tabbouleh
June 6, 2011
Back in the summer of 1990 Andrew was working for – oddly enough – Dr. Peter Richardson. The other one in Kingston. Not my dad in Toronto. After we accidentally killed his forsythia bush, he invited us for dinner. Not sure why. I suppose because he was a magnanimous kind of guy and we were young and foolish. He served us this tabbouleh. The very one. We loved it then. We love it now. Although whenever we eat it we think of that poor plant. Try it with the roasted fennel and tomatoes. Awesome combo.
P.S. Did you know Tabbūle is a Levantine Arabic word meaning literally “little spicy.” Originally from the mountains of Syria and Lebanon, a Turkish variation of the dish is known as kısır, while a similar Armenian dish is known as eetch. In Cyprus, where the dish was introduced by the Lebanese, it is known as tambouli.
1 1/2 cups cooked couscous or bulgur
1/2 red onion, diced finely
2 tbsps sesame seeds
1/3 cup parsley, chopped finely
1/3 cup mint, chopped finely
1 1/2 tbsps olive oil
3 tbsps lemon juice (juice from about a lemon and a half)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cucumber, chopped finely
1 tomato, chopped finely
sea salt and pepper
After cooking couscous or bulgur, let it sit and cool. Once cool, mix with all other ingredients. Let it sit again so the flavours meld. Serve and enjoy.
pizza
June 5, 2011
We were watching Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution the other day. I love him. He is so empassioned, determined, and committed to what he’s doing, not to mention spot on in terms of wanting people to reconnect to their food and foster healthier diets. It got me flipping through his cookbooks again which I own but don’t often use. In Jamie’s Italy, the section on pizza had me salivating so we did Saturday night pizza night. Big batch of dough. Tonnes of toppings including grilled asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes, grilled peppers, sauteed mushrooms, olives, pesto etc. Everyone made their own. Mine was, of course, cheese-less and thus vegan. Everyone else’s had a good sprinkling of mozzarella. Dive in. Bottom’s up.
basic pizza dough
1 1/2 pounds strong white bread flour
1 1/2 cups find ground semolina flour
1 level tbsp fine sea salt
1/4 oz active dry yeast
1 tbsp organic cane sugar
2 cups lukewarm water
Pile the flour and salt onto a clean surface and make a 7-inch well in the centre. Add you yeast and sugar to the lukewarm water, mix up with a fork, and leave for a few minutes,, then pour into the well. Using a fork and a circular movement, slowly bring in the flour from the inner edge of the well and mix into the water. It will look like stodgy porridge – continue to mix, bringing in all the flour. When the dough comes together and becomes too hard to mix with your fork, flour your hands and begin to pat into a ball. Knead the dough by rolling it backward and forward, using your left hand to stretch the dough toward you and your right hand to push the dough away from you at the same time. Repeat this for 10 minutes, until you have a smooth, springy, soft dough.
Flour the top of your dough, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rest for at least 15 minutes at room temperature. This will make it easier to roll it thinly. Now divide the dough into as many balls as you want to make pizzas, i.e. lot of small ones or a few larger ones.
basic pizza sauce
extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
a bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked
1 14 oz can of good quality plum tomatoes or 4 large fresh tomatoes
2 tbsps tomato paste
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat a saucepan, add a splash of oil and the sliced garlic and cook gently. When the garlic has turned a light golden, add half the basil, the tomatoes, and a few pinches of salt and pepper. Cook gently for about 20 minutes, mashing the tomatoes until smooth. Add tomato paste and mix in well. Then taste, season again, and put to one side.
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Take a piece of dough, dust your surface and the dough with a little flour or semolina, and roll it out into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. Place it on a pizza stone or cookie sheet. Spread with pizza sauce. Apply your toppings. Cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the pizzas are golden and crispy.
tender greens with creamy maple sesame dressing
June 1, 2011
This is kind of a funny story. Last fall on a dreary, cold night I pulled out a recipe for salad dressing, made it, loved it, got the super-endorsement from Bekah, and then promptly forgot where I had found the recipe. I looked everywhere. Riffled through each and every cookbook I owned. Nowhere to be found. Every couple of months I would look again because it was driving me crazy (and because Bekah was on my case!). I finally gave up, deciding I had dreamt it. Well, finally on Sunday night I found it again in vegan yum yum. And I’m promptly posting it so that I never lose it again and so that you, too, my trusty followers, can enjoy its nuances. Great on a tender green salad with cranberries, toasted pecans, and sliced pear. But be creative. And enjoy.
This recipe doesn’t make much. I would double it and keep a jar in the fridge.
3 tbsps veganaise (or other vegan mayonnaise)
3 1/2 tsps balsamic vinegar
4 tsps toasted sesame oil
3 tsps dijon mustard
3 tbsps maple syrup
1/2 tsp salt
fresh pepper to taste
8 tbsps olive oil
Mix together the mayo, vinegar, sesame oil, mustard, maple syrup, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl. Slowly drizzle the olive oil into the bowl while whisking vigourously to emulsify. The oil should blend completely into the dressing and it should thicken nicely. Taste and adjust if necessary. Serve or refrigerate.
apple curried tofu sandwich
May 15, 2011
I mentioned in my post last week that Andrew and I ate at the Cloisters in NYC and, much to our surprise and pleasure, discovered an apple tofu curry sandwich at their teeny tiny little cafe by the cloistered garden. So taking their sandwich as inspiration I set out this morning to make my own and, presto, it couldn’t have worked out better. Well maybe, but honestly I don’t know how as this one was super delicious, so I’m going with this one for lunches to come in the days and months ahead. Double the recipe below if you live in a house of 5 and need lunch stuff for kids, school, work, and hungry husbands!
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped finely
1/2 granny smith apple, chopped finely
3 tbsps veganaise
1 tsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp curry powder
8 oz firm tofu, crumbled
3 green onions, chopped
salt and pepper
Heat olive oil in a small frying pan. Add onion and granny smith apple and saute until soft.
Meanwhile combine veganaise, mustard, turmeric, curry powder, and crumbled tofu in a bowl. Add onion and apple and combine. Toss in green onions and salt and pepper to taste. Serve on toasted bread of your choice with sprouts, tomato, lettuce, onions, or whatever else tickles your fancy. Serve. Eat. Savour. Get on with your day feeling satisfied.
roasted fennel with warm tomato dressing
April 25, 2011
We were at our farm this weekend to check in on our 3000 bulbs of garlic planted in the fall!! (Looking fabulous!) When the weather got crappy and we lost our enthusiasm for weeding, my mom and I started to riffle through old Martha Stewart Magazines over a cup of masala chai with ginger. Some of the old Martha Stewart mags are actually really good I must admit. I found the recipe in the “healthy living” section for this roasted fennel with warm tomato dressing. It rocked. So I bring you Martha Stewart via v:gourmet.
2 tsps olive oil
10 ounces cherry tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2/3 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp red wine vinegar
Heat oil in a medium skillet on medium heat. Add tomatoes and cook, swirling pan often, until skins are blistered, about 5 minutes.
Stir in garlic, red wine, and balsamic vinegar, and cook until liquid reduces by half and tomatoes are soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in sugar, salt, and red wine vinegar, and cook until mixture reduces further. Serve over roasted fennel or other vegetables to “turn plain vegetables into satiating sides.” Gotta love Martha.
mushroom crostini
April 25, 2011
There is no end to the variety of crostini one could conjure up. One could get quite fancy but should never forget the humble origins of this elemental food. I’ve read that this was a quintessential Tuscan peasant food. Peasants knew what it meant not to have food but one thing they did have was flour so they made a very simple bread of flour and water. The other thing they had was very heavy, unfiltered olive oil. In the beginning they would simply brush bread with olive oil and salt and toast it (fettunta). Then the peasants started to add garlic and, once in awhile, some tomatoes (bruschetta), or mushrooms (crostini) and the experimentation went on from there.
1 baguette sliced
6 cloves of garlic
1 pound mushrooms, mixed varieties, sliced
olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
5 thyme sprigs
sea salt and pepper
Place sliced baguette on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven until brown and crisp. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a heavy saucepan. When hot, add sliced mushrooms and cook until they begin to sweat. Add white wine and sprigs of thyme and cook until wine is reduced to a thick syrup. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. When baguette is toasted, rub each slice back and forth a few times with a garlic clove to coat in garlic (one clove will do for about 5 – 6 slices). Once each slice has been adequately “garlic-ed” top with mushroom mixture, sprinkle with a dash more sea salt, and serve immediately.
bruschetta
April 25, 2011
I fell in love with bruschetta when Andrew and I lived in Tuscany many moons ago. It was always on offer with the antipasti and seemed to just scream Italian authenticity and yumminess. Thank goodness it’s vegan because it would be hard to give up. I served it on Saturday when a whole whack of people showed up for a light Easter lunch – served alongside vegan cesar salad (with chicken on the side for those that wanted a chicken cesar), mushroom crostini, and a hearty olive boule.
1 baguette, sliced
6 garlic cloves peeled
4 tomatoes, chopped finely
1 bunch basil, chopped finely
sea salt and pepper
olive oil
Place sliced baguette on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven until brown and crisp. Meanwhile, toss chopped tomatoes, chopped basil, olive oil, and sea salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. When baguette is toasted, rub each slice back and forth a few times with a garlic clove to coat in garlic (one clove will do for about 5 – 6 slices). Once each slice has been adequately “garlic-ed” top with tomato mixture, sprinkle with a dash more sea salt, and serve immediately.
greek tofu scramble
April 17, 2011
I had a dream last night that I made scrambled tofu for breakfast. I know, not very exciting but it was very realistic – one of those dreams that you’re not sure if it was a dream or it actually happened. Only problem is I was really confused about whether to use a blender, what to to put in the blender with the tofu, whether it should be sweet or savoury, and who would want to eat it. I woke up, realized it was a dream (phew – bye bye confusion), and decided to take the bull by the horns and whip some up no fuss no muss. Delish. Easy. No blender. So good in fact it might just become a new ritual on Sunday mornings.
1 block of firm tofu
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tomato, chopped
8 olives, pitted and chopped
handful of arugula
2 tsps oregano
small chunk of feta (optional)
sea salt and pepper
Drain the tofu and crumble into a small bowl and set aside. Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onion and saute until soft. Add the crumbled tofu, garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper and saute another couple of minutes.
Add tomatoes, olives, arugula, and oregano and stir until warmed through. Adjust seasoning. Serve on a plate with crumbled feta on top (if using) with a side order of toast.
roasted veggies with chickpeas
April 17, 2011
This is a great dish when you don’t want to expend a lot of effort, have no plan, and just want something simple and nourishing. Like a Friday night at the end of a long week. Just pull random vegetables out of the fridge. Chop. Roast. Serve with spiced quinoa. It’s also really good with tahini sauce. Maybe make a green salad. Maybe. Whatever you serve along with these roasted veggies, they punch above their weight. You can’t go wrong.
12 small mushrooms
2 ripe tomatoes, chopped or a handful of cherry tomatoes
2 bell peppers, red, yellow, or orange, chopped
1 red onion, sliced into thin wedges
1 small fennel bulb, sliced into thin wedges
5 or 6 garlic cloves, peeled but left whole
2 tsps sea salt
2 tbsps olive oil
handful pitted olives
14-oz can chickpeas, washed and drained
2 fresh thyme or rosemary sprigs
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, onion, fennel, and garlic in a large roasting pan. Sprinkle the salt evenly over the vegetables and drizzle with the oil. Roast in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
Remove the pan from the oven and turn the vegetables. Add the chickpeas, olives, and thyme sprigs. Return the pan to the oven and roast for another 30 minutes, until the edges of the vegetables are just starting to blacken.
Serve with spiced quinoa, tahini sauce, and salad.
spiced quinoa
April 17, 2011
The flavours in this dish are subtle and earthy. You get the nuttiness of the quinoa and the aromatic richness of the spices – especially after a little “toasting” before adding stock to the dish. I would recommend this with a number of dishes on v:gourmet, particularly the moroccan tagine, roasted veggies with chickpeas, and cassoulet. You could also do a spiced couscous which would be equally tasty.
3 cups veggie stock
2 cups of quinoa
1 tsp each of ground cumin, ground coriander, and smoky Spanish paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
salt
Put quinoa and spices in a medium, heavy-based saucepan and cook over medium/high heat until the spices are aromatic and just start to turn a dusky brown. Add the stock and a dash of salt. Stir, cover, and bring to a boil. Once a roiling boil is reached, turn down heat to low and simmer until quinoa has absorb all the liquid. Fluff with a fork. Transfer to a serving bowl and fluff again to separate as many grains as possible.
Adapted from Market Vegetarian by Ross Dobson
v:gourmet 