Author Archives: saltandasmile

Golden Tomato Pasta

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Heirloom tomatoes come in an array of colors and flavor profiles, and while they are often typecast as a summer cold salad ingredient, they also cook down into a wonderful homemade marinara that bursts with rich juicy flavors. The pale yellow and striped bright orange heirlooms in particular have a low-acid, mildly sweet flavor with a soft meaty texture and when pureed with tiny sweet orange cherry tomatoes along with the humble sweet onion you get this golden rich and creamy tomato sauce that is totally addictive. If you are growing your own heirloom tomato garden in the summer this is a perfect recipe to show off your beautiful bounty. Fortunately even here in the Midwest you can get your hands on a multitude of tomato varieties even in the winter. Interlace your gold tomato sauce with spicy red pepper flakes and fresh cherry tomatoes and basil leaves for an elegant yet simple pasta dish.

Ingredients:

  • 2 lb golden heirloom tomatoes, diced into large wedges
  • 1 pint orange cherry tomatoes, whole
  • 1 pint red cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 sweet yellow onion, slivered
  • 5 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 pinch chili flakes
  • 2 fresh basil leaves
  • 3/4 lb spaghetti
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat a large sauce pan over medium heat and sauté the onion with olive oil until translucent. Add the minced garlic then mix in your heirloom tomato variety and your orange cherry tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not be tempted to add liquid as these tomatoes will collapse and release sweet concentrated tomato juice for an incredible sauce. Meanwhile, cook your pasta according to directions. When tomatoes are cooked down, use a hand blender to puree into a hot soup or ladle into a blender to process. Toss your pasts to coat with sauce then garnish with your fresh basil, red pepper flakes and cherry tomatoes.

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The Year of Turning 40

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I’d like to cancel my subscription to 2021. I’ve tried the 14-day trial and I am not satisfied.

Let me begin by saying that this New Year’s Eve was one of the best nights of my life. After the past year of chaos, emotional upheaval, economic collapse, social isolation, and a steady focus on my word of the year “MODIFY”, it felt good for one night to turn that all off.

We stayed up until midnight, danced to jazz and played family board games by the fire. We nibbled on a charcuterie board, sampled caviar and drank expensive champagne, our festive glistening holiday tree in the background reminding us of a purer times and childlike joy of promising things to come. We ran outside late into the night and lit sparklers, the boys rolling in the snow and squealing with delight beneath the full moon. We laughed. We had nowhere to be, nothing to do, and just enjoyed the moment together. I awoke the next morning with a sense of optimism, hope, and reflection. This is, after all, the year I conclude my 30’s.

But then the next day a feeling that I had looked at the sun just a little too long in my right eye was followed by a rainbow aura filling my vision and I was overcome with the worst ocular migraine of my life, leaving me bedridden for two days and avoiding all forms of light. The Christmas tree got taken down and put on the curb and out with it went the sense of holiday magic. We pulled out our color-coordinated family schedule as the kids went back to virtual school, and Robby and I discussed our various ailments. Slowly, the chaos of the entire world collapsing began to overwhelm me. Then the attack on the US Capital happened and it was like everything I thought was sacred and stable came to screeching halt.

Let’s get one thing straight: this not going to the be year of “getting back to normal”. This is going to be a year of cleaning up after a big fat mess.

Everything is unknown at this point. There is no expert to navigate us through 2021. The world is more divisive than ever before. It’s a strange time, a milestone year, a new leadership year, a year of unprecedented activities and hopefully unity in this fight against a global pandemic. I hope this is a year of innovation. Of willingness to change. The one thing I do know is that my children have adapted in incredible ways to the changes presented to them and are thriving with grace in ways I could not have imagined. There is hope for adults too. It is easy to get lost in all the loss and grief in this world so we are grateful for what we do have, and for that which we can control.

Yesterday my office announced that offices will reopen after Labor Day, just in time to see me turn 40, meaning we will all be edging our way back into life as we knew it. I don’t know what this means for the world or my family, or how I feel about it. But I do know it seems like a fitting book-end to my 30’s, and that I will always cherish this one beautiful night that opened the gates into this auspicious year.

Vegetable Spanish Rice, But Not Paella

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The New York Times featured an article recently titled “7 Ways the Pandemic Has Changed How We Shop for Food”. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, Americans are spending more money at the supermarket today than at restaurants where other people prepare their food. Amidst this rise in home cooking, people are also moving to more complex ways of cooking, which includes a variety of grains, a staggering 600% increase in sales of yeast, and an uptick in demand for dried beans which has remained through the summer even after the initial “stock the pantry” craze of the spring. I admit, I purchased a 10 lb bag of rice that I’m stilling working on.

There is no downside to having a 10 lb bag of rice in the pantry. We love experimenting with deconstructed and mixed rice and grain bowls in our house. And my favorite kitchen gadget HANDS DOWN is my Instant Zest Rice and Grain Cooker. This little love has multiple settings that adjust timings for the types of rice or grain you are cooking. I literally switch it on to help the kids with remote learning or finish up a work Zoom or lock myself alone in the bathroom and cry and it makes perfectly hot, fluffy rice every time.

This week I thought I’d try a short-cut version of a paella swapping out the meat for a variety of Mediterranean vegetables. Traditional paella requires cooking the rice directly in a cast iron skillet and simmering it for a long period of time without turning it creating a thick, crunchy rice crust. This quick version infuses the rice with smoky and salty flavors directly in the rice cooker, and highlights all the complex flavors of smoky Spanish saffron, briny olives, sweet fennel, roasted peppers and hearty artichokes but with much less effort. So while this Vegetable Spanish Rice is not a traditional paella, I wasn’t at all disappointed with the results.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 cups brown rice
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 3 cups jarred or whole artichokes packed in water, quartered, rinsed and patted dry
  • 1 yellow and 1 red pepper, seeded and sliced thin
  • 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 fennel bulb, stalks removed and cut into thin slivers
  • 1 14.5oz can diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas, defrosted
  • 4 TB olive oil
  • 2 TB lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon saffron threads, crumbled
  • Salt and pepper

In the rice cooker add rice, vegetable broth, tomatoes, paprika, and saffron. Stir to combine then close lid and turn on cooker. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss artichokes, peppers and olives with 2 TB olive oil on a sheet pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and roast about 20 -25 minutes, or until vegetables are browned around the edges. In a large skillet or dutch oven (I used my Staub), add 2 TB olive oil and minced garlic with fennel and onion and cook until softened, about 8 to 10 minutes. Turn off heat, add the roasted vegetables and peas to that same dutch oven and combine. Stir in the hot cooked rice and top with fresh squeezed lemon juice. Serve hot.

My son and I both recently celebrated our birthdays and enjoyed the tail end of summer with beautiful views, great food, and home cooked meals.

Summer Rustic Herb Linguini

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It’s August, and that means the long hot days of humidity smelling like wet grass are followed by roaring thunderstorms and heavy rains all through the night. And if you garden, this is most certainly your garden’s favorite time of year! For me, this means harvesting the beautiful bounty of fresh herbs that have been growing wild and with abundance in my planters.

Many summer pasta recipes depend on sweet aromatic basil, but this Summer Rustic Herb Linguini is a simple dish that features an surprising twist by combining bright mint, woody thyme and bitter parsley all tangled with linguini and tossed in a briny sauce of capers, olives, freshly squeezed lemon juice and a fresh pop of garlic. It is a rich and flavorful bite that requires minimal effort, and best of all complements any seasonal vegetables and grilled proteins to help honor these summer months.

The key to using fresh herbs in a recipe is in how you harvest and store the plants. Fresh herbs are best harvested in the early morning before the heat of the day. They will stay fresh wrapped in a damp paper towel in the refrigerator for the day until ready to prepare and serve.

If you do not grow your own herbs, there are plenty of proven tips on keeping herbs fresher for longer from the grocery store. First, trim the stems and place the herbs in a glass of cold water, but be careful not to immerse the leaves. Basil is an herb that thrives uncovered at room temperature sitting on a sunny windowsill in a cup of water. All other tender leafy herbs like parsley, cilantro, dill, and tarragon should then be covered loosely with a plastic bag and stored in the refrigerator. For heartier leafy herbs like rosemary, mint, thyme, sage and chives, you can store these in the refrigerator in a cup of water and then cover loosely with a plastic bag, but the leaves may actually stay fresher if immersed in water. I recently stored fresh mint completely submerged in a covered Tupperware container of chilled water for two weeks and it stayed bright, fresh and crisp. Just make sure to change the water on herbs every few days, like you would for fresh flowers.

pasta close-up

INGREDIENTS:

  • 3/4 lb linguini
  • 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved
  • ½ cup finely chopped fresh mint
  • ½ cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme
  • 2 Tablespoons drained nonpareil capers
  • ½ freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • Fine sea salt and pepper

Prepare the herb mixture by placing the olives, capers, diced herbs, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil in a medium bowl and toss to combine. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, while pasta cooks. Drain pasta then stir all together in large serving bowl to ensure flavors come together. Salt to taste, and enjoy!

glencoe beach

Harissa Roasted Fennel, Carrots and Potatoes

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The term “tapas” refers to small delectable portions of any kind of Spanish cuisine, served either cold or hot. Tapas can be simple in preparation but sumptuous in presentation, and really shine when they are complementary with flavorful vegetables, humble grains, and hearty proteins. While this week’s recipe isn’t a traditionally Spanish recipe, it is a versatile and inspired dish that combines briny Spanish olives with spicy North African harissa paste along with rich roasted root vegetables, and can be served as a small plate or main dish. Lemony black lentils and nutty tempeh were served as the main protein with mine, but any fish or red meat would work well too. This particular spicy harissa paste was a cheap and lucky find at Trader Joe’s but the Mina brand also offers a milder and sweeter version that is available at grocery stores. Altogether, this was an amazingly simple and unforgettable one-sheet-wonder that has already been repeated quite a few times in our household.

Ingredients:

  • 1 fennel bulb, sliced
  • 4 carrots, peeled and sliced into long rectangles
  • 1-2 lbs baby potatoes
  • 1-2 TB Trader Joe’s harissa paste (it’s spicy, so flavor to taste)
  • 1/2 cup green olives with pimento and 1 TB olive brine
  • 3 TB olive oil
  • Juice of 1/2 lemon
  • Salt and pepper

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Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Add sliced fennel, carrots and whole baby potatoes on large baking sheet and toss to coat with olive oil. Roast for 15 minutes then remove carrots and fennel and place in large serving bowl. Continue roasting potatoes for additional 15-20 minutes. When done, add roasted potatoes and green olives to the serving bowl then coat with harissa paste, olive brine and squeezed lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve warm.

Questions I Can’t Answer

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Kids always ask the hardest questions when you are least prepared and unable to give them your full attention. Lately, this has been happening in the 10-minute car ride to school.

It started this morning with a reminder that President’s Day is coming up and there is no school that Monday, and this segued into a conversation about American Presidents. This reminded me to scold Asher for watching Top 10 Most Awkward Moments of Donald Trump videos on YouTube every time I come down to the basement to check on him or else he’s going to lose his computer privileges. He groans. Then I prompted both children to think about the many US Presidents that have been great leaders, gave inspirational speeches, that helped people in need, and were kind. And even though I’ve been to the Smithsonian Portrait Gallery I cannot recite the first 10 Presidents for the life of me, so instead we talked about Presidential faces they may recognize on dollar bills. At this time Everett interjected that George Washington was bad because he owned slaves but it’s ok because he paid them, and then Abraham Lincoln came along and was the best President because the country used to be called Slavery and now we’re two countries.

Asher now loudly states “Well you and dad have $10,000 why won’t you just give it to us? I’ve seen your credit card statement”. SIGH. “Just because you have a credit card LIMIT doesn’t mean you HAVE the money.” I explain. “It’s borrowed money from a bank and if you can’t pay it back you get in trouble.” Everett screams “You and dad are going to jail??!!” I realize I quickly need to reel things back. I try explaining bankruptcy, but at this exact moment we pulled up to Asher’s school and as he happily hops out in car line, already forgetting everything we just talked about, I say “Asher, I’m not just going to give you $10,000. Ever.”

As we proceed to Everett’s school, he quietly says “But mom, what happens when you file for bankruptcy?” SIGH. I explain that if you borrow more money than you can pay back, in SOME cases you file for bankruptcy and this means you lose everything and have to start over, like a board game. But I clarify that in MOST cases people just owe money for a very very long time and not to worry about it because mom and dad are fine. We have talked about mortgages, school loans, savings accounts, and retirement accounts endlessly at before, usually in other inconvenient moments, but no matter how many times we try to teach the kids about money, every week Everett gets his $5 allowance and he IMMEDIATELY spends it at Marshall’s or TJ Maxx.

But something nagging and incorrect inside me tells me not to give up on the credit card discussion. We have like 4 minutes left of the drive. I explain that using credit cards as a form of money that you don’t have makes it hard to keep up on paying back the bank, and also to save for their future. I DON’T UNDERSTAAAAAAND!!!!!!!! Everett screams. “And what happens to the kids?????!!!”

This leads into a dreaded moment asking myself: Do I take this moment in time to talk to my 7 year-old child about homelessness, foster homes and adoption? I have 3 minutes left. I decide to talk about it. WHAAAAAAAT???? he screams. He can’t express himself he’s so confused. I recently vowed to be very transparent with my kids when they ask tough questions, which I regret instantly. So I just quickly say “Don’t worry honey.  There are always people who will look after children in a nice home” (not always true) “‘and kids will never be in a jail” (definitely not true). And if Asher were in the car he would remind Everett about The Wall and detention centers. We pull up at his school.

OK Everett, well we’re at school now bye-I-love-you-have-a-nice day!

Here’s another moment. The other day we took the kids to an immersive contemporary art museum called the WNDR MUSEUM in Chicago which featured an infinity room of mirrors titled “Let’s Just Live Forever” by the famed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama. Asher was absolutely riveted by this concept of endlessness. In the car ride home he couldn’t stop talking about infinity and the size of things like how big the Willis Tower is in miles and feet, and he had just so many questions that at some point I just gave him my phone to Google whatever he wanted. Every now and then he’d pipe up and say things like “Infinity plus one is omega!” and “The approximate size of the observable universe is 14 billion parsecs!” Then Everett’s brow furrowed. “But then Asher, what’s on the OTHER SIIIIIDE of the universe???????????????”

These are all such very good questions. I recently listened to a podcast on Radiolab about a man who as a young child in Russia noticed these strange birds in the fields sitting on the backs of cows. They didn’t belong there and weren’t in any local library books. So he started photographing them and took those photos to the local science museum, who then directed him to a bird specialist, and not a single person could explain to him why these cattle egrets from Africa were now in Russia. He said that this was a pivotal moment in his life that taught him that adults just don’t know all the answers. And he then spent the next 30 years tracking egrets and teaching the world about the concept of migration and what happens to birds in the winter. Up until the 1800’s people just assumed they flew to the moon!

But I digress. Adults are NOT supposed to know all the answers. And I am OK with that. But if I can encourage some curiosity and ignite new questions in their ever-evolving brains about the way the world currently works, maybe my children will teach me something one day and the rest of the world something big tomorrow. This really would be good parenting.

 

Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad

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After years of unsuccessfully trying to roll a simple rice wrapper, today I finally tossed the remnants of my pitiful efforts into the garbage and made a quick deconstructed version instead. The end result might be one of my new favorite vegan and gluten-free lunches – the Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad!

By no means novel, this salad certainly fit the bill for me and highlights some mind-blowing Asian condiments I discovered in recent months – Tsang Bangkok Peanut Sauce and Japanese Rice Seasoning. Over the years, my kids have also grown to really love mung bean (or “glass” or “cellophane”) noodles tossed with a sesame oil and soy sauce dressing, so I tend to keep these ingredients pretty stocked up in the pantry, which came in handy today.

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The bed of fluffy cool lettuce and crunchy vegetables tossed with sweet, pungent herbs of basil and mint are woven with strings of salty cold noodles and topped with extra cold, extra firm tofu right out of the fridge to make a really light lunch that is packed with protein. Glass noodles contain no sugar or cholesterol, and even though they are high in carbohydrates they have actually been proven to rate as a low-glycemic carbohydrate. If you’re note a fan of uncooked tofu, baked or fried would work or even edamame as an alternative – there’s no wrong way to do this. The best part is that the ingredients can be doubled or tripled and will last in the fridge all week.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups chopped lettuce (any kind will work)
  • 1 Persian cucumber or 1/2 seedless English cucumber, diced with skin on
  • 1/2 red pepper, diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and diced
  • 1 TB basil, chopped
  • 1 TB mint, chopped
  • 1/3 block of extra firm tofu, cut into 1” cubes
  • 1/2 – 1 cup cooked Vermicelli “glass” mung bean noodles
  • 1 TB soy sauce or tamari sauce
  • 1 ts sesame oil
  • 1 TB Bankgkok Peanut Sauce, diluted with 1 TB water to make a creamy salad dressing
  • 1 TB Nori Komi Furikake Rice Seasoning

Boil noodles for 6 minutes on medium heat, then drain and immediately rinse under cold water to cool temperature. Keep in mind the noodles comes in dry blocks with 8 to a packet so you’ll likely need to cook one to two blocks at a time and keep the leftovers. Toss with the sesame oil and soy sauce and let sit while you prep the components of the salad. Slowly mix in the noodles, top with cubed tofu, rice seasoning and peanut dressing.

Tuscan White Bean, Kale and Acorn Squash Soup

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“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.” – Henry David Thoreau

In preparing for the Thanksgiving week of feasting, I recently found an absolutely addictive and delicious vegan version of a white bean, kale and sausage soup recipe from Veggie Society using puréed acorn squash and leek as the broth base, and I have happily made four times already! Like me, most people are familiar with sweet roasted butternut squash tossed with fall spices like nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger, but to my surprise the acorn squash purées into a very smooth and surprisingly buttery soup base with a mild sweetness which pairs really nicely with fresh Italian spices like rosemary and thyme. I love the simplicity of cooking with ten ingredients or less, and I especially love a good soup to stock up the fridge all week, and this is one is going to be my new standby this year!

Ingredients

  • 1 acorn squash, seeded and diced into chunks
  • 1 bag or bunch of Tuscan kale, chopped
  • 15 oz can Cannellini beans, extra can if you like it chunkier
  • 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced
  • 1 package of any vegetarian Italian sausage (we prefer Trader Joe’s brand but also enjoy Lightlife brand), sliced
  • 2 TB Better Than Bouillon soup base OR 10 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 TB fresh rosemary or 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • 1 TB olive oil

Sauté leeks with olive oil and garlic in a soup pot on medium heat until wilted and started to caramelize. Toss in acorn squash along with rosemary, thyme and bay leaves then add vegetable broth or 10 cups water with Better Than Bouillon and stir everything together. Once boiling, turn down to simmer and let cook for 25 minutes, or until squash is soft. Remove bay leaves then use hand blender to purée everything into a very smooth thick consistency. Stir in the beans, sausage and kale, then let simmer for another 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. According to original recipe your can also add lemon, red pepper or liquid smoke for additional flavor. So easy!

The TJ’s Salad

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As a parent, I really struggle with dietary labels. The other day I filled out a work conference form and was requested to list my dietary needs. In the past, I have written “Vegetarian” and was always disappointed with the limp vegetables smothered in cream sauce that arrived at my table and which prompted burdensome questions from other guests. Then I switched to “Pescetarian” because at least I can indulge in a rare piece of fish while showing my table neighbors that it’s acceptable to talk to me because we are all consuming a form of meat together.

But lately, I’ve also cut most cheese and eggs from my diet, which is confusing because it’s more than just Pescetarian, and I recently learned that dairy doesn’t include eggs because eggs aren’t dairy. Just cheese and milk is dairy. News to me! But I do still use a dab of cream in my tea every morning, which isn’t a problem until someone says I’m a “Vegan” and then I feel like an imposter. Because I  don’t consider myself a vegan either. And I mean, Oreos are vegan and there are fat vegans out there so what does that label even mean to me at this point in my life? Labels just seem to make people confrontational and a little bit angry. It’s like people think I’m showing up with protest signs or have starved myself for days with this radical diet before I come over for dinner. And to complicate matters more, I also stopped drinking coffee a few months ago because I never much liked the taste and frequently had indigestion, so now people think I don’t do caffeine – which I do. I drink endless cups of highly caffeinated tea every single day.

Then I observe endless variety of creative and socially acceptable response cards on tables from “Meatless Friday” (during Lent), “Meatless Monday” (I guess that’ s a label now?), and of course the obligatory allergy needs “No Nuts”. My younger son is allergic to walnuts and pecans – a very clear and easy label – and risk of death is definitely an exception to my plight and that never provokes a response. I recently joined a Facebook group called “80% WFPD (whole food plant based) which when I tried to describe it to a friend just sounded comical. Why can’t I just say “feed me something that isn’t bad, and is digestible with vegetables and some healthy plant-based protein to get me through the next few hours”??

So lately I have begun to identify myself as a Nutritarian. This term was developed and mass marketed by Dr. Joel Fuhrman in his popular book “Eat to Live”. It refers to a nutrient-dense, plant-rich diet supporting impressive long-term health benefits which is backed by science. So basically if you’re going to eat 100 calories, you want to eat 100 calories of food that makes you feel fuller for longer with more energy and is packed with vital vitamins and minerals. And if you really wanted to get into an ethical debate, you could talk about the biology of human evolution and what we now know about early human diets, or you could talk about how the archaic food pyramid was updated to My Plate in 2011 which is more inclusive of plant-based nutrition, and you could  debate the impact of global farming on our planet and climate change. BUUUUUT I won’t do that today. The recent documentary “The Gamechangers” does a great job explaining all this, so just watch that instead.

What I do really like about this label of Nutritarian is that it moves away from the morality of what I eat and focuses more on the science. It’s also a term that seems less scary to others and maybe a bit more progressive in terms of the food pyramid. I still eat bread and pasta every day, but sprouted grain bread and whole wheat pasta. In fact, I literally eat ALL THE TIME. I am aware of high level protein sources now that I never thought of beyond beans and tofu before like quinoa, oatmeal, peas, and seeds. I eat more calcium from one plate of greens than I would have gotten from a glass of milk. I sleep better and I’m slightly more motivated to move my body, but that may be because I’m also drinking in moderation these days — like, not EVERY DAY. Just when it’s been a shit day or I want to date my husband every now and then. And as a parent, I strive to educate my kids on what they put into their bodies and how it effects them, now how other people label them or whether they should feel shame about eating a turkey sandwich every now and then at school. Which they do.

Anyway, with the recent fall weather quickly transitioning to snow, I was craving a hearty green and grain salad this week and stopped by Trader Joe’s to pick up a few of my favorites. Trader Joe’s has a nice variety of precooked, prepackaged items that really make a great dish when you’re in a pinch, either for one or served on a large platter for a holiday crowd. This time I used their Cruciferous Crunch Salad as a base with a selection of cooked beets, kalamata olives, Persian cucumbers, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, farro and a giant bag of fresh haricot green beans which I blanched for 5 min but could also be eaten raw. Other variations I love from their refrigerated section include the precooked brown lentils and the fingerling potatoes. In place of farro you could also throw in some quinoa or rice. I topped it off with some lightly pan fried Lightlife bacon for more of a cobb salad flavor. I typically use balsamic vinegar for dressing, but tahini mixed with lemon juice is pretty amazing if you don’t want anything dairy-based. I also grabbed a little ginger lemon kambucha back tea for $2.99 – mwuah! Love it. So no real recipe today folks, just some tidbits on great plant-based food options in a one-stop shop that I enjoyed this week.

Chickpea Chile Verde

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It’s been the start of another busy school year – 1st and 3rd grade. Hard believe it when the Facebook memories pop up and I see my little beanie babies in their diaper butts. It’s all so bittersweet. After years of loving on mommy my 9 year-old is all into daddy now. They play Roblox and Minecraft on separate computers with headsets on talking to each other, even though they are merely feet apart. My husband’s avatar is aptly named “dinkydorkdad” or something along those lines so as not to be the misunderstood adult creeping around the kids online gaming worlds. They play Pokemon and trade Magic the Gathering cards all hours of the day.  My younger son is learning from his elders and follows suit. I hear the boys in our basement right now laughing and screaming “I broke my penis! Penis! Penis!”.

So I’m grateful for the extra time in the day where nobody is waiting outside the bathroom door anymore. Or screaming to play tag at the park. Or begging me to divide myself in two. But still. My husband gets the full frontal hugs. And now, I get the back hugs. Asher looks at me only when it’s meal time or to ask “Where’s dad?” and when I say “Not here.” he desperately says “Why? What happened??” And I’m heartbroken! Because I’m MOM. I used to be mommy. But call me mom now. Or, as my older son has named me “Worms”. Yep, that’s what was on my birthday card two weeks ago.

In any case, I’m still good for one thing and that’s cooking. Tonight’s menu was a vegan Chickpea Chile Verde mixed in with brown rice and it was DAMN GOOD. Tomatillos are native to Mexico and while they resemble tomatoes they are actually more closely related to gooseberries and come from the nightshade family. Fascinating stuff! They are also low in saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and are packed with vitamins. This recipe is much lighter, tangier and summery than a traditional smoky chili with heavier beans, and had a lovely crunch factor with sweet whole corn kernels and tortilla strips. It’s also easy to make because you can rely on the oven to do the bulk of the cooking.

CHICKPEA CHILE VERDE

  • 3 TB olive oil
  • 2 poblano peppers, seeded and chopped into large chunks
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 pounds tomatillos, husks removed and quartered
  • 3 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 TB cumin
  • 2 14 oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
  • 1 cup fresh, frozen or canned corn kernels
  • 1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 avocado
  • Tortilla strips for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss tomatillos, poblano peppers and garlic with olive oil and spread out on baking sheet, then bake for 20-25 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare brown rice according to packing – typically 2 cups water per 1 cup rice – simmering for 45 minutes. I use a rice cooker which steams the rice and tends to have a faster and fluffier cook. Remove banking sheet from oven and scoop tomatillos and poblanos into large pot, then add the vegetable broth. Use hand blender to puree your soup base to a smooth consistency, then stir in the chickpeas, corn and cilantro. Serve in a bowl over brown rice and top with tortilla strips.

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My birthday cards…

 

Enjoying the last of summer…