Dinner March 12, 2008 - Tunisian Vegetable Stew

Tonight we had a tasty rich vegetable stew based Tunisian traditions. I added brown rice and asian style stir fried green beans. The green beans, freshgarlic and chopped ginger root were sauteed in water and a hint sesame oil. After the green beans begin to soften, add tamari sauce and tamarind concentrate and finishing cooking. The stew is as follows:

• 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions
• 3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
• 1 large green pepper chopped
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp cayenne
• 3 cups undrained tomatoes, chopped (28 oz can)
• 1 1/2 cups drained chickpeas (16-oz can)
• 1/3 cup raisins or currants
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• dash of olive oil (optional)

Saute the onions in water for 5 minutes. Add cabbage and continue for 5 minutes more. Add the bell pepper, coriander, tumeric, cinnamon, and cayenne and saute for another minute. Stir in the tomatoes, chick peas, and raisins. Simmer for 15 minutes or until the veggies are tender. Serve with a spinkle of lemon juice.

Dinner March 11, 2008 - Tomatican

Tomatican is a chilean stew. This version comes from Moosewood Cooks at Home. The great thing is that for the most part, it uses frozen vegetables and still tastes great and fresh. If you can get the Muir Glenn chopped tomatoes, they are often better than local tomatoes unless they are very good. You can garnish the stew with avocado, tempeh (of course cheese is traditional). The steamed local kale and brown rice was a great complement to the flavors:

• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (or 1 fresh chile)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 cups frozen baby lima beans (note that each package contains 1 1/2 cups)
• 3 cups undrained canned tomatoes (28 oz)
• 2 cups frozen corn (I used sweet corn)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• optional - dash of olive oil

Saute the onions and cayenne in a little water for 5 minutes. Add lima beans and cumin and cook for a couple of minutes longer. Add juice from tomatoes and simmer covered for 5 more minutes. Add the tomatoes, corn and cilantro and simmer for about 10 minutes. Serve.

Dinner March 10, 2008 - Fennel & Naval Orange Salad

So a picture at Whole Foods inspired the salad. The fennel is sliced paper thin as are the oranges. Place them nicely on a bed of field greens, top with some sliced avocado, grape tomatoes and sprinkle with lime and some balsamic vinegar. The flavor is amazing. The avocados add to the flavor but would not be missed if dietary requirements dictate they not be added.

As a complement, I added some favorites. The tofu is grilled with a Thai red curry sauce (red curry, tamari sauce, rice wine vinegar, chopped ginger root, honey and optionally a drizzle of sesame oil). The roasted root vegetables include sweet potatoes, white potatoes, and 1/2 turnip diced, tossed in a dash of olive oil, chili powder, cumin, crushed garlic and roasted in an oven for 45-50 minutes. Finally a wedge of cabbage steamed (about 7-10 minutes) rounds out the plate.

Lunch - March 10, 2008 - Festive Garbanzo Stir Fry

This recipe combines latin american and India elements for a quick but tasty lunch or dinner stir fry. I was looking for a way to use my garbanzo beans from a recent meal. I also had some field greens, frozen vegetable and a ripe avocado. So here is the list of ingredients:

• Garbanzo beans
• Canned chopped tomatoes
• Frozen corn
• Frozen okra
• Cumin power
• Tumeric
• Slice of lime
• Fresh, ripe avocado
• Field greens

So I first added the beans and frozen vegetables to the skillet with a little water. Note that you may want to rinse the frozen vegetables if there are coated with ice to remove the freezer flavor. Simmer covered until the vegetables are thawed. Add the tomatoes, spices and cook for another 5 minutes until the flavors begin to blend. Arrange a bed of field greens on a plate, spoon on the bean mixture, sprinkle with lime juice and chopped avocadoes and serve.

Dinner Feb 29, 2008 Red Lentil and Tomato Soup

Tonight we had another one of our favorites: Red lentil and tomato soup. The soup is unbelievably rich. I fix it without any added oils, yet the taste is not diminished.

• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3/4 cup split red lentils
• 1/2 28 oz. can chopped tomatoes (or 2 fresh tomatoes)
• 3 3/4 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tsps dried herbes de Provenence
• chopped parsley to garnish

Saute the onions and celery in a little water for 5 minutes. Add lentils and continue cooking for another minute. Stir in the tomatoes, stock and spices. When the lentils are soft, let cool and then puree. Return to pot, heat to serving temperature and serve with chopped fresh parsely as a garnish.

Dinner - Feb 27, 2008 - Another Scrambled Tofu

So we had another scrambled tofu dish tonight. There are many versions of a quick tofu stir fry. Tonight's version was inspired by a recipe from Whole Food's website. I added my typical roasted potatoes.. which can include turnips and perhaps onions for a lovely roasted root vegetable dish. Some steamed broccoli and you have a meal.

• 1/2 green pepper chopped
• 1 small onion chopped
• 1/2 red pepper chooped
• 6-8 mushrooms sliced
• 1 pound extra-firm or firm tofu cubed
• 2 tbsp mirin
• 1 tbsp tamari sauce
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 2 cloves of fresh garlic diced
• 1/2 tsp curry powder
• fresh ground pepper to taste

Simply braise the onions, pepper, garlic and mushrooms in water until soft. Add tofu, mirin, tamari and spice. Cook for 5 minutes. A very simple meal.

Dinner Feb 25, 2008 - Groundnut Stew

Tonight we had an incredibly rich and tasty West African groundnut soup, see Sundays at Moosewood p 27 for a great recipe. These cookbooks should be on the shelf of anyone cooking vegetarian. Anyhow the West Africans typically add hardboiled eggs, chopped parsley, sliced bananas, mangos, pineapple, oranges, grated coconut or crushed peanuts. I decided to try some black-eyed peas, squash and steamed broccoli. The black-eyed peas were a perfect complement to the flavor of the soup, and more greens are always great.

• 2 cups chopped onions
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 cloves of mixed garlic
• 2 cups of chopped cabbage
• 3 cups of cubed sweet potatoes
• 1/2- 28 can of organic chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup apricot (or apple) juice
• 1 tsp of finely chopped ginger root (amazing flavor in this soup!!)
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 cups frozen okra
• 1/2 cup peanut butter (definitely not "Jiffy". Need to use either fresh ground or any "natural" peanut butter with no sugar or emulsifiers)

Braised the onions in some water for 10 minutes. Stir in cayenne and garlic and cook a little longer. Add cabbage, sweet potatoes and cook for a few minutes. Add juice, tomatoes, ginger, and cilantro. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Add frozen okra and simmer for 9 more minutes. Stir in peanut butter and serve.