Baby Beet Risotto

This should also get you in the mood for fall!

Baby Beet Risotto

By Suz

1 ½ cups Arborio rice

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

1 quart veggie broth

1 cup red wine

2 bunches of baby beets, trimmed, peeled and quartered

1-2 T brown grainy mustard or country mustard

1 cup Sheep’s milk romano cheese, grated (very tasty addition, but can be left out for a vegan recipe)

Salt and pepper to taste

1. heat vegetable oil in medium sauce pan over med-high heat. Add rice to the oil, stirring until coated with oil.
2. meanwhile, bring the veggie broth to a boil, then turn heat to low and continue to simmer.
3. While soup is heating, put beets in boiling water. Boil until al dente, about 15-20 minutes. Remove beets from water, reserving the cooking water.
4. add the wine to the rice, stirring often, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Add broth, one cup at a time, stirring often until most of the liquid is absorbed. Continue adding broth and stirring until the broth is gone. Should take about 20 minutes
5. take 1 cup (or more if needed) of the reserved beet water and add to the rice, stirring until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is al dente. Add more water if needed.
6. remove rice from heat. Stir mustard into the rice. Add the cheese and stir until well- combined.
7. add the beets to the risotto and mix- in gently
8. salt and pepper to taste

Produce & recipes, week two!

The list this week is a bit more challenging for me. I love peppers, but P absolutely doesn't like them at all. I am still not sure what I will do with those. I like celery, but I was unsure of how to create a whole side dish out of it. I might make cream of celery soup (sub the cream for almond or soy milk) so I bought a celery root, which incidentally is one ugly root!

I have some definite recipes I am making this week and then I'll wing it at the end. I have a few ideas.

Again, we'll have the fruit for snacks and dessert.

Produce box:

Snap Peas

Red Thumb Fingerling Potatoes

Broccoli

Rainbow Chard

Hass Avocados

Red Bell Peppers

Red Cherry Tomatoes

Celery

Romaine

Lettuce

Strawberries

Navel Oranges

Cameo Apples

Mangos

Here is our menu:

Rainbow chard with raisins, pine nuts, and hard boiled eggs and served over brown rice:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Swiss-Chard-with-Raisins-and-Pine-Nuts-231509

Repeat of last week's romaine topped with stir fried shrimp and snow peas (snap peas this week). We used romaine for the greens, instead of watercress and arugula. I also candied the walnuts (recipe at bottom of note), and tossed the greens in a little olive oil & white wine vinegar before adding the toppings. Vegans could sub tofu for the shrimp. That recipe was a HIT!

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Shrimp-Snow-Pea-and-Walnut-Salad-11911

Chilled soba noodles with snap peas and tofu or shrimp. The reviewers on epicurious suggested that you avoid cooking the dressing, just whip together and toss all ingredients at the end:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chilled-Soba-with-Tofu-and-Sugar-Snap-Peas-242834

Stir-fried suagar snap peas & cherry tomatoes, roasted rosemary fingerling potatoes and veggie burgers or baked true cod. Last week, we baked fresh true cod in lemon juice, olive oil, lemon zest, salt and paprika. It was awesome! I got it fresh from Uwajimaya and it was only $7.99 a pound. yum.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Stir-Fried-Sugar-Snap-Peas-and-Cherry-Tomatoes-5828http://www.recipezaar.com/Roasted-Rosemary-Fingerlings-218656

Hmmmm. Now for the broccoli, peppers and celery.

One dish I thought might be interesting is to make quinoa and then create a fried rice-type dish with the rest of the veggies and the quinoa. It would probably be yummy with mango mixed in. I have never done this with quinoa, but I am guessing it will work.

If I don't do that, I will make celery soup, roasted red peppers for a side dish and open faced broccoli melts (using sheeps' milk cheese). The open faced broccoli sandwiches come from Moosewood's Simple Suppers, my favorite vegetarian cookbook. Below is a recipe for roasting the broccoli, which might be really good prior to melting a big slab of cheese on it. Otherwise, I just saute it in a pan with a little spray oil and seas salt, so it gets a little crispy while it softens.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Broccoli-with-Garlic-and-Red-Pepper-351031http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Roasted-Red-Bell-Peppers-231977http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cream-of-Celery-Soup-996

BTW the lacinato kale salad and the shimp salad from last week were everyone's favorites. The greens from the farms are absolutely incredible.

Recipe for candied walnuts, which I tripled so that we had plenty (found on the web):

1/4 cup nuts

1 T sugar

1/4 t salt

1 t walnut or olive oil
preheat oven to 350

toast nuts in oven, about 5 min, or until fragrant.
while nuts toast, in a small bowl, stir together sugar, salt, oil.toss toasted nuts in sugar mixutre and stir.

heat small skillet on med heat, add nuts & sugar mixture, stirring regularly until sugar caramelizes, abt 5 min.

Cool on parchment paper.

Lebanese Lentils & Rice with Caramelized Onions (Injadara)

I'll post up upcoming recipes for this week as soon as I get that organized. In the meantime, here is the recipe for traditional Lebanese lentils & rice. I added a modern twist of caramelizing the onions, instead of frying them (traditional). This is a very simple and satisfying dish.


This would be excellent topped with toasted pine nuts and raisins, but it is yummy just as it is.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups dried lentils
1 ½ cups brown or white rice
5 cups water for lentils
3 cups water for rice (or per directions on the rice)
Salt & pepper

2 large onions
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons cooking sherry
2 Tablespoons sugar
Salt

Yogurt or sour cream (optional)


1. Cook and caramelize the onions, according to the directions below.

2. While onions are cooking, cook the lentils and rice:

3 Rinse lentils and pick out any stones. Put water for lentils and the lentils into a medium pot. Bring to a boil, turn down heat to low, and cover. Simmer for about 25 minutes, or until lentils are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Cook rice according to directions on bag.

Caramelize the onions: heat oil in heavy large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions; sprinkle with salt and cook until beginning to brown, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in vinegar and sugar; cook until onions are browned, stirring often, about 15-20 minutes. Add salt to taste.

On a large platter, layer first the rice, next the lentils and finally the onions.

Serve with yogurt or sour cream.

Makes about 6 servings as a main course.

Recipe: Sloppy Lentils

Vegan Sloppy Joe's
by Suzie

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar or 2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 8oz can of tomato paste
7 cups water
2 cups dried lentils, rinsed


In a large 3 quart soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and peppers and saute until soft. Next add the garlic, oregano and salt. Continue sauteing until the garlic is fragrant. Next stir in the rest of the ingredients except the lentils. Turn the heat up to high and bring to a boil. Add the lentils, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the lentils are soft.


Serve on hamburger buns.
This is really yummy with sour cream or vegan sour cream on the bun with the lentils.

Recipe: Vegetarian Kibbeh

Vegan Pumpkin Kibbeh
with chickpea, pine nut & spinach filling

by Suzie

1 cup dried bulgur wheat
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 onions, chopped
3 tablespoons cinnamon
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt & pepper
1 cup pine nuts
3 cans cooked pureed pumpkin (15 oz ea.)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/3 cup flour
½ teaspoon coriander
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 cans chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained, (15 oz ea.)
2 1/2 cups spinach

Yogurt or soy sour cream & pita bread (optional)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Reconstitute dried bulgur wheat by putting bulgur in a medium bowl and pouring 1 cup boiling water over it, stir and let sit for 30 minutes. This should yield about 2 cups of bulgur wheat. Spray a large casserole dish (13 x 9 or 14 x 10) with canola spray, or slightly grease with oil.

Heat 1 T canola oil in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté the onions until soft. Add 1 T cinnamon, garlic, and salt & pepper and sauté until garlic is fragrant, about one minute. Remove from heat and set aside.

Toast pine nuts in a dry pan over med-high to high heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and golden. Be aware that the nuts quickly go from toasted to burning. Remove nuts from pan as soon as they begin to toast. Place in a dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix pumpkin, 2 T cinnamon, paprika, reconstituted bulgur, 1 cup of the onion mix, flour, coriander, maple syrup and 1 teaspoon salt.

Drain and rinse the chick peas. Place in a bowl and slightly mash.

Press half of the pumpkin mixture into the pan. To create the filling, begin by spreading the chick peas over the pumpkin. Secondly, spread the rest of the onion mixture on top of the chick peas. Next, spread the pine nuts over the onions. For the final layer of the filling, spread the spinach over the nuts. Finally, add the rest of the pumpkin mixture over the filling and press into the pan.

Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes, or until the surface looks dry (the inside will be moist.)

Let kibbeh sit about 35 minutes before eating.

Place a dollop of yogurt or soy sour cream on top of individual kibbeh servings, if wanted. Serve with pita bread.