Kale Tabbouleh with Chickpeas and Pomegranate Seeds

My friend Julie recently encouraged me to try a the Kale Tabbouleh recipe she had just posted on her blog Weekend Table. I hadn't felt inspired by kale recently so I gave this recipe a shot to see if I could figure out how to get it back into my weekly menu.

Mission accomplished. This is an awesome recipe! I tweaked it a bit to meet my dietary requirements and to use some of the ingredients I had on hand but stuck to the heart of the recipe.

1. Cook one cup of bulgar, millet, or other small grain. Set aside and cool.
2. In a small bowl, mix 3 tbsp lemon juice, one shallot or half a red onion, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika and a heaping tsp of salt. Whisk in 1/2 cup of olive oil.
3. In a large bowl, combine the grains, 5-6 cups VERY finely chopped kale, 1/3 cup of chopped mint and a cup of chickpeas. Julie added two cups of diced tomatoes and I added a generous handful of pomegranate seeds I had on hand. Both add color and both work very well.

This hearty salad lasts easily for three days in the fridge. Refresh with some olive oil and a splash of lemon juice. Its colors also provides good evidence against Fox News' claims about the War on Christmas.

Slow Cooker Black Beans and Holiday Budgets

A few days ago I analyzed my spending patterns for groceries in November. Gulp. My new diet is not cheap! Fresh cashew milk, lamb, and chia seeds add up quickly and don't leave a lot of room for buying Christmas presents and stocking stuffers.

Luckily I love black beans and so does my family. Xavier, following in his mother's ''wanna-be-latino'' footsteps, chants rice and beans the way most kids say mac n' cheese. The new Smitten Kitchen Cookbook has a simple recipe for black beans in the slow cooker that I have put into rotation about once a week. If you feel like splurging (or are annoyed with the relatives on your holiday list), you can serve this with pickled red onions, avocado, cilantro, etc. but it works well on its own too.

In a large 6-quart slow cooker, combine one chopped onion, 3-5 minced garlic gloves, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon oregano, 2 teaspoons smoked paprika, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 dried chile, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and 1 lb ( 2 1/4 cups) of dried black beans. Cover with 8-10 cups of broth or water depending on how soupy you like your beans. Cook for about 6 hours on high and then mix in a tablespoon of lime juice.

Is Healthy Pumpkin Pie Worth Making? Yes!

I looked forward to Thanksgiving more this year than I ever have in the past. For months I have been anticipating my mother getting up with Xavier, my mother reading to Xavier, my mother taking long walks with Xavier…you get the drift. But I definitely wasn’t looking forward to the food. Not only am I not a huge fan of the standard offerings but with my wacky new diet, I can’t eat mashed potatoes with butter, gravy thickened with flour and pies full of both.

I contemplated just munching on string beans and plain turkey with a good book and a glass of wine. Instead I opted to join in on the culinary festivities instead with a gluten-free, vegan pumpkin pie. Don’t stop reading! Before you dismiss this recipe altogether, picture a rich crust made of pecans, honey and oats and a creamy pumpkin filling flavored with fresh spices and thickened with a bit of coconut butter.

http://ohsheglows.com/recipage/?recipe_id=6006103

I followed this recipe almost exactly but replaced the Earth Balance with coconut butter. It really was very good and with the heightened nutritional value, you can justify eating it for breakfast…all weekend!

Ottolenghi’s Kofta (Lamb meatballs)

I have a bookshelf in every room of my apartment. For anybody that lives in a Manhattan-sized apartment, this is borderline idiotic. I don’t have space for a box of Kleenex, but somehow I justify filling the rooms with stacks of books I will never read again.

The bookshelf in the dining area has a shelf devoted to cookbooks and I try to be ruthless about what books make the cut (even though ironically these are the ones I do read again.) I know I can find most recipes online but I’m 31 going on 91 and I still love making greasy fingerprints on cookbooks. 

Recently I saw the cover of Yotam Ottolenghi’s new cookbook Jerusalem and wanted it immediately. I actually ordered it and then cancelled it when I realized I didn’t have free shipping. Before I decided to simply add another cookbook to my order to qualify for free shipping, I decided to test out his Kofta recipe to make sure this book would be more than just pretty pictures.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/recipes/9540785/Kofta-bsiniyah-recipe.html

For those of you who think meatballs need breadcrumbs, make these. Believe me - crushed pine nuts taste much better than breadcrumbs and do the job of holding these little guys together perfectly.

Meeting my Hero and Raspberry Ricotta Scones

Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen fame had a book signing event for her new cookbook this past weekend. It's been months since I have cooked any of her recipes since they all include banned ingredients (sniffle), but I still read her blog religiously and fantasize about a time when my life will again include eggs, cream, cheese and warm bread.

Anyways, not being able to cook her recipes wasn't going to stop me from meeting her so I lined up with the rest of her followers to have my cookbook signed.  When it was my turn, I stumbled through an exchange with her about Xavier's birthday cake while flushing deeply. Pretty ridiculous.

The next morning, I made her Raspberry Ricotta scones - one of the few recipes in her book that she had previously written up online.

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2011/07/whole-wheat-raspberry-ricotta-scones/

It includes a long list of banned ingredients - cream, ricotta, flour, butter, etc. and they came out looking and smelling awesome. Xavier and Ryan gobbled them up and I inhaled deeply.

Chickpea Pancakes

Chickpea flour has been life changing over the past month. There are a lot of gluten-free flours out there, but most recipes call for a delicate balance of sorghum, amaranth, arrowroot and millet flour for example. By the time I read the list of ingredients, I have lost all desire to make the recipe. Something about ‘sorghum flour’ does not inspire me…

Chickpea flour, however, is straightforward, comes from a bean I’m very familiar with and tastes great. To make a chickpea flour pancake, you just mix the same amount of flour and water together and then adjust to a consistency you like. I usually do ½ a cup of each. Oil a small pan and then fill the pan entirely with the batter. Cover and let cook for 5 minutes. If you want a crispy pancake, flip it and cook it for a few more minutes.

The first time I ate it drizzled with tahini and honey. Last night I added some cumin and turmeric to the batter, cooked it with some vegetables and topped it with some sriracha. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes and you have a nutritious hearty meal. Without sorghum flour.

Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Pine Nuts

Has anybody ever had undercooked eggplant? As far as I know, it’s the only vegetable that is absolutely disgusting if it’s not cooked to death. Slight crunchy carrots? Delicious. Asparagus that retains its crispness? Awesome. Chewy eggplant? Nasty.

When I saw this recipe in Food and Wine for Stuffed Eggplant with Lamb and Pine Nuts, I was excited but wary.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/stuffed-eggplant-with-lamb-and-pine-nuts

I loved the idea of using cinnamon, lemon, tamarind and sugar to create a salty sweet balance. However, the idea of piling the lamb on top of the eggplant without hollowing it out terrified me. Undercooked eggplant alert! Therefore I carved out the eggplant and roasted the shell and the chopped up insides separately for 40 minutes ahead of time.  I then mixed the chopped eggplant with the lamb and loaded the ‘eggplant boats’ up and roasted for another 20 minutes until I was absolutely certain it was cooked.

This makes for a hearty dish so I served with an arugula, pomegranate and pecan salad for some color as well as a bit of hummus.