Moroccan Stew

Lately we've been hosting Sunday night family dinners. Family dinner is basically when my cousins and I get together and eat all the food. We go out to eat or we stay in and have a homecooked meal. It's becoming a tradition in the same way that soup group or girl dinner was in Pittsburgh. Some highlights lately have been fish tacos, peanut noodles, and this stew! Restaurant-wise, Vedge was literally the best dining experience of my life (so far). All vegan. All vegetables. I mean the rutabaga fondue was enough to make me fall of my chair.

Also, with Sunday dinner comes Game of Thrones. Sadly it's over now but this stew from The First Mess makes it better. I doubled the recipe easily to serve all of us.

Moroccan Stew

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 red onion, small dice
1 tbsp cinnamon
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
5 dates, pitted + chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 large or 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled + chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2 cups cooked chickpeas
salt + pepper

1 bunch lacinato kale

Heat the coconut oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook  until soft and translucent. I just let this cook for 15 minutes or so stirring occasionally. Then add spices plus garlic and cook for 5 minutes more, stirring constantly. Watch out for the spices burning. 

Add the dates, carrots and sweet potatoes. Add the tomatoes and stir. Add the vegetable stock. Boil the soup then turn down heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. 

Add the chopped yellow peppers and chickpeas and stir the soup. Season the whole thing again with salt and pepper. Simmer until everything is cooked to your liking. Chop the kale and add to the pot for a couple minutes. Serve with brown rice, additional dates, or bread + cheese to make it a meal.

Chickpea + Avocado Hummus

The addition of avocado is a fun twist for a simple, quick homemade hummus. I got the recipe from Joy the Baker, whose baked goods are AMAZING along with everything else on her blog.

I ate most of the hummus with pita chips and fresh veggies, like the snap peas from my garden, but I also made a really good pita sandwich with chicken (with lettuce that's also from my garden!). 

AVOCADO HUMMUS

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas

2 ripe avocados

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

 1 1/2 tbsp tahini

2 cloves garlic

salt & pepper

Blend everything in a food processor until as smooth as you like - I like it to stay a little bit chunky for texture but some people like a very smooth hummus. 

Chickpea Blondies

Not all of the holiday desserts have to be unhealthy! These blondies taste fantastic. You can even eat the whole pan while feeling good about yourself. At least that's what I did. Then my cousins and sister proceeded to do the same. I made these before I went to Bethlehem, which is also known as Christmas city. They set up little shops all over town like in Europe with local crafts, etc. It was freezing but there was plenty of hot cider and mulled wine. Best of all, it was Rex friendly. Below is a picture of the Bethlehem steel stacks.

 I've made this recipe 3 times in 2 weeks so far. That's how delicious these blondies are. The recipe is from Chocolate Covered Katie, a healthy dessert blog. She's very vegan friendly, so check out the site!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (250 g) cooked and drained chickpeas

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

l/4 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup dark brown sugar 

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup ground flax seed or quick oats (both are great, though flax has more nutrients by far)

1/4 cup sunflower seed butter

1 tbsp coconut oil

3/4 cup chocolate chips 

"Fiesta Bean Salad"

Like I mentioned in a previous post, Vince and I have been trying to budget, including packing lunches.  I made this salad for the first time within my first couple weeks living together.  I've found the key to packing lunches is packing food you actually want to eat.  Many a time at my old job, my packed lunch would get pushed further back in the fridge as my coworkers' ideas for takeout sounded more enticing. Vin mentioned different salads sounding good and I thought of a recipe of Jackie's from college.  I couldn't track that down, but as always I found my way on Pinterest.  I get the feeling Vince's coworkers were a little impressed to see Vince actually bringing lunch, rather than going out for lunch every day as he was before.  They were also impressed with my over-doing the garlic, with the smell of garlic filling the room whenever Vince opened his container at lunchtime.  Though he loves garlic, I've since cut back for the sake of our containers and Vin not getting sick of the salad.  The original recipe recommends to eat it right away, but it's fine through the week, though the avocado gets soft.  I think maybe next time I'll add some black pepper.

Lemon Chickpea Lentil Salad

As we've been crashing with my parents, I've been cooking a lot for my family. It's my way of contributing rent I suppose. This salad was the perfect mix of tangy dressing and lots of spring vegetables! I found the recipe on Cookie + Kate and just knew I had to make it. 

By the way, Happy Memorial Day! It's our year anniversary (I know, crazy) so we spent it in the little town of New Hope. It's right on the Delaware river and full of antique shops, used bookstores, and great food. Elizabeth Gilbert lives right by the town so we got to explore her import shop! It was filled with goodies from Asia (lots of Buddha statues). Right next door to Two Buttons was a great vegetarian restaurant. We had some to-die-for chocolate caramel tart with pink sea salt. It was so good, it was featured on the food network. Must replicate recipe!

Lentils 

• 2 cups dried black beluga lentils
• 2 large garlic cloves, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Lemon dressing

• ¼ cup fresh lemon juice 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar
• 1 clove garlic, pressed or minced
• ¼ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad

• 1 (14 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 big bunch of radishes, sliced on mandolin
• ¼ cup packed fresh, leafy herbs, chopped (combination of mint and dill 
• 1 bunch fresh arugula

INSTRUCTIONS

1. In a medium pot, combine the lentils, halved garlic cloves, olive oil and 4 cups water. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the lentils are cooked through and tender, which will take somewhere between 20 to 35 minutes. Drain the lentils and discard the garlic cloves.
2. Whisk together the ingredients for dressing in a small bowl. Taste and add more of anything if you like.
3. Add everything together except for arugula in a large bowl and ideally let marinate in fridge for a couple hours before serving. Serve with a small handful of arugula on each plate.

Quick Chickpea Coconut Curry

A few days ago I went to Whole Foods around dinnertime, so obviously I was tempted by the hot food bar. I got some of a delicious chickpea side dish, and I figured it would be pretty easy to copy at home. It is!

My version does has the advantage of not having to sit around in a buffet tray for hours, and curry is one of those things that is way easier than some people think to make homemade. Last night Linda made a great chicken tikka masala that she should post!!

Quick Chickpea Coconut Curry

1 tbsp oil (I used peanut but coconut would make sense)
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp (or more for extra spiciness) fresh hot pepper, seeds taken out and minced (I used serrano)
1 tbsp red curry paste
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 can chickpeas, rinsed
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
salt and pepper