But this dish will make you AND the cow happy the rest of the week too.
Get the skinny…and the recipe for my Indian Black Soy Beans in Coconut-Cardamom-Cashew Sauce at The Happy Cow!
Yield: 4 servings
What’s a gal to do when she needs to use her last little bit of Kale Pesto but is craving Southwestern food? Make White Bean and Kale Pesto Quesadillas, of course!
With its hazelnuts and orange zest, this one of my kale pestos seems a little Italian. So, I mixed it with cannellini beans and lightly caramelized onions (I’m usually too impatient to make true caramelized onions), and seasoned the mixture with a hint of dried oregano and smoked paprika. This creamy and tasty filling is the perfect consistency for a quesadilla filling.
For the salsa, I combined sliced black olives and vine-ripened tomatoes, a combo that could lean towards either Italy or the Southwest. So to nudge it toward The Boot, I sprinkled it with just a bit of balsamic vinegar.
Since kale is more of a cool weather veggie, and tomatoes like it warm, if tomatoes aren’t yet available in your farmers market, I would suggest substituting sundried tomatoes chopped a little more finely than the diced ones called for in the recipe. And, whatever you do, avoid the temptation to purchase sliced black olives in a can. They taste like what salt water would taste like if it was chewable. Instead, purchase olives whole from your grocery deli and slice them yourself.
Hurry and make this dish before this winter’s kale is all gone! You’ll have a new favorite in your repertoire.
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, halved and then sliced
1 to 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1-15.5 ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup Vegan Kale, Toasted Hazelnut, and Orange Zest Pesto
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vegan butter
4- 8 inch whole wheat tortillas (I buy a spelt four variety at Organic Depot that I love)
1/4 cup vegan sour cream
Tomato-Black Olive Salsa (recipe follows)
Approximately 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or cilantro leaves
Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add the onion and saute, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until it starts to turn golden brown. Lower heat to prevent burning if necessary. Add garlic and saute, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Stir in beans, pesto, oregano, and smoked paprika, and heat through. Scrape into a bowl and set aside. Wipe out skillet and heat/melt 1 tablespoon each of olive oil and vegan butter over medim-high. Meanwhile spread half of each of the 4 tortillas with 1/4 of bean mixture. Fold remaining half over and press gently to seal. Cook two at a time for 1-2 minutes per side or until golden brown and toasty. Keep warm while your repeat with the remaining quesadilla ingredients. To serve, cut each one in half, overlap one half on the other, top with 1 tablespoon sour cream, 1/4 cup of the salsa, and 1 tablespoon of the fresh basil or cilantro. Serve immediately.
Tomato-Black Olive Salsa
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (if tomatoes aren’t in season when kale is in your neck of the woods, substitute sundried ones)
1/2 cup sliced black olives (avoid using canned!)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a small non-reactive bowl, and toss gently to combine. Set aside or refrigerate, covered, until serving time.
For 150+ more seasonal recipes, many with a flare for fusion, dip into The Blooming Platter Cookbook!
On February 20, my White Bean and Pesto Tart from The Blooming Platter Cookbook was a “Meatless Monday” feature on The Happy Cow, but I somehow neglected to share it with you. My apologies!
This lovely and healthy tart is super-simple, yet special enough for company. It’s perfect for a spring brunch or luncheon. But you won’t want to wait for company to come!
Yield: 6 servings
I have been absolutely wild for Indian food ever since I discovered it while living in Nashville in the late 1980s. I treated myself to a huge Indian buffet for lunch on more Sundays than I can count. My heart would start beating faster at the first whiff of those heady aromas, heck, at the first glimpse of the restaurant’s sign. Ever since, I’ve sought out my beloved Indian cuisine from New York to London and points in between.
It’s unthinkable now, but when we first moved to Virginia, there were no Indian restaurants, so I taught myself how to cook some of my favorite dishes using one of Julie Sahni’s cookbooks. Now I feel confident enough to create my own recipes, and this sumptuous rendition of Coconut Dal is my newest creation, just a week or so old. Enjoy!
1 pound orange lentils, picked over, rinsed and drained
4 cups water or vegetable stock
1-15.5 ounce can coconut milk
Pinch of sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 medium onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1/2 of an Annaheim pepper, seeds and pulp removed, finely diced
2 medium cloves garlic, finely diced
1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, and very finely chopped
1 tablespoon vegan buter (I like Earth Balance)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons funengreek (methi) seeds, ground (I use a coffee grinder devoted to spices)
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 small-medium fresh tomatoes, diced (about 1 cup)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Sea salt to taste
Accompaniment: cooked basmati rice, roasted and lightly salted cashew halves and pieces, cilantro sprigs
In a two-quart saucepan combine, dal, water, cocont milk, and a pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a gentl boil, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes or until tender. Lentils will break down and become creamy. The ideal consistency should be a little “soupy,” rather than porridge-like, so add additional water or vegetable stock if desired.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add the cinnamon stick and cumin seeds and saute, stirring, for about 30 seconds. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes or until transluscent. Add the Annaheim pepper, garlic, ginger, and vegan butter, and saute, stirring occasionally, for 2 to 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in coriander, funengreek, and turmeric and saute, stirring, for about a minute.
When lentils are tender, remove the cinnamon stick from the onion mixture, and stir the latter into the lentils. Turn off the heat, adjust the seasoning with ground spices and/or salt if desired (not cumin seeds at this point, as they need to toast), and gently stir in tomatoes and cilantro. Serve immediately over basmati rice, sprinkle with cashews and cilantro, and serve immediately. Alternatively, I like to serve a shallow bowl of the dal with a scoop of rice in the center like an island, garnished with cashews and cilantro.
Hedge your bets for good fortune–and certainly good health–in 2012 by eating your black eyed peas the Blooming Platter way throughout the month of January and beyond.
Follow this link to my recipe for Vegan Black Eyed Pea Cakes with Sundried Tomato Tartar Sauce from The Blooming Platter (Vegan) Cookbook on One Green Planet.
Thanks OGP and Happy New Year all year!
With Hanukkah and other winter holidays just around the corner, I was thrilled that One Green Planet (OGP) published my latkes recipe from The Blooming Platter Cookbook (TBPC) to which I added a couple of tasty toppings to make them more of a tapas-style meal.
Consider them dressed up for the season!
Find the recipe and a little about their inspiration here.
Thanks OGP for making our holidays and our world just a little greener!
To purchase TBPC, just click on the title in RED above.
This recipe is a favorite among my recipes on Cookstr (the World’s No. 1 Collection of Cookbook Recipes Online!).
And here, in VA Beach, the weather has finally turned cool, so warming up with my Vegan Sage-Scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash from The Blooming Platter Cookbook is on the menu. A brand new butternut squash from a trip to the farmers’ market last weekend awaits!
Below I offer a little sneak preview of the recipe, one of several holiday “gifts” I’ll be offering this month. Enjoy!
Sage-scented Fettuccine with Butternut Squash
Yield: 4 servings
This light recipe places golden squash center stage and uses just enough pasta to hold the dish together. I recommend using whole wheat pasta, as its nuttiness contributes significantly to the distinctive flavor of this dish.
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, quartered lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch thick slices
Sea salt
1 cup vegetable stock
1 yellow onion, halved and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup white wine
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons rubbed sage
4 ounces whole wheat fettuccine (or pasta of choice)
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Freshly ground black pepper
Fresh sage leaves, optional
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the squash, sprinkle with salt, and cook for 5 minutes. Don’t worry if the squash starts to break apart. Add the vegetable stock and cook, still stirring gently until the liquid is almost evaporated, about 7 minutes.
2. Add the onion and season with a little more salt. Cook until the onion begins to soften, 3 minutes. Add the wine, and cook until moisture is almost evaporated and mixture is caramelized. Stir in the maple syrup, vinegar, and sage. Keep warm.
3. Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and return it to the hot pot. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, the nutritional yeast, and salt and pepper to taste; toss to combine. Add the vegetable mixture to the pasta and toss again to combine. Serve hot garnished with fresh sage leaves, if using.
For 150+ more seasonal specialties, including ones appropriate for the holidays, I invite you to check out my cookbook. A great holiday present, it’s the gift that gives all year long!
My Thanksgiving Day post is coming up, but–and I bet it is no different in your household–there is no time for carefully staging food photographs in the midst of the convivial holiday hubbub. So, before the throngs gather today–and, in any event, with less going on in the kitchen–I hope to photograph the components of our meal. I made one recent recipe and two brand new ones that received rave reviews, so I’m looking forward to sharing them with you.
In the meantime, though, I am excited to offer this Thai-inspired pumpkin dish. If you follow The Platter, you know that I am all about fresh pumpkin this year, including in Asian preparations, like this one and my Vegan Miso-Roasted Pumpkin and Grilled Tofu over Udon Noodles which was featured on OneGreenPlanet.org.
Pumpkin is so agreeable to rubs, and this peanut butter riff is no exception. Enjoy it with creamy white chunks of tofu over my silky, golden, and pleasantly spicy melange of red bell peppers, onions and chard in a coconut-red curry sauce thickened with pureed pumpkin. Its subtle tang is courtesy of fresh lime juice and vegan fish sauce.
Yield: 4 servings
Fresh Peanut Butter-Roasted Pumpkin:
2 tablespoons smooth natural peanut butter
1 tablespoon vegan fish sauce (sold as “vegetarian fish sauce” in Asian markets)
1 teaspoon prepared Thai red curry paste
1 1/4 pounds pumpkin (this weight is with seeds and pulp removed, but the skin still on) , peeled and cut into about 3/4 inch cubes
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Oil a large metal baking dish and set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together peanut butter, vegan fish sauce, and curry paste until smooth. Add pumpkin and toss gently to coat. Transfer to the prepared baking pan, spread out, place in the oven and roast for about 8 minutes. Stir gently or flip chunks, and roast an additional 8 minutes or until lightly caramelized. While pumpkin roasts, make sauce. When pumpkin is finished cooking, remove the pan from the oven. If sauce isn’t quite finished, cover pumpkin to keep warm.
Vegan Thai Pumpkin and Coconut Milk Curry Sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 of a large onion, cut into 1/4-inch wide slivers
Pinch sea salt
1 large red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, cut into 1/4-inch wide slivers and then cut in half crosswise
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cups finely chopped Swiss chard–I use the food processor for this task (about 1 bunch with thick stems removed; you may use kale or spinach instead, but the chard was lovely at our farmer’s market recently)
2 tablespoons prepared red curry paste (feel free to adjust the amount to your taste)
1-15 ounce can coconut milk or lite coconut milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup vegan fish sauce
Juice of one lime
Sea salt to taste
Optional, but recommended: 1 tablespoon each finely chopped Thai basil and cilantro or to taste
Accompaniments: 12 ounces regular tofu cut into 1 inch chunks (baked, broiled or simply heated and kept warm until serving time); and 2 cups cooked Jasmine rice
Garnish: chopped peanuts, sliced green onions, and optional lime wedges
In a large cast iron skillet or wok, heat olive oil over medium-high. Add onion and a pinch of sea salt and saute, stirring, for about 3 minutes or until onion begins to soften. Add bell peppers and continue sauteing for about 2-3 more minutes or until it begins to soften. Add garlic and chard and saute for one to two minutes or until chard is tender, but still bright green. Add curry paste and saute, stirring, just until smooth and incorporated. Add coconut milk and pumpkin puree, and cook until heated through. Add fish sauce and lime juice, and stir to combine. Check for seasoning, and add salt if necessary. Stir in optional Thai basil and cilantro and remove from heat. Serve sauce over cooked Jasmine rice topped with roasted pumpkin and tofu. Garnish with chopped peanuts and sliced green onion.
For 150+ more specialties of the season, I hope you will check out The Blooming Platter Cookbook.
I was thrilled to come home today from a quick overnighter (yesterday was a school holiday) to North Carolina’s captivating Outer Banks to learn that the wonderful folks at One Green Planet had published my recipe for Vegan Miso-Roasted Pumpkin and Grilled Tofu over Udon Noodles. Just click the recipe title to be taken directly to the recipe on their site. Enjoy!
And, of course, you can find 150 more seasonal delights in:
The Blooming Platter Cookbook: A Harvest of Seasonal Vegan Recipes.
