Published on September 29, 2009
in food and photos.
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
I’m trying a new blogging technique: quick posts. Why? Because one is better than zero, and I’ve been hard pressed for time these past few weeks. (Who ever thought that living in the countryside would be so busy? The upshot: it’s a good sign that I’m getting some good work done.)
But back to my point: tofu kebabs. This was a first for me - Heidi’s Favorite Grilled Kabob recipe is now one of my favorites, too. The secret is in the sauce: her Muhammara “slather”, a Middle Eastern spread made with toasted walnuts and roasted red pepper (among other things), is phenomenal. I’ll let her explain:
The great thing about it (in addition to how it tastes) is that it’s multi-purpose spread, slather, sauce, dip, etc, that can deliciously accent not only kabobs, but many of your favorite dishes. Toasted walnuts round out the flavor of the beautiful red pepper base, and a rich splash of sweet pomegranate molasses lends a subtly sweet backnote to the red chiles. I suspect this is a traditional recipe that bends to the taste of the cook preparing it - my version is lighter on the cumin and red peppers than some of the other recipes you might come across. You can easily make it thicker or thinner depending on how you are going to use it.
Heidi’s kebabs consist of tofu, lemon, onion and mushrooms. For lack of mushrooms I used eggplant instead. It was super easy - just skewer the veggies, apply oil and salt, then grill. The Muhammara gets added at the end. I served the kebabs and sauce with grilled corn and whole wheat no knead bread. This is what vegan cooking is all about: good, wholesome food that’s not pretending to be anything but delicious.
Recipe: Tofu Kabobs with Muhammara Slather
Mike is visiting for the weekend and we spent part of the afternoon down at Lower Moor Farm picking sloes to make sloe gin. The collection process was semi-arduous, as was pricking the individual sloe berries with a bramble thorn before adding them to gin. Neither of us really like gin, but somehow we couldn’t pass up this opportunity to take advantage of all these sloes. I think it’s more about living off the land than drinking gin. Not that sloe gin is required to sustain life, but it might be a nice way to coast through the cold English winters (that’s how long it will take for the sloes to dissolve into the gin and make it yummy enough to drink).
We had a bbq with the neighbors yesterday and I wanted to serve an appetizer. Guacamole immediately came to mind, followed shortly thereafter by salsa. It all seemed meant to be when I remembered that I had some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
and Hatch chopped tomatillos
in the cabinet, recent imports from the USA. The guac was good, but the salsa was unexpectedly delicious! My neighbors said I should “bottle it” which made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. I can’t wait to use the leftovers with some tofu breakfast tacos!
I think this was my first salsa success. I worked off of this recipe on recipezaar, substituting canned tomatoes for fresh and adding one fresh tomato at the end (I won’t do this next time - but it seemed necessary because the salsa was WAY too hot). The tomatoes get roasted with some garlic - I think this really makes this shine, plus the smokiness of the chipotles of course. I want to try this next time with fresh tomatoes, so I can get a bit of charred skin in there.
Word of advice: start with one chipotle chile then work your way up until the desired level of heat is achieved.
Chipotle Tomatillo Salsa
1 14oz can tomatillos
1 14oz can plum tomatoes
2 Tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, skins intact
1/2 sweet onion, roughly chopped
3 canned chipotle chiles
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
a small pinch of sugar
a good pinch of salt
1 large tomato, finely chopped
juice from one wedge of lime
Preheat the oven to 200C / 390F.
Pour the olive oil into a baking tray. Add the tomatillos, plum tomatoes and garlic cloves. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is soft and the tomato juices have reduced a bit.
Peel the garlic and add that and the tomato mix to a blender or food processor, along with the onion, chipotle chiles, cilantro, sugar and salt. Pulse a few times until the salsa is fairly smooth. Poor the mix into a bowl.
Add the fresh tomato and lime juice. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Let the salsa refrigerate for at least an hour or two to really let the flavors blend.
Crossposted to SmarterFitter.com
The picture on the left is the design on one of my favorite t-shirts. I love it. It’s a memento from New Orleans and its PERFECT. It really sums up a.) my personal affection for two of my favorite foods and b.) the the magic that can occur between these two simple ingredients. Remember, beans + rice = a complete protein (and a whole lot of love).
So in the spirit of Louisiana creole cuisine, last night I made up a big pot of red beans and rice (actually it was two pots - one for the beans, one for the rice).
Red beans and rice is traditionally cooked with pork bones or other meat such as ham or sausage, but I used a couple dashes of liquid smoke instead. The result? Wow. The two of us ate a four-serving pot with gusto. This is my new favorite comfort food.
The only thing that caught me off guard was the cooking time - almost 3 hours! But that’s what it takes to really blend the flavors and cook down the beans into a nice rich gravy. Plus, the prep time more than makes up for the cooking time - it takes about 10 minutes to chop the veggies, throw them all in a pot with the beans, then bring it to a boil. Then simmer for hours. That’s it! Serve it with some rice and simple steamed veggies and you’ve got yourself a cracking complete meal with very little effort.
Vegetarian Red Beans and Rice
Simple, nutritious, delicious. Adapted from this recipe on Recipezaar.
1 lb dry red kidney beans, soaked overnight
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 quart water
2-3 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups celery, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups onions, finely chopped
1 green pepper, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
a few dashes of liquid smoke
rice
In a large pot, place all ingredients except parsley and rice.
Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered for 3-4 hours or until beans are tender. Stir occasionally, adding water as needed to make a thick gravy.
Just before serving remove bay leaves and stir in parsley. Serve over rice.
Serves 8. Per serving (w/o rice): 211 Calories; 1g Fat; 39g Carbohydrates; 13.6g Protein; 0mg Cholesterol; 10g Fiber
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