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Spanish Chickpea Stew

Beans, Food, Gluten-free, One-pot meal, Party Food, Recipe, Silly easy, Vegan

So this blog has been quiet for a little while…

A few weeks ago, my husband was diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity and was advised to immediately and permanently eliminate gluten from his diet. Since I am a good wife (or at least trying to be), I decided to go gluten-free as well to support him. It has been a big adjustment for both of us, and it has also meant that I have had to give up one of my favorite hobbies: baking. But we’re finding new and exciting foods to try, and we both feel great. So this blog is probably going to take a slightly different direction from now on as I explore vegan, gluten-free foods.

To kick it off, I’m going to start with this hearty Spanish-inspired chick pea stew. When I first made this shortly after Will got the instructions to go gluten-free, he was excited. He said it filled his desire for “junk-food fast-food taste” without actually being junky. I’m not sure if that’s the best way to sell this dish, but I will tell you it is easy to make and it is damn good. The chick peas really make this a hearty and filling dish.

One of the things you will need to find in order to make this dish is a gluten-free soy chorizo. Trader Joe’s has one that is labeled gluten-free, and that’s what we used. If you aren’t concerned about gluten, then use whatever veggie sausage you like, just dice it up before adding it to the pan.

You could serve this tapas-style with a few other small dishes, I think it would go nicely with a selection of marinated olives, garlic mushrooms, and wrinkled potatoes. Or, sit down to a bowl of it with a salad on the side and some crusty gluten-free bread (does such a thing even exist??).

Spanish Chickpea Stew

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
12 oz package soy chorizo
2 ripe tomatoes, seeded and chopped OR 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
4 cups chick peas, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 cup chopped parsley (plus extra, for garnish)
Salt & pepper, to taste

Method

Heat the olive oil in a large stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the soy chorizo and cook for 2 minutes. Add the chick peas, tomato and paprika. Cook for 5 more minutes, stirring frequently to keep everything from sticking. Remove from heat and stir in parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot, garnished with more parsley if desired.

Makes 6 servings.

Date Night Mini Pizzas

Food, Party Food, Pizza, Recipe, Silly easy, Vegan

Even though we are married and see each other every day, Will and I still try to have a date night at least once a week; we’re both pretty busy people and it’s nice to have some time that is dedicated for us to just relax together and really talk.

One of our favorite date night things to do is make mini-pizzas together. This is really fun because we each prepare our pizzas side by side, share toppings, fling sauce at each other, and comment on how we each choose to arrange our toppings.

Into the oven they go… Then we pull them out, swoon over how beautiful our pizzas are, and sit down together to eat. We are never disappointed, because the beauty of mini-pizzas is that we each get make our pizza exactly the way we like it!

As if having a fun and tasty activity with your S.O. wasn’t good enough, it gets better…the crust is FAST and EASY. And it’s got whole wheat flour in it. And delicious herbs. And even though it has yeast in it, it only needs to rise for 15-20 minutes, which I’ve found is just enough time to prepare the toppings.

Here’s another great thing about the dough recipe, you can easily double or triple it for a crowd. Or double it, portion it, and refrigerate or freeze whatever you don’t use. Just remember that if you are going to store it, you should coat the inside of a zip top bag with cooking spray or a thin coat of cooking oil to make dough retrieval a snap.

TIP: You don’t really need any special equipment for this recipe, but a pizza stone is really going to make a huge difference in the quality of your crust, especially if you like a crispy crust. I would definitely recommend using one if you can.

Toppings are limited only by your imagination. Mini-pizzas are a great way to use up little odds and ends of produce that may be accumulating in your fridge. 1/8 of an onion? Slice it up. One lonely jalapeño? Adds some zing.

Will tends to like tomato sauce, onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, and daiya cheese on his pizza; he is pretty consistent. I like to try different things, so this week’s pizza was topped with pesto, daiya cheese, sauteed onions and garlic, and veggie sausage crumbles; I also put a big handful of torn arugula on top when the pizza was hot out of the oven. YUM!

What kind of toppings do you like on your pizza?

Date Night Mini Pizza With Herbed Whole Wheat Crust

Ingredients

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp instant yeast (about half a package)
1/4 tsp sea or table salt
2 tbsp fresh chopped herbs of your choice, OR a few pinches of dried herbs, crushed between your fingers (oregano, basil, thyme, whatever you have lying around)
1/2 cup hot water (115º-125º F)
2 tsp agave nectar

Method

Preheat oven to 425º F.

In your mixer’s bowl, combine AP flour, whole wheat flour, yeast, and salt and stir. Add water and agave nectar, and mix until smooth.

Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until smooth and elastic, about 3 minutes (–OR– knead by hand on a floured surface, 5minutes), adding whole wheat flour 1 tablespoon at a time if dough sticks.

Using a bench knife or sharp chef’s knife, cut the dough in half and shape it into smooth balls. Invert your mixing bowl over one, and place another deep bowl (or piece of lightly oiled plastic wrap) over the other and let rest 15 minutes.

Stretch or roll or toss each dough ball into desired shape and place on parchment paper (or a baking sheet, if you are not using a pizza stone). Turn over a small lip all around the edges and seal with your fingertip by pressing slightly. Have fun with toppings.

Cook in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, or until dough is browned around edges and as crisp as you like it.

Yield: 2 mini pizza crusts

Kohlrabi and Turnip Spicy Asian Slaw

Food, Gluten-free, Party Food, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegan, Veganmofo 2009, Vegetables

kholrabi slaw-091017-0003 One of the cool things about doing a CSA is that from time to time something shows up in your share that you’ve never seen before. This week for me, it was kohlrabi.

If you’ve never tasted it, kohlrabi has a very mild, pleasant flavor. I found it to be kind of cabbagey tasting, in a very good way. It also has a very satisfying crunch which reminds me of broccoli. Apparently when kohlrabi is very young, you can eat it without having to peel it. But the outer layer of the large specimen we got was fibrous and tough, and it definitely needed to be peeled.

Our share this week also contained a bunch of turnips, and I had some left over carrots from the farmers market too. In light of this, I figured it was slaw time.

The dressing on this slaw is one that I use all the time with a shredded cabbage base, so feel free to sub in about a half of a head of cabbage if kohlrabi and turnips aren’t your thing.

This makes about 6-8 cups of slaw. When I’ve made (the cabbage version of) this in the past, I’ve often doubled it because it’s so tasty, and it does not last long in our house!

Kohlrabi and Turnip Spicy Asian Slaw

For the Dressing:

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Ingredients

1.5 tbsp vegetable oil
1.5 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1.5 tbsp tamari, soy sauce, or Bragg’s Amino Acids
1.5 tbsp rice vinegar
2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced
1.5 tsp sugar
Juice of 1/2 a lime
5 thai chilis, sliced on the bias (or a seeded and chopped seranno or jalapeno)
1 small onion, thinly sliced

Method

Whisk together all ingredients except for the onion (you can also use a blender for this). Pour the dressing over the sliced onion in a large bowl, and set aside for half an hour to let the onions macerate slightly in the liquid. Stir occasionally.

For the salad

Ingredients

1 large kohlrabi
3-4 small turnips
2 small carrots
2 tablespoons black or white sesame seeds
1 handful mint leaves, chopped
Other herbs of your choice (optional, but chopepd cilantro or parsley or thai basil would be nice)
Veggie “chick’n” strips (optional)

If your turnips still have their green tops attached, cut them off and set them aside for another use. Peel and trim all the veggies.

A food processor with the disk for shredding works best for the veggies. Shred all the veggies, and add them to the bowl with the onions and dressing. Add the sesame seeds, mint leaves, and “chick’n” strips and other herbs (if using). Toss the slaw to coat with dressing. Garnish with extra sesame seeds and herbs.

Serve right away, or tuck it into the fridge until you are ready. This lasts about 4 or 5 days in the fridge, but is best the day it’s made.
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