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Pretty In Pink

February 19, 2012 //
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Beans (like Molly Ringwald) can be a thing of beauty. And I don’t think that’s just because I like Joni Mitchell, spent formative years in Vermont, or went to college a lentil’s throw from the Moosewood Restaurant. I’ve written here about chili, here about black beans, here about enchiladas, and here about my all-time favorite white beans from Union Square Cafe. My love for the legume, is, I feel, well documented.

I had some red kidney beans from Cayuga Pure Organics kicking around my cupboard and felt like taking them out for a spin. So I soaked them overnight without having a particular plan in mind, but knowing you can’t go wrong with having soaked beans around. They’re just too versatile. Today, after they’d bathed for close to twenty-four hours, I drained their soaking liquid, filled the pot with fresh water, threw in half an onion, three big cloves of garlic, and cranked up the heat. I cooked them for one hour until the beans were soft enough to squish in between my fingers.

I still didn’t quite know what I was going to do when my Ninja blender caught my attention on the other end of the counter. When in doubt: puree. I decided I’d make a bean dip. I let the beans cool a little, then mostly drained them, threw them in the Ninja with the cooked onion and garlic, and poked around for what else could smooth out the dip. I settled on homemade sesame tahini that was already made, and lots of salt and pepper. But it needed a little something for body. I had leftover cooked rice so I threw in 1/4 cup of that. One ninja minute later, I had a very pretty, pink dip. In the spring or summertime I would definitely add some fresh herbs to the mix.

I can’t really think of a type of bean this recipe wouldn’t work well for, so if you have black, pinto, navy, or other kinds of beans in the larder, give it a whirl. And I mean that literally.

Pretty in Pink Bean Dip

1 c dried red kidney beans (or your favorite type of bean)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
1/4 c tahini
1/4 c cooked rice (white or brown, short or long)
salt
pepper

Soak your beans overnight, covered by 3 inches of water. The next day, when you’re ready to roll, drain the soaking liquid, and refill the pot with water, covering the beans by about 2 inches of water. Throw in the onion, halved, and garlic cloves. Bring the water to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. Cook on low-medium heat with a slightly ajar lid until the beans are thoroughly cooked through, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Turn the heat off and let the beans come to room temperature. Now you can drain the cooking liquid completely or preserve to use later (I made extra beans—2 c dried—and preserved the liquid to make a soup with the other half of cooked beans tomorrow). Remove any skins that may have been left on the onions and garlic and discard. Transfer the beans to a blender or food processor with about 1/2 of the cooked onion and all of the garlic cloves. Add the tahini, rice, and a good pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Puree until smooth.

Delicious served with your favorite cracker (I love Late July classic saltines), spread on bread, or served with raw veggies. I also admit to eating it by itself, by the spoonful. Think of it as hummus 2.0.

Postscript for my sister Hope – the onion and garlic will kill you, but try this with cooked leeks, celery, and carrots instead, and/or add 1/2 veggie bouillon.

How gorgeous is this tahini? Looks like raw honey.

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Categories Beans, Co-op, Entertaining, Farmer's Market, Herbs, Rice, Savory, Snacks, Winter

Curry in a Hurry

February 8, 2012 //
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Lentils can be quick. Let me prove it to you. I worked from home yesterday and in the time it took me to get ready to go to a noon yoga class I had prepared a dahl with rice.

I’ve written before on dahl but that was a little more labor-intensive and time-consuming than this quickie meal. This meal, while it can be put together in a snap, still has plenty of payoff: filling, satisfying, and spicy, these lentils go great with steaming basmati rice and a side of greens.

I’m not sure how or why, but dahl is one my ultimate comfort foods. Given that I grew up on pb&j and fish sticks, this isn’t necessarily intuitive, but it’s now a given. Once I discovered I could make my own at home, well, the rest is history.

And one of the best parts about this dish was I had everything on hand and did not consult even one recipe. I worked from memory and guessed on the amounts of everything.

If you have garam masala on hand it will make this meal all that faster. If not, you have a couple of options. Either use what you have and make the best of it: turmeric powder and ground cumin will go a long way. If you have coriander seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom seeds, whole black peppercorns, mustard seeds, and the time and patience, I’d recommend quickly toasting these in a small cast-iron skillet, then grinding in a spice or coffee grinder. You can see my recipe here for a homemade curry powder, or garam masala.

Any lentils will really work here, except maybe French green lentils, which I’d use more for salads than dahl. I used the red lentils I always have on hand—the pinch of turmeric is what turns the dish yellow. I threw in half a veggie bouillon cube for flavor, but you definitely don’t need to.

The key to making this dish, and making it seem effortless, is getting everything cooking in the pot, then forgetting about it while you go do something else for a while, like some downward dogs.

Curry in a Hurry

Makes 4 servings

1 tbsp olive oil, butter, or ghee
1 medium onion, diced
2 dried red chiles
1 tbsp garam masala
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 c water
1 c lentils, rinsed and drained
1/2 bouillon cube, optional
salt, to taste

In a large, sturdy pot, heat your oil or butter over a medium flame, then add the diced onion. Cook the onion for about 5-10 minutes; you can leave the lid partially on to speed along the cooking and avoid the onions smoking. Once the onions are translucent or starting to brown, add a dash of salt, 1 or 2 dried red chiles, depending on how much heat you like, the garam masala, and turmeric. Give it all a stir.

Add 1 c of water and the lentils and turn up the heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, you can add the bouillon if using, and the remaining 1 c water. Turn the heat down to simmer and cover completely. Let simmer for at least 15 minutes, if that’s all the time you have, a little bit more if you’ve got the time. Turn off the heat, keep the lid on, and let stand for at least 10 more minutes.

Quick tip: I turned off the heat on the lentils after about 15 minutes of cooking, went to my class, and when I came back they were done. (If you like them more creamy, or completely dissolved, let cook for longer.) Same with the rice, I turned off the heat after it cooked for only 15 minutes, and it cooked itself in the steam with the lid on.

Serve the dahl over rice. If it’s spicy you might like a little plain yogurt spooned on top. I also like to eat this with a side of sauteed collard greens or kale.

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Categories Curry, Rice, Savory, Winter

Quinoa: breakfast of champions

February 6, 2012 //
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I so loved my breakfast this morning I wanted to share. I had pseudocereal. At least, that’s an official unofficial term for the crop-like grain known to us as quinoa (pronounced keen-wa).

I first started eating quinoa back in 2005 when I was a cook at Plantation Farm Camp in Cazadero, California. There we would serve it to the kids for lunch, at room temperature, usually with some chopped nuts and dried cranberries. The grain itself has a hearty, nutty flavor, and takes on whatever tastes you add to it, much like rice.

I picked up some red quinoa at the Park Slope Food Co-op this past Friday after my shift and decided to make it this morning for breaky rather than microwave cold cereal as I reported doing recently. It’s as easy to make as oatmeal. You can basically use a 2:1 ratio of water to quinoa; you bring the water to a boil, with the quinoa already in the pot, reduce heat to simmer, cook for 10-15 minutes on low, low heat, then turn the heat off and let it sit for 5 minutes before fluffing and eating.

Breakfast can get so redundant and boring I’m trying to spice things up a little. I’m usually quite hungry when I wake up so like to eat something that’s gonna fill me up and tide me over til lunch. Whole grains are our best friend in the morning, and quinoa is no exception. It’s packed with protein, manganese, magnesium, folate, and phosphorus.

You can add anything at all to it that you’d like: dried fruit (during or after cooking), chopped nuts, sea salt, butter, soy sauce, olive oil, milk. I bet some bonito flakes with a little soy sauce would be delicious. Or for something a little sweeter, maple syrup and almond milk. Go crazy. Have fun. This is breakfast after all.

Side note: What’s funny about all this is just this weekend I was telling a friend I’d never start photographing something so banal as my breakfast and start posting it on my blog. But breakfast just got too good. Happy Monday!

Monday Morning Quinoa

Serves 2

1/2 c quinoa
1 c water
2 tbsp chopped apricots (or other dried fruit)
1 tbsp flax oil (or olive oil)
sea salt

Combine the quinoa, water, and dried fruit in a medium-sized pot with a tight-fitting lid. Bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer, leaving the lid on. Go take a shower while it cooks for 10-15 minutes. Turn the heat off and let sit for 5-10 minutes with the lid on while you get dressed, then fluff with a fork before serving. Drizzle the oil and add a pinch of sea salt.

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Categories Breakfast, Co-op, Grains, Winter
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