love Dinner Co-op

I've got the night off -- by myself. Curled up with the dog and a book on the sofa. Eating baked beans, lovely homemade bread, and carrot salad (not shown) added just yet another layer of great to the night. I added left-over bits of brie from Sunday. It's as good as a dinner could possibly be. And I thought worthy of a photo op. I wish I'd thought to take a photo of Zoe and Marc's beautiful salad with the tinier-than-I would-ever-bother apples that arrived last night. I love dinner co-op.

Tempeh and Wild Mushroom Fricassee, Roasted Root Vegetables, and Salad

Tempeh and Wild Mushroom Fricassee

This is a great recipe. We made it as the main vegetarian dish on Thanksgiving and loved it - so I thought I'd make it for co-op too. We had 4 of the recipes from this article over the Thanksgiving weekend - thanks Cynthia!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/11/08/health/20101108_thanksgiving.html?ref=health#Tempeh_and_Wild_Mushroom_Fricassee

Rosemary Roasted Vegetables

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Rosemary-Roasted-Vegetables-236313

Peas Pilau, Cucumber Salad, and Naan

This is one of our favorite meals and from the feedback I think everyone else really enjoyed it too! My sister got me Cooking with my Indian mother-in-law for my birthday (yay!) so the library will finally get its copy back. Really one of the best cookbooks I've ever used. I feel like every meal I've made from it is really good restaurant quality. Plus it's been a bit of a cooking course with fun pastes and spice mixes.

Peas pilau

I tripled this recipe to make sure there would be leftovers too. I'm including the recipes with my modifications (e.g. brown rice, no chilies, potatoes with skins, etc...)

2 c. brown rice

5 cloves garlic

1 1/2 in ginger

2 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds

4 in cinnamon stick, broken into 2 pieces

6 cardamoms

4 cloves

8 peppercorns

3 tbsp oil

1/2 onion, quartered and thinly sliced

4 sm potatoes, cut into 2 in dice

1/3 can of diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp turmeric

2 c frozen peas

4 eggs, boiled for 6 minutes and shelled

Wash the rice in several changes of water, then soak in warm water for at least an hour. Use a mortar and pestle to pound the garlic, ginger, and salt into a paste and set aside. Put the cumin seeds, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cloves, and peppercorns in a glass filled with water and soak for 5 minutes.

Heat the oil in a large stock pot and fry the onion over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to turn golden brown. This step takes longer than you think especially if you are using non-stick pans - so make sure and keep at it for at least 10 minutes. Drain the soaking spices (reserve the liquid and add to water you'll be using in a few steps) and add them to the onion. Cook for a few minutes and, when aromatic, add the garlic-ginger paste. Stir well, reduce the heat and cook gently for 1 minute. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, and turmeric and bring up to simmering point. Cook over medium heat until the oil pools around the sides of the pan. Add the 3 cups of water (including the reserved liquid) and the frozen peas, and bring to a boil.

Drain and add the rice, stir and bring back to simmering point. Cover and cook for 5 minutes before reducing the heat to low to cook the rice slowly, for at least 30 minutes, without stirring. Then gently tuck the eggs into the rice and continue cooking with the lid on until the rice is just cooked. Don't stir the rice yet, but watch the water level - take a spoon and gently part a little of the rice from the side of the pan to allow you to peek down at the bottom. If the water has been absorbed before the rice is cooked, add more boiling water (say half a cupful at a time) and continue cooking and checking the water until the rice is just cooked.

For Sunday before Thanksgiving

We are still working on Monday but we have a plan for Sunday...
Tofu a la Bourguigonne on a bed of quinoa and spinach (recipe from allrecipes.com)
Beet salad with almonds and chives (also from allrecipes.com)

Halloween Dinner

Deviled eggs
Eggs
Smoky paprika
smoky salt
mustard
water
bit of olive oil
bit of lemon


Brussel Sprouts with pecan and cranberry pesto

(written for four)

1.5 lbs brussel sprouts
3 T olive oil
3/4 t salt
.5 t pepper
1/4 c pesto (see below)

pesto:
1/2 c almonds, toasted
1/2 c dried cranberries
3 cloves roasted garlic
parsley
1/2 c olive oil
(and I add garlic chives)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut and trim brussel sprouts.
Toss with oil.
Roast in oven 25 min on baking sheet. Interior should be fork-tender and there is a bit of browning.

Make pesto, adding oil through the mayo spot in the processor slowly. Toss with brussel sprouts.




Lemony Quinoa
3/4 c pecans, toasted
1 c. quinoa
2 c water
salt
1/4 c lemon juice
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 sweet or red onion, chopped
bit of cayenne, cumin
parsley

Cook and cool quinoa water and salt. Add rest and serve.


Apple Betty
4 c. sliced apples
1/4 c orange juice
3/4 c flour
1 c sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t nutmeg
pinch salt
1/2 c butter

Preheat to 375. Grease 9 inch pie plate. Mound apples in plate. Sprinkle with OJ. In bowl, mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter until it reaches "course crumbs." Scatter over apples. Bake 45 min.

Recipes! Vinaigrette and Lentil Soup

Basic Vinaigrette Dressing (stolen from Mark Bittman)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons or more good wine vinegar
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large shallot, cut into chunks

1. Combine all ingredients except the shallot in a blender and turn it on; a creamy emulsion will form within 30 seconds. Taste and add vinegar a teaspoon at a time until it tastes balanced to you. (I actually had to add more olive oil - I guess our white wine vinegar was too strong.)
2. Add the shallot and pulse the blender on and off a few times until the shallot is minced. Taste, adjust the seasonings if necessary, and serve.

I added about a 1/4 cup of chopped parsley to the dressing. He also suggested adding basil, dill, rosemary, tarragon, or thyme.

This dressing will keep, refrigerated, for a few days. Just bring it to room temperature and whisk it before serving.

==============================================================================

Lentil Minestrone (from Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone)

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra virgin oil to finish
2 cups finely chopped onion
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
4 chopped garlic cloves
3 diced carrots
1 cup diced celery or celery root
salt and freshly milled pepper
1 cup French green lentils, sorted and rinsed
aromatics - 2 bay leaves, 8 parsley branches, 6 thyme sprigs
9 cups water or basic vegetable stock
mushroom soy sauce to taste
1 bunch greens - mustard, broccoli rabe, chard, or spinach
2 cups cooked small pasta, like shells or orecchiette
thin shavings of parmesan-reggiano

Heat the oil in a wide soup pot with the onion. Saute over high heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the tomate paste, parsley, garlic, vegetables, and 2 teaspoons salt and cook 3 minutes more. Add the lentils, aromatics, and water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 30 minutes. Taste for salt and season with pepper. If it needs more depth, add mushroom soy sauce to taste, staring with 1 tablespoon. Remove the aromatics.

Boil the greens in salted water until they're tender and bright green, then chop them coarsely. Just before serving, add the greens and pasta to the soup and heat through. Serve with EVOO drizzled into each bowl, a generous grind of pepper, and the parmesan.

I heart Deborah Madison. I've loved everything we've tried from her book - she's my hero!

Chickenless Dumplings, Salad, and Fruit

Chickenless Dumplings

This was a Martha Stewart recipe I've been looking at for years and finally decided to modify and try. I think it was one of my best co-op meals to date...hope you enjoyed. I made it again for Chris's birthday and now I'm finally posting because my sister has been asking for the recipe. I can't believe how much like chicken soup this tastes to me - especially the next day. I need to keep batches of this in the freezer since it's all I want when I'm sick...or cold.

1 package Quorn chik'n tenders

4 medium carrots

1 medium onion, thinly sliced into half moons

2 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 in pieces

1 garlic clove, minced

1 bay leaf

1 1/2 c. low-sodium stock

1 tsp coarsely chopped fresh thyme

1/4 c plus 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal

3/4 c all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp finely chopped shallot

1 tbsp freshly grated lemon zest

3/4 c finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp finely grated pecorino

1 1/2 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 c. low-fat milk

Bring 2 quarts of water, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, bay leaf, stock and 1/8 tsp salt to boil in a medium pot. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, shallot, zest, parsley, and cheese in a medium bowl. Add butter, and blend in with fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk, and stir with a for, until a dough forms.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls; add all at once to simmering broth. Cover; simmer, undisturbed, until the dumplings are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

While dumplings are cooking, cook Quorn in a pan with a little olive oil over medium-high heat. Add salt and pepper. Once Quorn is lightly browned and heated through, add to the broth.