Cabbage Minestrone With Chick Peas

I somehow ended up with an obscene amount of red cabbage in my fridge. Here's what I made last night with part of it. Original recipe from the New York Times— I adapted it to what I had on hand.

Cabbage Minestrone With Chick Peas

1 heaped cup chick peas, washed and picked over, soaked for 6 hours or overnight in 1 quart water (channy: i used 1 can of chickpeas)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped (i didn't have an onion)

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 celery stalk, finely chopped (didn't have this either)

Salt to taste

4 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes, seeded and chopped, with juice (i did't quite use 28oz. I had some leftover- probably 14oz)

1 1/2 pounds cabbage, outer leaves removed, cored and coarsely chopped (about 1 medium cabbage)

2 1/2 quarts water ( i used about a liter? look at me, all metric. anyway, mine came out more stew-y than soup, so it could use more liquid)

A bouquet garni made with 1 Parmesan rind, a bay leaf, and a few sprigs each parsley and thyme (i just used parsley and the parmesan rind)

Freshly ground pepper

1/2 cup elbow macaroni or small shells (orzo)

Freshly grated Parmesan for serving

(in the absence of onions and celery, i added 1 slice of bacon. mmmmmm)

1. Drain the chick peas and set aside. Heat the oil over medium heat in a heavy soup pot and add the onion, carrot, and celery. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring often, until the mixture is fragrant and the vegetables tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in half the minced garlic and cook, stirring, for another minute or so, until the garlic begins to smell fragrant. Add the tomatoes and their liquid and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 to 10 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down a bit. Add the cabbage, stir together for a minute, then add the drained chick peas, 2 quarts water, and the bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 1 hour, or until the beans are just about tender.

2. Add the remaining garlic and salt to taste, cover and continue to simmer another 30 minutes to an hour, until the beans are thoroughly cooked and the soup very fragrant. Add a cup more water if it seems too thick. Add pepper, taste and adjust salt. Remove the bouquet garni.

3. Add the pasta and cook until the pasta is cooked al dente, 5 to 10 minutes. Serve, passing the Parmesan at the table for sprinkling.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

From the amazing food blog smittenkitchen

Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini Dressing
Adapted from Orangette, who adapted it from Casa Moro

Yield: 4 servings

For salad:
1 medium butternut squash (about 2 to 2 1/2 pounds), peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 medium garlic clove, minced or pressed
1/2 teaspoons ground allspice (I skip this)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt
One 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups)
1/4 of a medium red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro or parsley

For tahini dressing:
1 medium garlic clove, finely minced with a pinch of salt
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons well-stirred tahini
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more to taste

Preheat the oven to 425°F.

In a large bowl, combine the butternut squash, garlic, allspice, olive oil, and a few pinches of salt. Toss the squash pieces until evenly coated. Roast them on a baking sheet for 25 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and cool.

Meanwhile, make the tahini dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the garlic and lemon juice. Add the tahini, and whisk to blend. Add the water and olive oil, whisk well, and taste for seasoning. The sauce should have plenty of nutty tahini flavor, but also a little kick of lemon. You will probably need to add more water to thin it out.

To assemble the salad, combine the squash, chickpeas, onion, and cilantro or parsley in a mixing bowl. Either add the tahini dressing to taste, and toss carefully, or you could serve the salad with the dressing on the side. Serve immediately.

Orange Pan Glazed Tempeh

this is from my favorite recipe blog, 101 Cookbooks

1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (3-4 large juicy oranges)
1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce)
1 1/2 tablespoons mirin
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
roughly 10 ounces of tempeh (or extra-firm tofu)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 lime
a handful of cilantro (coriander) leaves

Put the orange juice in a small bowl. Squeeze the grated ginger over the bowl to extract the juices, then discard the pulp. Add the tamari, mirin, and maple syrup, ground coriander, and garlic. Mix together and set aside.

Cut the tempeh (or tofu) into thin-ish, bite-sized pieces, and if working with tofu, pat dry with a paper towel.

Put the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, add the tempeh and fry for 5 minutes, or until golden underneath. Turn and cook the other side for another 5 minutes, or until golden. Pour the orange juice mixture into the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced to a lovely thick glaze. Turn the tempeh once more during this time and spoon the sauce over the tempeh from time to time.

Serve the tempeh drizzled with any remaining sauce and a squeeze of lime, with the coriander scattered on top. I ate this over jasmine rice with some rainbow chard sauteed with garlic and olive oil, with a splash of rice vinegar.

Serves 2-3

Chicken with dill-lemon-tomato sauce

Ingredients:

olive oil - 1 T
1/2 onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 boneless and skinless chicken breast, cut into 2 or 3 big strips
1 tomato, sliced
1 small red pepper, sliced
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp paprika
1/2 lemon
fresh dill - chopped, about 1 T
water (1/2 cup)

I invented this recipe on the spot tonight, based on ingredients I had bought at the store last minute. It was quite tasty, would have been very good with rice (but I had it with bread)

Heat deep skillet, add olive oil, sauté onions and garlic. Once onions are translucent, add chicken, and brown on both sides. After chicken is brown, add tomato slices and pepper slices, then all other ingredients except water and dill. Stir fry everything, allowing tomatoes to fall apart and form a sauce with the other ingredients. Add the water and keep on high heat till the water mostly simmers off. Cover if necessary to make sure the chicken fully cooks. Near the end of cooking, add the fresh dill.

It only took me about 15 minutes to make this entire dish, including all the chopping, so it's good for a quick chicken dish. Would be curious to hear if other people have other quick chicken (or tofu) recipes that are similar to this in terms of difficulty.

Sorry I didn't remember to take pictures. But I will take pictures of future dishes for the blog.

Rika's Lemon Curd

I am going through old papers and notebooks today, cleaning out my room, and I found the recipe for lemon curd that I learned to make in Ecuador 4 years ago. I got this recipe from Rika, who was from Belgium and owned a hostel in Canoa, Ecuador. We ate the lemon curd with crepes for breakfast.

We also tried substituting maracuya (passionfruit) juice for the lemon, and this worked great as well. It's also good to do a mixture of the two.

Here is the recipe:

approx 4 Tbsp lemon peel
About 1 cup juice (fresh lemon or fresh passionfruit)
100-125 grams (about 1 stick) unsalted butter
275 grams (about 1.5 cups) sugar
4 entire eggs
2 extra egg yolks

Melt everything except the eggs in a double boiler, then add the beaten eggs one at a time. Ideally you should strain the eggs before adding to the juice, to remove any bits of shell or strange lumps. Beat with a wisk, and continue a smooth stirring motion as you continue adding eggs. Once the mixture thickens, it is done. Sterilize glass jars, pour in curd, and seal. Store in refrigerator.

Trastor's Tortilla Patatas

Pre-preparation

• If you can, get potatoes that are about a year old, they have better starch. You can sometimes buy potatoes from the previous harvest (they are cheaper, and there are 3 harvests a year).
• Good oil ("sabor de intenso" is good enough).
• Eggs!
  

Instructions

• Cut potatoes: One quick and easy way is to cut the potatoes with a peeler (after peeling it of course!).
• Put quite a bit of oil in the pan (a non-stick pan will help) and heat it until it is on the verge of boiling.
• Toss the potatoes (drain them a bit beforehand if they're very wet) into the pan and give it time to soak up the oil and grow.
• Cook the potatoes until they "fall apart in your mouth" (this is a sign that they are cooked). You also want them a bit brown and a bit crsipy.
• Scoop the potatoes out and put them in a plate/bowl/colander to allow the oil to drain out.
• Prepare a big bowl with well beat up eggs.
• Toss the potatoes into the bowl of eggs and let it sit for several minutes.
• Put the mixture in a heated pan with a thin layer of oil.
• Let it cook while shaking/jiggling the pan the entire time with one hand to make sure the mixture does not stick to the pan.
• Cap the pan using a plate or lid and flip the half-cooked tortilla onto it. (I have been told that you need to do this with a "whoop." If you don't flip in a whooping arc, the eggs leak out to the sides.)
• Reheat the pan a little and add some oil if necessary.
• Then put the other side of the tortilla back into the pan.
• Heat and jiggle.

Enjoy with bread and wine and whatever else you wish!

Quick and Dirty fiddlehead dinner

I received lovely fiddleheads and ramps from my friend's Mainer parents. In an attempt to cook something fantastic, in my 20 minute study break this is what I came up with. Very simple but yummy.

Saute ramps in olive oil
blanch fiddleheads
combine ramps and fiddleheads in marinade
marinade = assortment of vinegars (I had apple cider, red wine and a little rice vinegar for sweetness), olive oil, s+p, spices (I used oregano and rosemary)

boil up some pasta (I used spinach and chive linguini from trader joes... probably a fresh pasta would be fantastic)


toss above items together. add parmesan to taste. eat