Curried Red Lentils & Caramelized Onions with Basmati Rice

Curried Red Lentils & Caramelized Onions with Basmati Rice
Ingredients
for the onions
2              Tbsp regular unsalted or vegan butter
3              Medium onions (white or sweet), halved & thinly sliced
1/2         Tsp salt
1/2         Tsp sugar

for the curried lentil
2              Tbsp canola, olive, or coconut oil
4              Medium garlic cloves, minced
1              Tbsp minced gingerroot
2              Tsp curry powder
1/2         Tsp smoked paprika (optional)
1/2         Tsp ground cumin (optional)
3 1/2      Cup water
1              14oz Can unsweetened coconut milk, divided
1 1/2      Cup dried red lentils, rinsed and picked over to remove any stones
-              Salt
1/4         Cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

for the basmati rice
1 1/2      Cup basmati rice
2              Tbsp unsalted butter or canola oil
1 1/2      Cup water
1              Tsp salt

Instructions

1) Begin by preparing the caramelized onions: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, salt, and sugar, then cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and begin to color slightly (about 5 minutes). Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are tender and nicely browned 9about 15 minutes). NOTE: Turn down the heat if onions start to burn.

2) While onions are sautéing, prepare the lentils: In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the garlic, ginger, curry powder, and sweet paprika/cumin (if using). Cook, stirring often, until fragrant (about 1 minute). Add the water, 1 Cup of the coconut milk, lentils and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer, stirring once or twice, until the lentils have fallen apart (15 to 20 minutes).

3) Uncover, raise the heat, and simmer until the lentils thicken a bit (they will be loose but not liquidy), about 5 minutes. Stir in the cilantro, adjust seasonings, add salt to taste.

4) While lentils are simmering, prepare the basmati rice: Place rice in a medium bowl and fill with cold water. Swish rice around with your fingers then carefully drain the water. Repeat 4 or 5 more times until the water is no longer cloudy. Set rice aside.

5) Heat butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until rice smells toasted but has not colored (about 3 minutes). Add the water, remaining coconut milk (about 3/4 cup) and salt and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook (without opening the lid) until all of the liquid has been absorbed (about 10 minutes).

6) Remove the pot from the heat and let rice sit, covered, for 10 more minutes to finish cooking. Fluff rice with a fork and serve in individual bowls topped with curried lentils and caramelized onions. Garnish with additional chopped cilantro, if desired.

This is Jack Bishop's recipe from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen and it is an amazingly delicious recipe. I think coconut oil adds a nice flavor and I typically do it with short grain brown rice and I bet it would also be great with wild or black rice. 

Enjoy!

Gazpacho with Cucumber Juice

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds vine-ripened tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• Cucumber juice (juiced from 2 cucumbers)
• 1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red onion
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 medium garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon toasted, ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

Directions

Core, seed and chop the tomatoes. I chopped them small enough so that I left some of the gazpacho chunky and didn't put it through the food processor. When seeding the tomatoes, place the seeds and pulp into a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl in order to catch the juice. Press as much of the juice through as possible and then add to bowl for gazpacho.

Place the tomatoes and cucumber juice into a large mixing bowl. Add the chopped cucumber, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno, garlic clove, olive oil, lime juice, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, cumin, basil, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Transfer 1 1/2 cups of the mixture to a blender and puree for 15 to 20 seconds on high speed. Return the pureed mixture to the bowl and stir to combine. Cover and chill for 2 hours and up to overnight.

I only chilled mine for about 45 minutes and it still was delicious. Very fresh and summery. If I had it, I would have served with a crostini drizzled in olive oil. 

Zucchini Apricot Muffins

I haven't made these yet, but I thought it would be a really good way to use the extra zucchini in my farmshare.

·      250 grams (about 2 cups) whole-wheat pastry flour

·      2 teaspoons baking powder

·      1 teaspoon baking soda

·      2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

·      1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

·      1/4 teaspoon salt

·      75 grams (1/3 cup) canola or sunflower oil

·      180 grams (3 extra-large) eggs

·      75 grams (1/3 cup) raw brown sugar or muscovado sugar

·      50 grams (1/4 cup) milk

·      2 teaspoons vanilla

·      250 grams (1/2 pound) zucchini, grated (about 2 cups)

·      100 grams dried apricots, cut in 1/4-inch dice (about 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Oil muffin tins. The recipe makes about 14 1/2-cup muffins.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.

3. In a medium or large bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla. Quickly whisk in the sifted dry ingredients. Fold in the grated zucchini and the dried apricots. Fill muffin tins about 3/4 full.

4. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the muffins are brown on the edges and a tester comes out clean. Remove from the heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tin, then remove from the tins and allow to cool on a rack.

Note: You can use flexible silicone molds for these; if you do, allow the muffins to cool completely in the mold. Then they will release easily.

Yield: 14 muffins

Advance preparation: These keep, wrapped in a kitchen towel or cloth bag, for a few days at room temperature. They freeze well.

Nutritional information per muffin: 178 calories; 7 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 48 milligrams cholesterol; 25 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 212 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 4 grams protein

Easy and fast fish stew

I used this recipe tonight for our new community supported fisheries catch that I froze from last week (I think it was hake).

I also used some chopped leeks in the onion, garlic, carrot mix. I also added paprika and a little coriander to the fish along with some salt before I put it in the pot. It came out delicious. If you like things a little spicier, you could add some cayenne at the same time.

Let me know what you think if you try it.

Enjoy!

Easiest Banana Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 very ripe bananas
2 whole eggs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar, oil, bananas and eggs (in that order). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth. This goes really fast in an electric mixer.
Rub the inside of a 9" loaf pan with vegetable oil to prevent sticking. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

I've made this many ways, with whole wheat flour, 3 bananas, 1 banana. It all works, it's a very adaptable recipe.

bean, carmelized onion and kale enchiladas

First make a chili adobo sauce:

1 tbls corn or canola oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, minced with 1 tbls sauce (Joe likes to get good dried chilis from Christinas and reconstitute them with hot water, like you would with porcinis)
2 tbls chili powder (less if you like it less spicy like me!)
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 cup canned tomato sauce
3/4 cup water
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt

Sauce:
1. heat the oil over medium heat and add onion - cook for 5 mins. Add garlic, chipotle, adobo sauce, chili powder, cumin, coriander and oregano and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato sauce and water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer to blend the flavors, about 5 minutes. Stir in the lime juice adn adjust seasonings, salt to taste. This can be cooled and refridgerated in an airtight container for up to two days.

2. Filling and tortillas

1 tbsp canola or corn oil
1 lb onions (3 med), halved and thinly sliced
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
8 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded (2 cups)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
10 6-inch corn tortillas
1 15 oz can of black beans

1. heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion, sugar and salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions begin to brown slightly, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and continue to cook, stirring often, until the onions are deeply browned and very soft, about 15 minutes. Scrape the onions into a medium bowl and cool to room temp. Toss with 1 and 1/2 cup of cheese and cilantro.

Meanwhile heat black beans in a small sauce pan with 1/2 cup of fresh orange juice. heat for 5 minutes and transfer into the onion bowl and mix well. We also sometimes sautee spinach, chard or kale to mix with this combination as well.

2. Heat oven to 300 degrees, spray each individual tortilla with vegetable cooking spray, lay them out on a cookie sheets and bake in over for 3 minutes or until pliable. Remove tortillas and baking sheets from oven and raise temp to 400 degrees

3. Spread a layer of the adobo sauce in the bottom of a 13x9inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Fill and roll your enchiladas and place them (seam side down)packed tightly into baking dish. Sprinkle top with the rest of the cheese.

4. Cover baking dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Enjoy with lime wedges and any other garnishes that you desire.

Root Vegetable Tarts with Rosemary

This recipe is versatile - we used parsnips, carrots and potatoes, but I think a fennel would be nice too, or whatever other root vegetables you have.

1 14 oz package of frozen puff pastry (pepperidge farms makes some that tasted good)
4 small turnips, scrubbed and cut into 1 inch wedges or chunks
4 medium new potatoes, scrubbed adn cut into 1 inch chunks
1 medium red onion, cut into 8 wedges
2 medium carrots, peeled adn cut into 1 inch chunks
2 tbls olive oil
salt and fresh ground pepper
2 tsps balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary

1. Defrost teh puff pastry according to package instructions.
2. Move oven rack to middle position adn heat the over to 400 degrees. Spread out the veggies on a large rimmed baking sheet (i did mine in a baking dish because i wanted less chance of spillage in the oven). Drizzle olive oil over the veggies and toss them to coat evenly. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast, turning after about 25 minutes, until golden brown in spots, about 40 minutes. Remove veggies from oven, but don't turn it off.
3. When the veg goes in the oven, unfold the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 4 rectangles. Refridgerate or freeze 2 of these for another use. Roll the rest into 7-inch squares. (I rolled up the edges to create a rim).Transfer the rolled puff pastry squares to a large baking sheet.
4. When the veggies are done, toss them in a bowl with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and rosemary. Spoon the veg into the puff pastry squares, leaving a 3/4 inch border around the edges.
5. Bake the tarts until the pastry is deeply browned, 25-30 minutes. Serve immediately or at room temp. We topped ours with goat cheese and it was the right choice.