Open faced lentil loaf sandwich

Lunch today was delicious: a piece of home-made sourdough bread, toasted in a pan, a teaspoon of harissa, baby spinach and an individual lentil loaf, with more harissa and feta crumbles. Yum!

Ski Snack

A vegan Moroccan lentil loaf makes a great snack before facing the winter ski trails.

Moroccan Lentil Loaves

Today, I was in the mood for something vegan, spicy --- and "meaty". I was inspired by a  recipe of the wonderful Angela @ Oh She Glows, the Ultimate Vegan Lentil Walnut loaf, but by adding different spices and ingredients, it became my  Moroccan Lentil loaf.

Ingredients:

(makes only 6 small servings)

1 1/2 cup of cooked lentils, chickpeas and cranberry beans (or beans of your liking)

1 1/2 TB harissa (Moroccan spicy hot pepper paste)

1/4 onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1 ts minced garlic (Trader Joes!)

1 stalk celery, cleaned, finely diced

1/2 TB olive oil

salt, pepper

1 TB bbq sauce

1 flax egg (2 TB ground flax seed, 1/8cup water, mixed to gel)

1/2 cup bread crumbs (Progresso, with herbs and garlic) or home-made

First, mix the flax egg. Preheat oven to 375F.

In a skillet, heat the olive oil, and saute the onions, celery, red bell pepper and the garlic for ca 5min on medium-low. At the end, add in the BBQ sauce, as well as add salt and pepper. Let slightly cool, and add 1/2 of the mixture to a food processor. 

Mix the cooked lentil mix with the harissa, and puree about 75% with the sauteed vegetables in the food processor. Add the puree to a larger bowl and mix with the unprocessed lentils. Add the flax eggs and bread crumbs, and mix all the ingredients gently, Spray a loaf pan or muffin pan or brownie pan with cooking spray, and distribute the mix in the pan, pressing down. As glaze, I added a bit of BBQ sauce.

Bake for 35min at 375F.

Farro Risotto with Porcini

Digging out of a blizzard, enjoy winter wonderland and cross country skiing, a risotto is just the right fare. Giada di Laurentiis was cooking a risotto with farro the other day on Giada At Home, and I was enticed. Farro is a ancient grain and looks like wheatberries. It has a nutty flavor, and it works really well in salads. 

She prepared her farro risotto like a regular risotto, and added sultanas, pine nuts, feta cheese and parseley. For me it ended with the sultanas, because I dislike anything raisins. I rolled with the basic idea and turned it into a mushroom farro risotto, adding mini portabella mushrooms, dried porcini and some pecorino. It was very flavorful and creamy, and I must say I almost like it better than the arborio rice version because the nutty flavor and creamy texture of the farro went perfectly well with the mushrooms.

(makes 2 servings)

1/2 cup dried farro (available on Amazon.com or Gustiamo.com)

1 TB olive oil

1 shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup dry white wine

salt, pepper

1 cup portabello button mushroom, chopped

1-2 oz dried porcini

3 cups of beef bouillon, heated

pecorino (or parmesan cheese)

Heat the beef stock, and add the porcini mushroom to rehydrate for 5 min. Remove and chop.

In a heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil and add the shallot, and saute for 1-2 min. Add garlic and saute for another 1 min. Add the farro and 'toast' it in the oil, shallot and garlic mix for ca 1-2 min. Add the white wine, stir and cook down the wine until almost evaporated (all on medium heat). 

Now, add all the mushrooms and porcini and 1/4 cup of the beef stock, and stir and slowly cook down the liquid. Once the risotto become dry, add another 1/4 cup of beef stock. Repeat until the farro is softened, about 25-30min. Always check, and stir, and add more liquid (you might need more or less than the 3 cups, but make sure to add hot broth). Once the farro is soft and creamy, take it off the heat, and grate in a few tablespoon of pecorino and stir. Serve!

Cauliflower Curry

When I asked myself what I wanted to eat for Christmas Eve, I had a clear idea: cauliflower curry. A lot of cauliflower, some coconut milk and the curry spice part. Light, yet festive. 

1 bag of frozen cauliflower (or a half head, fresh, cut into florets)

1 ts grapeseed oil

1/2 ts black mustard seeds

1/2 ts cumin seeds

3-4 curry leaves

1/2 can light coonut milk

1 ts chili flakes

2 garlic cloves

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1 ts red Thai curry paste

In a large skillet, heat the grapeseed oil and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves, and wait until the mustard seeds start to pop like popcorn (in hot oil, ca. 30 sec.). Stir, and heat for ca 15 sec, and then add the cauliflower and the coconut milk. Mix well, and cover with a lid. Simmer on very low heat for ca 30 min, until the cauliflower gets cooked through and slightly mushy. Makes sure the liquid does not evaporated (therefore, simmering on REALLY LOW), or add a bit of water. Once cooked, add in the Thai curry paste and mix well. Serve with some blanched almonds.

Ramen, Genuine Ramen.

(source)
Nice article in Boston.com about some ethnic/Asian restaurants in Maine.

"PORTLAND — It is late fall in Longfellow Square. The leaves have dropped, the grass is brown, flowers are frosted and dead. 

At least there’s ramen, genuine ramen. It’s at Pai Men Miyake, and it’s served all day and late into the night. The rich broth is made from the bones, meat, and fat of guinea hens and Berkshire pigs. After a day of simmering it is ready to be studded with sliced pork belly, fresh noodles, seaweed, and boiled egg, and ladled into ceramic bowls. This is heavy soup in heavy bowls to wrap your hands around, to hunch over slurping, to take off the chill.

Much has been made of Maine’s local food culture — the farm to table restaurants, the meadmakers and cheesemakers, the heirloom everything. There has been a lot less hype about the ethnic restaurants, many of which serve delicious, carefully made food — true to this mother’s kitchen or that night market vendor’s street cart. It is great food, but, until recently, with the exception of a handful of sushi bars, the exotic restaurants were lacking in atmosphere and service and everything else that makes a restaurant worth going to. With boring beer and wine lists, buzz kill lighting, and orchestral pop songs, they were better for lunch than for a big night out.

Now, three places have given far-away flavors a new sense of place: Pai Men Miyake; Boda, a Thai tapas and skewer bar across the street; and Long Grain, Asian street food and home cooking a couple of hours up the coast in Camden. They serve food that Mainers used to have to travel a long way for, and they do it with local ingredients and they do it in style."

Read more....

Boda
671 Congress St.
Portland
207-347-7557
bodamaine.com
Entrees $12-$19.
Long Grain
31 Elm St., Camden
207-236-9001
Entrees $9-$14.
Pai Men Miyake
188 State St., Portland
207-541-9204
$5-$11.

The Original Brussels Sprouts, Courtesy of Trader Joes

I love to see how vegetables actually grow. I can still remember the awe of seeing my first artichoke field in Central California, a huge tuscan kale plant, rice in Japan, or zucchini  and eggplants plants in a farmers market exhibition garden. This time, Trader Joe's brought the brussels sprouts to the store, including their habitat: a stalk. On top of looking picturesque, the stalk was also inexpensive. So, roasted balsamic brussels sprouts, sauteed endives, baby spinach and a handful of cherry tomatoes, all courtesy of Trader Joes, made up today's lunch.

Balsamic roasted brussels sprouts:

cut brussels sprouts off stalk

half, and line on a baking sheet lined with alu foil

salt, pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil

roast for about 15-20 min at 375F.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

After using the balsamic vinaigrette in many of my salad recipes, it is time that I actually post the recipe. I promise this is the best balsamic vinaigrette ever.

1/4 cup very good, smooth, at least 8 year aged balsamic vinegar (I use Fini or Fiore's Black Cherry Balsamic Vinegar)

1/8 cup excellent extra-virgin olive oil (currently, I used a price-winning Australian olive oil I got at Wholefoods)

1 TB grainy mustard (Maille recommended)

1 TB honey

1 garlic clove, microplaned

Add all ingredients in a vinaigrette bottle (or simply a jar with a tightly closing lid) and shake vigorously. Keep chilled in the fridge, and serve for salad.

Blog Bites: Feta Spinach Pumpkin Muffins

I cannot believe I have not blogged about them yet; I made them twice already! I favor savory things to sweets any day, and these are now my favorite savory muffins. My local farmers market sells a wonderful, strong feta, as well as fresh spinach and any type of winter squash, and these are the main ingredients. I adapted it slightly from the original recipe from 101Cookbooks, but they are also delightful in their original conception.

cooking spray (or butter for the muffin pan)

1 gluck of olive oil

255g cubed butternut squash, cut 1/2-inch cubes (I buy peeled butternut squash, less work)
salt and pepper to taste
1 large handful of fresh baby spinach, chopped

1/4 cup sunflower seeds kernels, roasted, unsalted
100g  cubed feta (full-fat, and best a local product from the farmers market)
2 teaspoons whole-grain mustard
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

180 ml un-flavored almond milk

1 cup allpurpose flour

1 cup quinoa flour

4 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
1 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt

Preheat oven to 405F / 200C, with rack in the top third. Grease 2 12-hole muffin pans and set aside.

Sprinkle the olive oil, salt and pepper over the cubed squash. Arrange in a single layer on a baking pan and bake for 15 - 25 minutes so that the squash is mostly cooked, but not mushy or dry. Set aside to cool.

In a bowl beat the eggs and almond milk together. Sift the flours and baking powder onto the mix, add in some salt and a generous dose of freshly ground black pepper, and mix until smooth. Fold in gently the spinach, sunflower seeds, feta, and all of the mustard. At last, fold in the baked squash.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan, filling each hole 3/4 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the tops and sides of the muffins are golden, and the muffins have set up completely. Let cool for a couple minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack. 

Radicchio Salad with Grapes, Walnuts and Shaved Parmesan

Sunday mornings often start with tuning into Food TV or the Cooking channel, and sometimes this results in inspirations for a few meals. Today was such a day. The original salad calls for pecorino and pistachios (great idea! but I was out) and blistered grapes, but for me only the combination of radicchio and (raw) grapes stood, with balsamic vinaigrette and toasted walnuts and shaved parmesan. The combination of the crunchy, slightly bitter radicchio, the full-flavored balsamic vinaigrette and the juicy, sweet grapes with the crunch of walnuts is a wonderful combination.

So, we got our own! Finally!

Trader Joes opened in Portland, ME. Oct 2010

Vegan Strawberry Smoothie

A vegan strawberry smoothie!

1 cup almond milk (silk, vanilla flavor)

1 cup fresh strawberries

1/2 banana

3/4 scoop Sun Warrior raw vegan protein powder

For decoration: dried tropical fruit

Place all ingredients in blender (preferrably a vitamix), and blend until smooth. Serve!

Fall Colors in Orono

Maine's own: Stonewall Kitchen scones

On a trip to Bar Harbor over the sunny, yet cold but marvelous Columbus day weekend with the foliage peaking, I picked up 2 boxes of Stonewall Kitchen scone mix. Today, I baked the first batch, cranberry orange scones with fresh orange zest and a few more cranberries. I used Ina Garten's trick, and pulsed the ingredients, including the cold, chopped butter in a large food processor for just a few pulses. To get a flaky scone, it is necessary to have intact little butter 'bubbles', and pulsing the ingredients in a food processor for 4-5 times does just that. Add ice cold water, pulse some more, and the scone dough is ready. I filled the small triangles of my scone pan and baked for 12-14 min (turned oven off after 12 min). They are the most flaky crunchy and tasty scones ever!

Fall Muesli

The leaves are changing their colors into bright red and yellow, and the grapes in the garden are sweet this year, thanks to a long and sunny summer. Morning Greek yogurt got a fall spin.....

Greek yogurt

juice of 1/2 Meyer lemon

agave nectar

Vermont muesli (@ King Arthur Flour online)

grapes