Mushroom-Bean Stew with Garlic Crumb Topping

This smelled so wonderful while it was cooking (even M mentioned how good it smelled more than once) that I made a comment along the lines of "I hope this tastes half as amazing as it smells!" Oh, did it ever! :)

This is a great treat to use up half a can of beans and whatever veggies you have hanging around the kitchen. It started out as a rather plain recipe but I gave it the G treatment and it turned into something quite spectacular!
It's full of protein, iron, complex carbs, and fibre while still being very low in fat and cholesterol (zero cholesterol if you leave out the cheese).

It's vegan if you don't cheat like I did and add a smidgen of Parmesan to the crumbs...
I'd bet money that herbivores and omnivores alike would really enjoy this so it's a great one to serve for company (and it's just so pretty and colorful - who wouldn't love it?!)

I'm saving the best for last here - this goes together in less than 45 minutes (including chopping!) Yeay!
Great for a quickie weeknight dinner.

Serves 2 (easy to double or triple if needed)

Ingredients:
1-1/2 tsp. olive oil, divided
5-6 button mushrooms, quartered
Approx. 1 cup green onions, sliced
1/8 cup red onion, diced
1-1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 can (15-ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed (or whatever beans you have)
1/4 cup reduced-sodium vegetable broth
1 tomato, chopped (I included the seeds)
1 large garlic clove, minced (for the stew)
1/2 tsp. dried tarragon
1/2 tsp. dried culinary lavender, crushed
1/4 tsp. dried fennel, crushed
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper
Small amount of panko breadcrumbs (1/4-1/2 cup or so)
1 small garlic clove, minced (for the crumbly topping)
1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Optional: 1-2 tbsp. freshly-grated Parmesan cheese

Method:
1. Heat 3/4 tsp. of the oil in a large non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat until hot. Stir in the mushrooms, green onions, red onion, and Italian seasoning and cook for 10 minutes or until softened.

2. Stir the beans, large garlic clove, tomato, broth, tarragon, lavender, and fennel. Cook until heated through and thickened. Stir in the salt and pepper.
Yum! There it is sans crumbs/before it got really thick:


3. While the stew cooks/thickens, prepare the crumb topping. Heat the remaining 3/4 tsp. oil in a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the panko for 6-8 minutes or until it is crispy and golden. Add the small garlic clove during the last couple of minutes so you get the garlic flavour without getting a burned-garlic flavour.
They should look like this (mine really weren't that washed out.. I have the oh-so-lovely fluorescent lighting in my kitchen to thank for that!):


4. Add the fresh parsley to the bean mixture and then sprinkle the crumbs on top of the stew.
Optional: If you choose to add Parm to the crumbs, transfer the crumbs from the skillet to a small bowl and let them cool off for a couple of minutes. Grate the Parm into the bowl and mix to combine.

Reference:
I based this on the recipe "Golden Crumb-Topped Mushroom-Bean Stew" from the February/March 2009 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine.

How I made it my own:
*I used black beans instead of Great Northern beans (had half a can of black beans open on top of having a bad case of Monday Brain and forgetting to soak my dried Navy beans that I was originally going to use in place of the GN beans... Despite all that, I thought the black beans were wonderful in it!)
*I used green onions in place of leeks. I just can't do leeks... I'm sure I've told this story but my mom used to make this potato-leek soup every year on Ash Wednesday. Nasty... tasted like ash! Sad that I claim to be this open-minded liberal yet I just refuse to give leeks a second chance! lol ;) And like green onions are really any different! Please..!
*I added onion (much as I hate leeks, I just can't have enough of all their other allium cousins!)
*I used panko in place of a slice of bread
*I added garlic to the panko
*Added the tomato
*I also added lavender, fennel, and tarragon
*Almost forgot... I'm still out of wine and veggie broth! I did find some "Reduced-Sodium (organic!) Vegetable Bouillon" so I cut a chunk off a cube of that and dissolved it to make "veggie broth"

Who needs salt?

This is a really great roasted veggie recipe. It's fairly low-fat (11g total; 1.5g sat. fat. - at least according to the original recipe) in addition to being low-sodium, vegan, and gluten-free. Oh yeah, and fricking delicious! ;)

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 cup cauliflower florets, cut up into bite-sized pieces
1 cup halved Brussels sprouts
1 cup broccoli (I'm not sure that's such a "winter vegetable" but DH went with all the carrots and I needed something to add in!)
1/2 medium sweet potato, diced
1/2 cup onion, cut up into large dice
1/2 parsnip, cut into sticks
5 or 6 small mushrooms (button, cremini, or baby bellas), halved
1 clove garlic
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tbsp. fresh rosemary, stripped from stem
1 tsp. fresh thyme, stripped from stem
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
Pinch dried lavender
Pinch dried tarragon
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1-2 green onions, thinly sliced (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. Toss the Brussels sprouts, broccoli, parsnip, sweet potato, cauliflower, and mushrooms in a large bowl along with 1 1/2 tbsp. oil, the garlic clove, rosemary, thyme, lavender, tarragon, and a couple grinds of fresh black pepper.

2. Spread the veggies out in a single layer on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes at 450, turning 3 times with spatulas. Save the bowl! You'll need it in step 4.

3. Turn up the heat to 475 or 500 (I left mine at 475) and roast for an additional 10 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. You can add the sliced green onions at this point if you like.

4. Grab the bowl you used earlier and add the parsley, lemon juice, and the remaining olive oil. Throw in the roasted veggies and toss it all together. Serve hot on a bed of rice, quinoa, couscous, or pasta (rice or quinoa would be gluten-free; couscous and pasta are wheat-based so they would cancel out that but you can find GF pastas if necessary).

Reference:
Based on the recipe "Herb-Roasted Winter Veggies" from the January 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.

How I made it my own:
I added in the 'shrooms, parsnip, onion, green onion, lavender, and tarragon. I also used plain olive oil mixed with a clove of garlic in place of garlic-infused olive oil (which I'm sure is fantastic but in this economy [and on my teacher salary], I'm using what I have already! lol)
Oh yes, due to an unexpected lack of carrots, I also subbed in broccoli :)

Tuscan Vegetable Saute

I haven't posted an update in so long and now I'm having to catch up! lol It's been so long since I made some of the things I'm about to post that I can't really remember what they were all like! I do remember drizzling balsamic vinegar on this which was lovely.
I also just noticed a note I left in the cookbook that says "*capers*" If I remember correctly, I thought about adding capers to this next time I make it.

This has a lot of ingredients! Don't worry if you don't have them all - this dish is very open to improvisation :) Also, it goes together easily and cooks quite quickly once you have everything prepped.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
Good splash of olive oil (couple tablespoons)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
1/2 cup bell peppers, chopped (any colours - I love the frozen tri-colour peppers from Trader Joe's)
1/2 zucchini squash, sliced
1/2 yellow squash, sliced
1 large vine-ripened tomato, seeded and chopped
3 white button mushrooms, chopped
1/8 cup pitted, chopped Kalamata olives
1 cup cooked chickpeas
2 tbsp. fresh rosemary leaves
1/8 cup chopped fresh basil
1/8 tsp. fennel, crushed
1/4 tsp. lavender, crushed
1 tbsp. fresh oregano
Drizzle balsamic vinegar
Sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Method:
1. Pour the olive oil into a large saute pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion, and celery and saute for 1 minute; stirring often.

2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the peppers, squash, and zucchini. Cook, stirring often, for 4-5 minutes until the veggies become tender. Stir in the tomatoes and mushrooms and cook for 1 minute, stirring often.

3. Reduce the heat to low. Add the olives, chickpeas, rosemary, basil, salt, pepper, fennel, oregano, and lavender. Cook for 1 minute or until heated through. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar just before serving.

Reference:
From the Whole Foods Market Cookbook. I marked my additions in purple.

Samfaina

Mmmm, it's like Catalonian ratatouille :) I *doctored this up* and added a bunch of other ingredients to it so it's really more like fusion ratatouille! I decided while eating that the fennel really overpowdered the lavender (among other things!) so I have cut this down to half the original fennel but kept the other amounts the same.
Whatever you choose to call it, it was really tasty! I'll mark my changes in purple.

Note on the original recipe: it mentioned in the directions to simmer until the liquid was absorbed. Um, there was no liquid listed in the ingredients and the veggies weren't really giving off much liquid! I decided to throw some broth in the mix to help the squash cook (and flavour everything a bit more). Worked fine!

This was really good with some couscous.

Here's my version:

2 servings

Ingredients:
Extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion (original just said "onion")
1 cup cubed, peeled eggplant (I salted my eggplant to help it hold its shape during cooking. Click here to find out what that means - scroll to the bottom of the recipe)
1/4 cup cubed squash (original called for zucchini; I was out but had half a yellow squash to use)
1/6 cup chopped bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped seeded tomato
1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp. chopped fresh thyme (or 1/8 tsp. dried thyme)
1/16 tsp. fennel seed (crushed in a mortar and pestle)
1/8 tsp. dried lavender (crushed in a mortar and pestle)
About 1/4-1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sea salt
1/2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

Method:
1. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion to the pan and cook 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in the eggplant, squash, bell pepper, and garlic. Cook 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

2. Stir in tomato, parsley, thyme, lavender, and fennel. Add vegetable broth (I started with 1/4 cup then added about another 1/4 cup later on - after the first 1/4 cup had evaporated). Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.

3. Uncover and simmer an additional 10 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed (I added the second 1/4 cup of broth at this point). Stir in salt, paprika, and black pepper; cook 1 more minute. Sprinkle with fresh basil just before serving.

Reference:
Based on the Samfaina recipe from the May 2008 issue of Cooking Light.

**Note on photos. I have been taking photos of my stuff, I've just been really slacking on blog updates/uploading my photos lately. Plus, my digital camera is on its last legs and I really need to order a new one! :(
It's the last week of school (work school) so I'm super busy doing last minute stuff and taking care of my teacher check-out for the year. When I have a couple minutes I'll be back to add my photos! :)

Ratatouille!

I decided to try the Ratatouille with Tofu recipe from Cooking Light for dinner last night. I made quite a few changes/additions - it ended up being really tasty! Tons of great veggies! I'll label my changes in purple.

I also didn't serve this with those white noodle things that they had in the magazine (sorry but those look like they have the nutritional value of a donut!) - I used quinoa instead which is another great source of protein on top of that tofu.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup chopped onion (superfood!)
1/4 cup fresh basil, separated
1/2 tsp. dried thyme or 2 tsp. fresh thyme
2 cloves minced garlic (superfood!)
1 cup diced extra-firm tofu (well-drained) - superfood!
1 cup diced eggplant *see tip on salting eggplant below*
1/2 cup diced zucchini
4 button mushrooms, sliced (superfood! Yes, the little cheap button ones are just as much anti-oxidant powerhouses as their fancier cousins!)
1/2 cup chopped tomato (I just used a regular tomato, not plum tomatoes) - superfood!
2 tsp. pesto (I used regular basil pesto since I had some in the freezer... this did make my version of the recipe non-vegan but I'll type out the vegan pesto below)
1 cup tomato sauce (I made it using 1/4 cup tomato paste + 1/2 cup water)
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. herbes de Provence (rosemary, thyme, summer savory, fennel seed, basil, tarragon, and lavender)
1 tbsp. lemon juice (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. dried marjoram
1 tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Method:
1. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat the pan with cooking spray. Add carrot to the pan and saute 4-6 minutes. Add the onion, 1/8 cup fresh basil, herbes de Provence, thyme, marjoram, and garlic; saute 3-4 more minutes. Add the tofu, eggplant and zucchini and saute 4 minutes more or until tender.

2. Add the chopped tomato, mushrooms, lemon juice, pesto, and tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in black pepper, fresh parsley, and additional 1/8 cup fresh basil.

*Salting eggplant:
Slice eggplant and rinse the slices/pat dry. Sprinkle a little salt on both sides of each slice and let the eggplant "drain" for about 1 hour (I usually just sit mine of a paper towel). Re-rinse the eggplant and chop/use as desired. This will remove any bitterness from the vegetable and will help it retain its shape as it cooks.

*Pesto Coulis (vegan):
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
1/4 cup chopped green onion
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until smooth.

Reference:
Based on the Ratatouille with Tofu recipe from the May 2008 issue of Cooking Light Magazine.

Lemon-Herb Butter Cookies

These are lovely with some tea and they will make your kitchen smell divine! They are very similar to the lavender shortbread I've made before but I love the addition of the rosemary and lemon - so many great flavours!

I was hoping to make these earlier in the week since I had fresh rosemary from my parents' garden and a local lemon to use but I was unable to find corn flour at the "big box" grocery store. I go to a smaller store on Saturdays to get the bulk of my groceries - they have a wonderful bulk foods section (as well as a bunch of local and organic produce!) so I was able to get the corn flour I needed there. If you can't find it, you should be fine just subbing additional all-purpose flour.

This made 32 cookies - you may or may not get more than that :)

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 tsp. dried lavender - my addition (I gave mine a quick crush with a mortar and pestle)
1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup corn flour
1 1/2 tsp. aluminium-free baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup turbinado (raw) sugar for decorating

Method:
1. Beat the butter, granulated sugar, rosemary, lavender, and lemon zest with an electric mixer or stand mixer for 3 minutes (or until creamy). Beat in the egg yolks and vanilla.

2. Whisk together the flours, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Add to the butter mixture and beat until just combined. Shape the dough into 2 1-inch wide logs. Wrap in wax paper and chill for 2 hours.

3. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Cover 2 baking sheets with parchment or spray with cooking spray. Place the turbinado sugar in a bowl. Slice the cookies into 1/3-inch thick rounds (work with 1 log at a time - keep remaining dough refrigerated until you're ready to use it). Press one cut side of the cookies into the turbinado sugar and place sugar-side up on a baking sheet. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown on bottoms. Transfer to wire racks to cool.


Reference:
This is based on the Lemon-Rosemary Butter Cookies recipe from the April 2008 issue of Vegetarian Times. The only change I made was to add some dried lavender.

Lavender-Rosemary Potatoes

I love lavender and rosemary so I have been wanting to try this combination on potatoes for a long time! Finally did it last night since I was making roasted potatoes for DH to go with his tuna melt.

In the future, I think I'd use more lavender and less rosemary - the rosemary really over-shadowed the lavender which was a bit of a bummer. They were still really good, though! Even my picky DH tried one and liked it! :)

My next experiment with this lavender-rosemary flavour combination - butter cookies. :)

**I didn't take a separate photo of these but you can see them in the margherita sandwich post. :)

4 servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. small red potatoes
1 tsp. dried rosemary
1 tsp. dried culinary lavender
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil (superfood!)
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. coarse sea salt (I'm lucky to have a huge bag of Hawaiian sea salt that a friend brought back from her honeymoon... it's amazing stuff!)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 525 degrees.
Quarter the potatoes and place them in a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle the salt, pepper, lavender, and rosemary over the potatoes and toss again.

2. Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with fat-free cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes on the sheet in a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring twice during cooking. Raise heat to broil for the last 2 minutes.

Reference:
I based this on the Lavender-Rosemary Roasted Potatoes recipe from the August/September 2005 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine.
I can't find the original recipe on their website but here are my changes/what the original called for:
*I used dried rosemary in place of fresh sprigs (I'm starting a herb garden, soon - can't wait!) - original called for using 1/2 cup of sprigs and placing those under the potatoes on the foil. Maybe if I'd done this, the rosemary would not have over-powered my lavender..
*Original said to bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. If I'd had the time, I would have done this but I was in a bit of a rush so I used my other roasted potatoes recipe for the temp/time guidelines.
*If you are lucky enough to have lavender in your garden (I hate you...! Kidding!), you can use fresh lavender sprigs and flowers. Place these under the potatoes, too. If you use the fresh rosemary and dried lavender, place the rosemary sprigs under the potatoes but toss the potatoes with the lavender just like I did.

Lavender Shortbread Cookies

Wow, these are cookie heaven! Seriously.. they are really good! These were yet another goodie I made for the bridal shower on Saturday. I actually made these and a batch of regular shortbread (just make this sans lavender).
You can find culinary lavender at natural food stores - check Whole Foods and Jimbo's (I found mine at Jimbo's). I found you can also order it from Penzey's (or just go pick it up if you're lucky enough to live close to one)! If you grow lavender, you can also use it from the garden. Just make sure it is grown organically so you're not adding nasty chemicals to your cookies!
The lavender adds a certain sweetness to the cookies - it works really well with the simple shortbread ingredients - and your kitchen will smell amazing while these bake!

In folklore, lavender has always been linked with love, as has food ;)

Ingredients:
2 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. dried culinary lavender or 2 tbsp. fresh lavender florets

**You may want to try using 1/3 cup granulated sugar and 1/3 cup light brown sugar for these (or regular shortbread) cookies.**

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line 2-3 cookie sheets with parchment paper.

2. In the bowl of a standing electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed for 5-10 minutes, or until the mixture becomes light in colour and very soft and fluffy.

3. Remove the bowl from the mixer and fold in the flour by hand. The dough will be soft.

4. Place a handful of the dough at a time on a lightly floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to press out the dough to about 3/8 inch thick. ***Do not use a lot of flour or your shortbreads will be tough which is absolutely not the effect you want! Shortbreads are known for being light.***

5. Cut out the shortbreads using any shape cookie cutter you like (since these were for a bridal tea party, I used a heart shape). With a spatula, transfer them to the prepared pans, spacing them about 1 1/2 inches apart (they will not spread, but they do puff a little).

6. Continue in this manner until all the dough has been used. Remember to use very little flour when rolling out the dough so your last shortbread will be as tender as the first.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are just a very pale golden colour. Slide the papers from the pans onto wire racks. Store the cooled cookies between sheets of parchment or wax paper in an air-tight container.

Wonderful with a cup of hot tea!


*Photo of the regular (no lavender) shortbreads I also made*

Reference:
This is based on the "Scottish Shortbread" recipe from Nick Malgieri's Cookies Unlimited book.