side dish

Wild Rice with Celery and Pecans

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

I was never a fan of raw celery, thinking that it had to always be boiled to a mushy consistency for it to be of any interest.  While I have great admiration for people who can sit around and nonchalantly snack on raw stalks of celery, I’ve accepted that celery is just never going to make it into my easy, healthy, pack-it-on-the-go munchies rotation.  (Which is too bad since “ants on a log” always seemed so delicious in concept.)

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However, I found that celery, when finely diced, is extraordinary in this recipe where it acts as the perfect complement to the soft texture of the rice, and a nice companion to the crushed pecans.

It also just looked beautiful in the dish, with the varied colors from the black rice, the green celery and the toasted pecans.  We will definitely be reaching for this for our next dinner party!

Ingredients

2 cups of wild rice
8 cups chicken or vegetable stock, unsalted
3 stalks of celery, finely diced
1 cup of crushed pecans
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Cook the wild rice according to directions on the package, substituting the water with the stock. Generally rinse the rice, and then bring the rice and chicken stock to a boil in a pot. Once boiling, set the cover on the pot, and bring it down to a simmer, or until all the liquid is absorbed.  Take the lid off the pot and fluff the rice with a fork.

Put the crushed pecans and set the pan over medium heat; cook until the pecans look lightly burnt (you’ll smell that burnt toast smell and that’s when you turn the stove off.)

In a large bowl, mix together the rice, the crushed pecans, and the celery.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

Adapted from Twenty Dinners.

Red Quinoa and Butternut Squash Salad

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

While I love making sandwiches for lunch, every once in a while I find myself looking for something a little more interesting.  I’m also always looking for dishes that are multipurpose – where it works as a side, a full meal or a simple lunch.  I definitely had lunch envy the other day when a colleague was taking out her amazing looking quinoa salad, and it occurred to me that it’s been forever since I made any quinoa salads (minus the most recent disaster when an entire quinoa salad went flying out of my refrigerator and crashing.)

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Anyways, I came across this delicious recipe from someone who apparently also seeks to defeat the “sad desk lunch” — who knew that there’s apparently an entire website devoted to sad desk lunches?  There’s a whole universe of delicious, easily packable lunches – so why are so many people suffering?

But I digress, the point is that I made this salad once, and then had it as a side with salmon, for lunch with some sliced chicken, and again for dinner with sliced chicken (I could have even just thrown an egg on it.)  The pomegranate seeds add a bit of colorful flair (take that sad desk lunches!) and the arugula tossed in adds even more color and crunch to an already colorful dish that just begs to be photographed.

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups butternut squash, cut into ½ inch cubes
  • 4 teaspoons, extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¾ cup uncooked red quinoa
  • 1 small shallot, minced
  • 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon good quality maple syrup
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 pinch cayenne pepper
  • Salt
  • 1/3 cup walnuts, chopped and toasted
  • 1/3 cup pomegranate arils
  • 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, chopped
  • 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
  • Handful of arugula (optional)

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Place the cubed butternut squash on a baking sheet or in a baking pan. Drizzle with two teaspoons olive oil and sprinkle with ground cinnamon. Toss to coat. Roast your butternut squash for 30 minutes, stirring after 15 minutes, until it is very tender.
  3. While your squash is roasting, cook red quinoa according to package directions (I find this is generally a 1 cup of quinoa to 1.5 cups of water or broth if you choose to use that instead). When cooked, transfer it to a large bowl to cool slightly.
  4. In a small bowl, combine the minced shallots, remaining two teaspoons olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, lemon juice and cayenne pepper. Season with salt to taste and set your dressing aside until ready to use.
  5. Toast walnuts in a small pan over medium-high heat.  Just make sure to watch that it doesn’t get too toasty crisp! Remove from the pan and set aside.
  6. Add your roasted butternut squash, toasted walnuts, pomegranate arils, arugula, parsley and crumbled feta cheese to the bowl with your cooked red quinoa. Pour the dressing over your salad and gently toss to coat. Serve warm, at room temperature or chilled.

Adapted from Domesticate-me Red Quinoa and Butternut Squash Salad.

Fruit and Vegetable Tzimmes – a perfect introduction to autumn

~ lisaandfrancescook ~ Leave a comment

Vegan Tzimmes

September and October can still feel like summer, but in my heart, it’s already autumn. The Jewish New Year always coincided more or less with the beginning of school and even though it has been many, many years since I was last in school, this is the time of year that represents hope, change and redemption for me.

I just hosted family for Rosh HaShana and made this wonderful vegan tzimmes. In Yiddish, tzimmes means “mixed up.” My father, who spoke Yiddish before he spoke English, would always call after me and my siblings if we were making a lot of noise – “What’s the ganza tsimmes?” What’s the big mix-up going on? Well, THIS ganza tzimmes is one delicious, rich and fragrant mix-up and you don’t have to be Jewish to enjoy it. This is a wonderful accompaniment to brisket, of course, but it is also delicious with roast chicken or fish. And if you are staying vegan, serve it over couscous or polenta or quinoa for a satisfying meal.

Fruit and Vegetable Tzimmes – adapted from The New Jewish Holiday Cookbook by Gloria Kaufer Greene

Fruit and Vegetable Tzimmes

Yields: 10 servings

Ingredients:

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (if the slices are very big, cut them in half

4 large carrots, peeled and thinly sliced

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and thinly sliced

1/4 cup dark raisins

1/4 cup Sultana (light) raisins

1/4 cup pitted pruned, roughly chopped

1/4 cup Medjool dates, pitted and roughly chopped

1/4 cup dried apricots, roughly chopped

1 medium onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

Zest of one large navel orange

Juice of one navel orange

2 Tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

1/4 cup real maple syrup

2 Tablespoons Earth Balance Vegan margarine

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with non-stick spray (I like Pam).
  2. Layer the vegetables and dried fruit, mixing gently. Dissolve the brown sugar, salt and maple syrup with the orange juice and grated zest. Pour it over the fruits and vegetables.
  3. Dot with the margarine and sprinkle with the cinnamon. Cover the pan with a lid or foil.
  4. Bake for 1.5 hours or until the vegetables are frgrant and tender. This can be made ahead. In fact, I think it taste better if made a day in advance.
  5. When ready to reheat, dot with a bit more margarine and sprinkle a little more cinnamon on top. Heat uncovered in a preheated 325 degree F oven for about 30 minutes. Check it after 15 minutes. I fit seems to be browing too much then recover it. This will keep for a week in the fridge and like stews and many soups, it just keeps getting better.