Chickpea Swiss Chard Sauté

And we're back! After a couple of months of craziness - which included a change in career, new job, and new work/travel schedule - I'm back to cookin' up some bitchin' food in my little kitchen. Here's a simple but delicious dish, adapted from Plenty, which was given to me by my sister. Wow, will do a review of the book soon, but I can say this...my husband flipped through the book, every page or so said 'make this'/'and this'/'this too'. Gorgeous food, wonderful pics. 


But I digress. My new schedule means a little less time each night to prepare dinner, so meals that can be prepped ahead are a dream. You can chop the veggies, cook the chickpeas, and mince the herbs ahead of time...goes together in about 15 mins, which is mostly the stove doing all the work. Here, I've bulked up the veggies a little, cut back the amount of oil called for in the original recipe, and swapped out yoghurt for sour cream. Yummy lemony chickpea goodness!

Makes 4 hearty servings.

1 large bunch swiss chard
1 Tbsp olive oil
3 large carrots, in small dice
1 large white onion, in small dice
1-2 tsp caraway seeds
2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
1 large garlic clove, minced
2-3 Tbsp fresh cilantro, shredded
2 Tbsp fresh mint, shredded
2 Tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper
1/2 cup sour cream (choose soy if making vegan)
1 Tbsp olive oil, to drizzle


Heat oil in pan, sauté carrots and caraway seeds in olive oil on medium heat for about 4 mins, then add onions to the pan and keep cooking until nicely browned. In the meantime, prepare the swiss chard. Cut the leaves away from the stalks - chop the stalks, and blanch in boiling water for 3 mins. Remove the stalks from the water. Once carrots and onions are nicely browned, add the swiss chard stalks & leaves, cilantro, mint and garlic to the pan and saute until the chard leaves wilt. Add lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with rice or couscous. Add a dollop of the sour cream, and drizzle with olive oil...sprinkle with a little more salt and pepper....and serve! Light-tasting but filling.


Per serving, not including rice/couscous or side of your choice: 352 cals, 12.3g fat, 49g carbs, 842mg sodium, 16g fiber, 20g protein. (PRO21%,CHO51%,FAT28%)

Caribbean Channa Aloo Roti

 

The second instalment of easy, simple-to-make recipes for my sister Denise! I first fell in love with roti on a date with the fine gentleman who is my now husband, aaaah, it was meant to be! He took me to a Caribbean Flavours, a great little place in Ottawa, which unfortunately is now closed. The food was amazing, the wait times were extremely long, but in the end it was worth it. Here is my rendition of channa aloo roti, a spicy chickpea potato curry wrapped in freshly grilled roti bread. Make it as spicy as you like and/or can handle...you don't want to suffer the shame of being served from the 'wussie pot' of mild roti filling made especially for people who can't handle heat!

Ok, Denise is already wondering how homemade flatbread is supposed to be 'simple', and I agree - if you're not inclined to make the dough, roll it out and cook it in a frying pan, then just make a side of rice and skip the bread altogether. The filling is simple to make, and while it doesn't look overly visually appealing, it would tase great on it's own with rice. 

Makes 4 servings.

If you do decide to make the bread, start it first as it needs to rest for about an hour:

1 cup flour, half whole wheat & half white
1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp olive or vegetable oil, seperated
1-4 Tbsp milk of choice

In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, salt and 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add enough milk to make a soft dough. Knead for 1-2 minutes on a floured surface. Clean the bowl, add the remaining 1 tsp oil, and roll the dough around in the oil to cover the surface. Put a clean towel over the bowl, and let rest for 1 hour while you prep the filling.

 

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

3 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tbsp garam masala

1-2 large sprigs fresh thyme
1 onion, cut into small pieces
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or

1 can chickpeas, or enough cooked from dry to make 1.5 cups
2 medium sized potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/4" cubes
1 small scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and minced
note: wear plastic gloves or small baggies on your hands when handling the pepper, the juice will burn your skin!

salt to taste

Heat oil in a large pot, and add the turmeric, cumin, allspice, ginger garam masala and onions. Cook the spices over medium heat for a minute or so, until the spices become fragrant - be careful not to burn them! Add remaining ingredients to the pot, and continue to cook for a couple of minutes to brown the potatoes. Add enough water to just cover the potatoes, reduce heat to a low simmer and cook until the potatoes are tender.

 

At this point, the broth should have reduced quite a bit. Take a fork to break up a couple of the potatoes a little, creating a thicker mixture. Season with salt to taste.

Assembling the roti:

Cut your roti dough into 4 pieces. On a floured surface, roll out each piece of dough to a large circle, making sure it's no bigger than your frying pan. As the circle of dough rests, heat a tablespoon of oil in the frying pan over medium heat and swirl it to cover the entire bottom of the pan. Lay your circle of dough in the pan, and cook on each side for 2-3 minutes or until the dough puffs and is lightly browned on each side.

Place dough on serving plate, place a scoop of the channa roti filling in the middle and fold the sides to make a little bundle. Voila! Great served with ripe plantain grilled in a little olive oil, and streamed green beans sprinkled with oregano.

Per serving: 397 cals, 14g fat, 60g carbs, 601mg sodium, 11g fiber, 12g protein.  (PRO42.2/11%,CHO234/59%,FAT120/30%)

Buddha Rice Bowl with Ginger-Carrot Dressing

The first installment in simple, easy-to-prepare recipes for Denise – and all of you too, of course! This rice bowl comes from Aux Vivres, a wonderful veg restaurant in Montreal, Quebec. I’ve had the Buddha Bowl a few times…brown rice, steamed veggies, delicious Wafu carrot-ginger dressing, topped off with toasted pepitas. Yum!

So here’s the thing. This recipe has a few steps, but don’t be put off – the ingredients can be adapted to whatever you have on hand. Wait, did we just lose Denise? I hope not, this dish is soooo worth it. Don’t feel like making the homemade Wafu dressing? Fine…buy it or use the leftover sauces sitting in your fridge. Don’t want to marinate and grill tofu? Sure…buy something pre-made or use whatever leftover proteins you’ve got kicking around. You get the idea. And even better, Aux Vivres serves this warm rather than piping hot, which means if things cool down between preparation steps, no biggie.

And, if you’re still not convinced this is easy food to make, get your other sister to do it for you. I think both of mine will like this dish very much! Carrot-ginger Wafu dressing, by the way is amazing...check my lower-calorie homemade vegan version.

1 cup uncooked brown rice

1 x 450g firm tofu

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp oil, for grilling the tofu

4 cups broccoli stalks

1 large or 2 medium carrots

3 cups spinach

1 cup sprouts

¼ cup pepitas

1 recipe Ginger-Carrot dressing

Start cooking your rice, follow package instructions. In the meantime, slice tofu into 2” strips, and marinate in soy sauce and sesame oil while preparing remainder of ingredients.

Get a steamer basket ready – if you don’t have one, a microwavable container, a little water and plastic wrap will do just fine. Slice your broccoli stalks into large pieces, or whatever size is desirable for you. Place them in the steamer basket and steam for 4-5 minutes or until just tender. While the broccoli is cooking, shred your carrots – no need to cook them, they’ll be used raw. Once the broccoli is ready, remove from steamer basket and add the spinach. Keep the lid off, and let the spinach wilt for a minute or two while you prepare the tofu.

Heat a grill or frying pan over medium-high heat, add your oil and gently place the tofu strips in the pan. Discard the remainder soy sauce, or keep it to drizzle over your meal if desired. Grill the tofu until nicely browned. Remove from heat and put aside while prepping the serving bowls.

Place ¼ of the rice in the bottom of each serving bowl, and arrange tofu, broccoli, carrots, spinach and sprouts on top. Using a dry pan, toast pepitas over low heat, and then sprinkle them on top of each serving bowl.

Serve each bowl with ¼ of the Ginger-Carrot Dressing, either on the side (I used a shot glass for the pic!) or drizzle over the entire dish.

Per serving: 413 cals, 15g fat, 53g carbs, 596mg sodium, 7g fiber, 19g protein.  (PRO68.2/17%,CHO211/51%,FAT133/32%)