and comfort that this food evokes that fuels the runners most of all.