Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice

It’s the end of the month and I’ll push this one over the finish line. I like to get at least one post per month. This is healthy whole grains, high in protein, tasty, and way easy. And everyone should have a rice cooker.

Curry quinoa lentils and brown rice pilaf(?)

• 2/3 cup quinoa
• 2/3 cup brown rice
• 1/3 cup lentils (any type that is whole with skin)
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 dried chili
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 cup water

Wash and strain the grains, if you aren’t washing it then you’ll need more water (1/2 cup), but quinoa requires washing. Put everything in a rice cooker, and let it cook on regular.

If using the stove top, put everything into a small heavy bottom and bring to a boil with the lid on, then turn it down to a low simmer and cook covered for 35-40mins. Remove bay leaf and chili, give it a mix in the pot before serving.

You can use vegetable or chicken stock if you like, just watch the salt. This goes great with almost anything.

-L

Sweet potato latkas

some edges got a little too dark, watch the oil temps

Sweet potatoes are something I’ve been experimenting with recently. In general I don’t like really sweet vegetables (yams, pumpkin, squash, carrots, parsnips, etc.) But they (sweet potatoes, and the other veggies) are very good for you, high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. In the coming days I will post more on sweet potatoes.

Latkas are potato pancakes that can be made in different ways. They can be served plain or topped with almost anything; apple sauce, sour cream, or just ketchup (personal fav).

• 1 medium/large sweet potato*
• 1 small/medium onion*
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp  pepper
• oil for frying

* the ratio is about 3:1 of sweet potato to onion

Peel then shred sweet potato and onion, mix together with the rest of the ingredients. Heat up a heavy bottom pan (I prefer cast iron) with 1/4 – 1/2 inch of oil on medium high. I used grape seed oil, it has a very high smoking point, great for frying. Scoop mixture into pan (about 1/4 – 1/3 cup per portion), try to spread out mixture to about 4 inch in diameter, it should be a thin layer. When edges turn golden brown (3mins?), flip and cook until bottom is browned. Drain on paper towels. Add more oil in pan when needed. They should be crispy on the edges and tender inside. You can also keep them warm in the over while frying up more.

I think used half the mixture (made about and then refrigerated the rest to use the next day.

-L

Scallion and potatoes

(before baking)

Here I just threw some red scallions and red potatoes together into the oven. It’s really simple and tasty. The scallions really permeate the potatoes and the olive oil.  Spring onions are in season so this would also take advantage of them and the weather (being not too warm to use the oven).

• 2lb red bliss potatoes 
• 1 bunch of scallions or 1 spring onion
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450. Cut potatoes into 4ths or 8ths depending on size. Slice scallions on the diagonal into long pieces.  Toss together with a few tablespoons of olive oil, few dashes of salt and pepper in a baking dish or cast iron pan. Bake for 25mins or till potatoes are done.

 

-L

Midnight breakfast sandwich

My late night meal, because I’m on my nocturnal schedule. 

Some sauteed pre-sliced mushrooms and baby spinach with garlic (salt & pepper) with two sunny side up eggs in a freshly fried bun* topped with some shaved Parmesan. All done in roughly 15 minutes.  :) I had almost everything on hand prepped, and a wok full of oil left over from making falafels and of course the dough.

*Using some stored dough, take a small handful, shaped into a flat disk and deep fry medium high.  If the oil is too hot or the shape too thick the center might remain raw and doughy.

I always save a good chunk of old dough to mix into the new dough and over time my dough has developed a nice flavor.

The yolks made it more of a fork-n-knife sandwich.

 

I find it harder to cook late at night now because we keep our new puppy Monty in the kitchen. He would wake up, I’d take him out and back, then he stares at me and subversively beg for food. 

 - Lina

Feels great to be back

sugarsnap peas from the garden

I had planted them late August in a small pot (a square foot) and crossed my fingers. I knew that peas grew best in cooler temps, in the last 2 weeks it really came into bloom and I haven’t even been watering it much since the start of October. While the bottom looks like some shriveled leaves and vines, the top is lush. I was so excited when I spotted a pod from my window, I rushed out to take a picture.

And my rosemary plant is huge.

-Lina

slow month

Here’s a pic of my peak tomato harvest a little while back. It has trailed off since, there are still a lot of green ones and I’m not sure whether to pick or not. The temps are still in the high 50s at night.

September is almost over now, but hopefully we’ll get in a few food posts. I’ve been occupied with some work and Chelle was in the midst of a hurricane. Luckily she’s unscathed and promised to post more food soon.

-Lina

heart shaped bread mishap

I shaped some dough into a batard (a shorter wider baguette, inspired by an episode of ‘Baking with Julia’), and after resting I made three slits. 

But when I was transferring it into the oven, it fell in and folded over itself. I decided to make an extra slit on the bottom piece that was sticking out and baked it all the same (in an enameled cast iron pot). When it came out it was strangely symmetrical and heart shaped. <3 

The crust was perfect and the interior chewy and tender, the holes weren’t as large as I had hope but it wasn’t overly dense.

-L

Tomato salad from the garden

This year I decided to grow tomatoes (to save money, organic tomatoes are like luxury items), but I didn’t get around to it till late June. After some research on the web, I got an early variety; ‘First Lady’ that only takes 66 days to yield fruit. I bought 4 plants, and place 2 in the ‘Tomato Success Kit’ and the other 2 in a window box type planter. The ones in the Tomato Success Kit grew huge. I didn’t expect much from the other planter but it grew pretty large (but less than half the size of the other ones) with many tomatoes.

Some finally ripened early last week when the temps came down from the 90s. My first batch was about a pound and a half. I sliced them up with some basil from the garden, olive oil, black pepper and fleur de sel. It’s my favorite thing to do with these tomatoes. I made salsa a few days later with new tomatoes, which was very tasty but it can’t beat the basil-olive oil-pepper-fleur de sel experience.

Next year I’m going to grow red bell peppers. At $6.99/lb for organic at Whole Foods, I haven’t had any red bell peppers in over a year.

-Lina

Scallion pancakes

Well it’s less like a pancake and more of a crispy flat savory pastry. I got the recipe from Basil and Ginger, with excellent pictures and instructions. It’s really good and relatively easy to make (and I usually dislike anything requiring rolling). I used organic shortening, and rolled it very thin (as thin as I can get before all the scallion pieces poke out). I cooked it extra crispy and browned.

Scallion bread

As lovely as the rosemary bread was, I think this is even more awesome.

Chop one stalk of scallion, mix with 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/4 tsp of black pepper. Knead half (or more) of the scallion mixture into a large ‘grapefruit sized’ piece of dough, place on a floured surface and top the dough with the rest of the scallion. Let dough rest for 20mins, cut slits (I shaped it just like the rosemary bread), and I baked it in an enameled cast iron pot (preheated with oven to 450º for 20mins), baked with lid on for 20mins and another 15mins lid off till it was the color I wanted. It taste heavenly, so savory and aromatic. Where as rosemary loses it’s intensity when baked, scallion becomes even more flavorful.

-L