Muhammara

Ever since I was a little girl, I've loved Middle Eastern food (ask me about my torrid, long-running love affair with falafel some time, a riveting story full of passion, tears, laughter and tahini). And yet shockingly, it was not until last summer that I first tasted muhammara. This amazingly delicious dip is a simple combination of roasted peppers, walnuts, bread and olive oil that becomes a thick, red paste that is immeasurably more than the sum of its parts. I was first exposed to it at the home of an Armenian friend (James Najarian, I'm talking to you), who'd used a recipe he got from his auntie. I went so crazy for the stuff that after eating almost the entire bowl at his party, I begged for the magic formula, so I could make more the very next day. I made a few adaptations, adding more nuts and decreasing the oil, but otherwise it's pretty faithful. This recipe makes a lot, but it does tend to disappear quickly, and you really can't have too much. It's good with pita wedges, or even in a sandwich but, for the optimal muhammara gluttony experience, I highly recommend getting your hands on some good lavash.

Muhammara

Ingredients:
~ 2 12 oz. jars fire-roasted peppers, including liquid
~ 1.5 cups chopped walnuts, toasted in the oven 10 minutes at 375 degrees fahrenheit
~ 4 slices toasted whole wheat bread, crumbled
~ 2 tbsp. each: minced garlic, lemon juice
~ 1 tbsp. molasses (pomegranate if you can get it)
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, cumin, basil, paprika
~ 1/2 tsp. each: red chili flakes, nutmeg, fresh black pepper
~ 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
~ In a blender or food processor, puree the peppers, their liquid, the oil, spices, lemon juice and molasses
~ Add the toasted walnuts and crumbled bread; process until almost smooth, adding more oil or liquid to thin if necessary (you're going for a consistency a bit thicker than hummus, but still retaining a bit of texture).
~ Serve as a dip with lavash or pita bread and/or crudites, or make it a little thicker and use as a sandwich spread. Or cut out the middleman entirely and just fill the bathtub with it, then climb in: yummy!

Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

Once upon a time, in the good old days before ginormous chain stores choked the life out of small local businesses, we had a great independent bookstore in our town, which was for years our go-to place for birthday gifts, holiday shopping, or just killing a little time. Besides the acres and acres of reading material, there was the added attraction of breakfast, lunch or dinner at their charming cafe, where you could sit down, rest your feet, pore over your new books and eat something yummy, like their signature African Peanut Soup. Now, there are lots of recipes for peanut soups out there, in cookbooks and on the interwebs, but their rendition was particularly spicy and delicious, and (as a purely aesthetic bonus) was always served in those thick, old-fashioned mugs that you find in diners.

Recently, my dear friend Valerie Clark mentioned how much she missed that soup, and paid me the signal compliment of requesting that I recreate it, which I have in all good faith attempted to do. To begin with, I looked at several different versions, including the one in Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant, and went from there, changing up the seasonings and adding some extra vegetables along the way. At the last moment I decided to throw in some greens, which turned out to be a stroke of genius, because A. they add flavor, nutrition, and do really nice things for the texture, and B. I'm obsessed with kale (of course, you can leave it out if you want, but I'll definitely include it in future batches). Also, feel free to add more heat if you want it spicier, especially if you don't have hot chili oil on hand; this came out just about right for us, but everyone's different!

Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup

Ingredients:
~ 1 tsp. hot chili oil
~ 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
~ 2 heaping tbsp. minced garlic
~ 2 cups chopped onions
~ 1 cup diced carrot
~ 4 cups diced sweet potatoes (about 2 large)
~ 2 cups chopped, fresh tomatoes (or 1 15 oz. can diced, fire-roasted if possible)
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, curry powder, cumin, thyme, smoked paprika
~ 1/2 tsp. each: cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice
~ 1/4-1/2 tsp. hot sauce or cayenne pepper (more to taste)
~ Fresh black pepper
~ 1 cup dry red wine
~ 5 cups vegetable broth
~ 4 thinly sliced scallions
~ 1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or chunky
~ 4 cups chopped kale, spinach, chard or collards (I like kale best)

Directions:
~ In a large, deep pot, heat the oils and saute the garlic and onions over medium heat for about 3 minutes.
~ Add the carrots, sweet potatoes and seasonings and stir thoroughly. Continue cooking another 5 minutes, adding a splash of water to prevent sticking if necessary.
~ Add the tomatoes and the wine and raise the heat to high, stirring constantly to deglaze the pan.
~ Add the vegetable broth, bring to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until the vegetables are completely cooked.
~ Remove from heat and puree with an immersion blender, or transfer in batches to a food processor before returning to the pot.
~ Turn the heat to medium-high, then stir in the peanut butter, scallions and greens. Combine thoroughly and cook another 5-10 minutes, until the greens have wilted, but still retain some of their chewy texture.
~ Enjoy with some nice, crusty bread, a glass of red wine and a good book.
~ NB that this also excellent ladled over grains like rice, millet and/or additional vegetables.

The World's Most Delicious Pasta Salad

I realize that the bleak midwinter may seem an odd time to post a recipe for pasta salad, but I made this for a party recently and it was so good I wanted to write it down so I (and you!) can make it again. I also realize the loftiness of my claim, but it is an unusually good salad. This is partly due to the pasta itself: the lovely, firm, lyrically named strozzapreti, which is made all the more delightful by the fact that it means "priest choker" in Italian. No, seriously, it does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strozzapreti.

The veggies and spices do their bit as well, but I confess the crowning touch is something that would ordinarily disqualify a dish from being blog-worthy, to wit: bottled salad dressing. Generally speaking, I don't use packaged products if I'm going to take credit for a recipe, but in this case I'm making an exception because what we are talking about here is basically crack...er, I mean Annie's Goddess Dressing. This stuff is so yummy that I'm not sure it wouldn't add a certain something to rice pudding, because it's good on everything else; in fact, our addiction is such that when we run out, it always winds up on the shopping list as "crack," hence my little slip above. Yes, it's full of fat and calories, but so what? Who cares? Make this salad and I guarantee that you won't (and neither will your priest, if you have one), so consider yourself absolved. Buon Appetito!

Delicious Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
~ 1.5 lb. pasta, cooked, drained and rinsed (I use strozzapreti, but anything curly with some texture would do)
~ 2 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1 cup sliced scallions
~ 1 cup each: diced celery, carrots, bell pepper
~ 1 tbsp. curry powder
~ 1 tsp. each: thyme, tarragon, smoked paprika
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, hot sauce (more to taste)
~ Fresh black pepper
~ 1 cup thinly sliced black olives
~ 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
~ 1 cup Annie's Goddess Dressing (trust me!)
~ 4 cups chopped, assorted salad greens

Directions:
~ In a skillet or wok, heat the oil and saute the scallions and garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes.
~ Add the celery, carrots, bell pepper and spices and cook another 5 minutes.
~ In a large bowl, combine the drained pasta, cooked vegetables, olives, tomatoes and Goddess Dressing.
~ Add the salad greens and mix thoroughly.
~ Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving (the longer it sits, the better it will be). This is good cold or at room temperature; I like it on a bed of additional leafy greens.

Bush is Really Gone, and Obama is Our President!!!!!

(That is all. Our long national nightmare is over; I'm going back to my champagne!)

Double Cornbread

I love quick breads. (I also love yeasty breads that require multiple kneadings, risings, etc., while you make some giant, time-consuming stew, but that's another post) There's just something so wonderful about grabbing a few things from the cupboard, throwing them into a mixing bowl, and having bread emerge from the oven within a half hour or so, especially on a cold morning. When I was a kid we always had homemade corn muffins on hand; I swear my mother must have baked them 3 times week, and I remember hers being very buttery and sweet. As (what passes for) a grown-up, I prefer a more savory cornbread, and have toyed with various approaches over the years. But by George, with this one I think I've really got it! For one thing, I highly recommend using a coarse cornmeal (I use Bob's Red Mill Polenta), and we like to add fresh or frozen corn for a nice, chewy texture. You can also throw in some scallions, chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes, the sky's pretty much the limit; then again, you can also make it plain and simple with delicious results. This is great with the expected things like chili, or black-eyed peas and collards, but it's good for breakfast, too; the most recent batch was the perfect accompaniment to a tofu frittata on a snowy weekend morning.

Ingredients:
~ 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
~ 2 cups coarse cornmeal
~ 1 tbsp. baking powder
~ 1 tsp. kosher salt
~ 1/2 tsp. each thyme, smoked paprika
~ Fresh black pepper to taste
~ 1/3 cup oil (I used olive, but canola or safflower would be fine)
~ 2 tbsp. pure maple syrup
~ 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
~ 1 15 oz. can lite coconut milk (or 2 cups other non-dairy milk)
~ 1 tbsp. oil or vegan margarine
~ 1/5 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
~ 2 scallions, thinly sliced, and/or 1/4 cup chopped olives or sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

Directions:
~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.
~ In a mixing bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients until combined.
~ In a separate container, combine the oil, coconut milk, cider vinegar, and maple syrup; stir thoroughly.
~ Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined.
~ In a skillet or saucepan, heat the oil and saute the scallions or other veggies (if using) and corn kernels over medium-high heat for about 5-10 minutes, adding a little salt and pepper if you like.
~ Remove the corn from the heat and stir into the batter.
~ Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 13" pan and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick comes out clean. If you can, allow it to cool for 5-10 minutes so it can set up a bit before you slice it into big squares and devour it.

Avgolemono (without the "avgo")

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my father's family is from Greece (he was born in Chicago, where his parents emigrated early in the last century, and Greek was his first language). Anyway, thanks to his heritage we were exposed to a lot of delicious food that was highly unusual in the primarily Irish Catholic, working class neighborhood where I grew up. In that 1970s world of bologna and Miracle Whip on Wonder Bread (punchline: you wonder why they call it bread), things like baklava, spanakopita and garlicky dandelion greens with lemon juice were fairly exotic. One of my all-time favorite things that he used to make was a thick, pale yellow soup called avgolemono, which I can only describe as cream of chicken soup as imagined on Mount Olympus. It was made with chicken stock, lemon juice, and at the very end an egg would be beaten in; there may have been some milk in there too, but I never really watched him make it, I just ate it.

Years and years went by when I would occasionally think about it, but I never bestirred myself to recreate it. I briefly considered having a try after my father passed away in February 2007, but ultimately just didn't have the heart. Until recently, when I was struck with an absolute craving for the stuff and resolved to give it my most workmanlike effort. Not having had it in such a long time, I pretty much winged it (though I took some inspiration from a post by Frecklefoot on the PPK), messing around with a dash of this and a splash of that, and in the end, it came out really tasty; I'll definitely make it again. Be aware that it's pretty generous with the lemon (we do love lemon), but you could easily use half the amount specified here and still get that nice, bright flavor with less tartness. The turmeric is purely for color, but few things are nicer than a bowl of cheerful yellow soup on a grey, wintry day, especially if you have a cold, or even if you just need something comforting and delicious that makes you think of a warm, sunny place where figs and olives grow on trees.

Avgolemono

Ingredients:
~ 1/2 cup long grain white or brown rice (I used brown), cooked in 1 cup vegetable broth
~ 2 tbsp. Earth Balance or other vegan margarine
~ 1 cup chopped onions
~ 1 tsp. each: salt, rosemary, dried parsley
~ 1/4 tsp. turmeric
~ 1 tbsp. brown sugar
~ Fresh black pepper
~ Zest and juice of 2 lemons (2 tbsp. and 1/3 cup, respectively; use 1 lemon if you want it less tart)
~ 4 cups vegetable stock
~ 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
~ 1 15 oz. can lite coconut milk (or 2 cups additional soy milk if you don't have it)
~ 2 tbsp. corn starch or arrowroot powder

Directions:
~ Cook the rice according to package directions and set aside.
~ In a deep pot or large wok, saute the onions and spices in the Earth Balance over medium heat for 10-15 minutes.
~ Transfer the cooked onions to a blender or food processor; add the lemon juice and zest and puree thoroughly.
~ Return mixture to pot, add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil.
~ In a separate container, mix 1 cup of soy milk and corn starch with a fork until smooth.
~ Add the cooked rice, soy milk/corn starch mixture and the coconut (or additional soy) milk to the hot soup and stir to combine thoroughly.
~ Simmer over low heat another 10 minutes until thickened, adding a little water if necessary.
~ Serve hot with crusty bread or fresh herb muffins; add a green salad and you have A Perfect Meal.

Tofu Frittata with Mushrooms and Spinach

I've realized, since starting this blog, that I make pretty regular references to The Vegetarian Epicure, which was one of the very first cookbooks I owned as a teenager, and from which I cooked well into my twenties. Since being vegan, I often find myself moved to revisit those recipes and adapt them to the way we eat now. The dish below is a prime example; as a fledgling cook, an unbroken omelet was completely beyond me, and a frittata offered all the same stuff without the attendant stress of turning out a flawless, golden brown crescent of Julia-Childesque splendor. This being the case, they appeared on my table with a certain amount of frequency in those years, making use of whatever vegetables happened to be on hand and usually turned out looking, and tasting, quite nice.

Nowadays, we are all about brunch, so it's not too unusual for us to eat some elaborate, multi-dish meal at 1pm on Saturday and Sunday, if time and opportunity serve. This Sunday I woke up after a shockingly late night (Joe Nugent, I'm looking at you!), and thought about making a tofu omelet: http://elizaveganpage.blogspot.com/2008/10/vegan-mofo-20-tofu-omelet.html. But then I said to myself, "Hey, self, you haven't made a frittata in yonks," so that's just what I did, and man, was it yummy. And easy, which goes a long way with me. It has everything we like the most in breakfast foods: mushrooms, spinach, lots of garlic, silken tofu, nooch, in short a veritable cornucopia of brunchy goodness. With some roasted potatoes, toast, and a mimosa, Bloody Mary or a, um, fortified coffee (it's 1pm, people!), I guarantee it will give you the strength to finish the Sunday Times crossword, or take that nap you've been looking forward to all week. Or both. Why choose?

The Vegetables:

Ingredients:
~ 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
~ 1 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1 cup chopped onion
~ 1/4 cup each: chopped celery, carrot
~ 2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms
~ 1/2 tsp. salt
~ 1 tsp. each: dill, basil, tarragon, smoked paprika
~ 2 cups baby spinach

Directions:
~ Preheat the oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit
~ In a large skillet or wok, heat the olive oil and saute the onions, garlic, carrots and celery over medium heat for about 5 minutes.
~ Add the mushrooms and seasonings and cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.
~ Add the baby spinach, stir to combine and cook until just wilted. If the mixture seems wet, raise the heat to high and cook a few minutes to evaporate some moisture.
~ Remove from heat and set aside.

The Batter:

Ingredients:
~ 1 lb. extra firm tofu, crumbled
~ 1 tbsp. minced garlic
~ 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
~ 1/ cup unsweetened soy milk
~ 1/2 tsp. each: salt, black pepper, turmeric, paprika
~ 2 tbsp. soy "cream cheese" (optional but nice, I used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)
~ Extra paprika and dill, for garnish

Directions:
Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth (wasn't that easy?!)

The Assembly:

~ Coat a deep-dish pie plate with cooking spray
~ Spread the vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pie plate
~ Pour the batter over the filling, smoothing with a rubber spatula to cover the veggies
~ Sprinkle with a little paprika and dill to make things pretty
~ Bake uncovered in the center of the oven 25-30 minutes, until the batter is set and golden brown on top. (Check on it occasionally during the process, since ovens differ; mine tends to be slow)
~ Allow to sit another 10-15 minutes before serving with a little hot sauce, some home fries, toast, fruit salad, or whatever else turns on your brunch light.