Middle-Eastern Rice and Lentils

So easy to make and so tasty :) I skipped the onions at the end just because I got distracted and didn't make them in time... ooops!

This makes enough for 4

Ingredients:
1 cup lentils
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 cup rice
2 cups water or additional veggie stock
1/2 tsp. olive oil
1/4-1/2 cup onion, chopped

Method:
1. Bring the lentils, bay leaf, cumin, tomatoes, pepper, and vegetable stock to a simmer over high heat in a saucepan or Dutch oven. Stir, cover, turn the heat to low, and simmer until the lentils are cooked through and have absorbed the liquid, 45 minutes-1 hour. Remove the bay leaf.

2. Cook the rice according to package directions.

3. While the rice is cooking, saute the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes.

4. Place the rice on a plate; put the lentils on top of the rice and the onion on top of the lentils. Serve hot.

Sundried Tomato and Olive Ravioli

This is the vegetarian version of the ravioli I made. I really made this up as I went..! It was very tasty, I'll definitely make it again! One thing I'll do next time is roll the pasta even thinner. It was a little thick when it all came together.

The pasta recipe uses the KA mixer and pasta roller attachments. I'm sure this pasta recipe could be used with any pasta roller that you have (you could probably even roll it out the old-fashioned way with a rolling pin - I'm just lazy!) ;)
Pasta Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1 tbsp. water
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, sifted
1/4 tsp. salt

Pasta Method:
1. Place the eggs, water, whole wheat flour, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the bowl and flat beater to the mixer. Turn to speed 2 and mix for 30 seconds.

2. Exchange the flat beater for the dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead 2 minutes. Remove dough from the bowl and hand-knead for 2 minutes. Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces before processing with the pasta roller attachment.

Filling Ingredients:
1/4 pound fat-free cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk, beaten
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/8 cup kalamata olives, chopped
1 clove garlic
1/8 tsp. grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 egg white to seal

Filling Method:
1. Mix the cheeses, egg yolk, and seasonings in a bowl. Add the tomatoes and olives. Cover the bowl and refrigerate.

3. Process the pasta with a flat pasta sheet roller until it is as thin as possible. Keep pasta strips covered with a damp cloth to keep them from drying out prematurely.

4. Spoon teaspoons of filling onto one strip of pasta. Dip a pastry brush in the egg white and brush it around each spoonful of filling. Place a second sheet of pasta over the filled sheet and press down firmly to seal. Use a fluted pastry wheel or knife to cut the ravioli. Repeat with the remaining dough and filling.

5. Place the ravioli on trays lined with clean dish towels and let them dry for no longer than 3-4 hours. Turn occasionally.

6. To cook - bring a pan of water to a rolling boil. Slide the ravioli into the water. Cover the pan and cook 3-5 minutes once the water has returned to a boil, stirring gently. Taste for doneness.

Serve with marinara (I used the red wine marinara from this blog) and some grated Parmesan cheese.

References:
I used several different recipes as a base for this one. I started with the recipe for Whole Wheat pasta from the little recipe book that came with the KitchenAid Pasta Sheet Roller and Cutter set. I also used a ravioli recipe from Pasta Recipes and Techniques which was published by the Cooking Club of America.

Polenta with Tomato-Braised Beans

The tomato-braised beans part of this recipe was amazing! So tasty :) In fact, they were a really nice replica of the green beans that are served at my favourite Greek restaurant (only not with green beans... lol)
The polenta, on the other hand, really left a lot to be desired! Maybe I made too much? It was just really boring... I think I need to add some Parm to it next time! That might help! :) This topping would also be yummy on pasta.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 tsp. dried sage
1/2 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups water
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup coarse yellow dry polenta
Margarine or butter


Method:
You will want to start cooking the polenta first since it takes a while!
1. Bring 4 cups water and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a boil in a large saucepan. Add polenta in a thin stream, stirring constantly. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cover and cook 10 minutes.
Uncover and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cover and cook 5 minutes. Uncover and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Cover and cook 5 minutes; uncover and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add a little amount of butter or margarine to the cooked polenta.

2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add parsley and garlic to pan; sauté 1 minute. Add sage and tomatoes; cook 12 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates. Add black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and beans to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Serve the polenta topped with the bean mixture.

Reference:
This recipe came from the January 2008 issue of Cooking Light Magazine.
I really didn't change much this time since I'd never made polenta before! I did add a little margarine and will try adding some Parmesan next time around.

Weekly Menu - February 24-March 1

Oops... forgot to post the menu for this week :)

Sunday: Ravioli with home-made red wine marinara

Tuesday: Polenta with tomato-braised beans for me! A side of sauteed zucchini. DH is having a pork chop and a baked potato; probably some broccoli as well.

Wednesday: It's fend-for-yourself night since I have a late staff meeting at work.

Thursday: Minestrone for me; DH is having beef stew.

Friday: I think we are going out... if not, it will be fajitas for DH and Anthos lentil soup for me.

Saturday: I think a burger with blue cheese for DH and Middle-Eastern rice and lentils for me; salad on the side for both of us.

Rajmah

Yes, I am sure that photo will win me a spot on the Ugly Food blog... ugh! Talk about someone with too much time on their hands! lol...

Rajmah is a kidney bean curry dish - it can be made vegan if you use soy plain yogurt (feel free to sub regular plain yogurt for a non-vegan meal - it will still be vegetarian).
It isn't much to look at but it smells and tastes great! It has this wonderful almost fruity flavour which is making me wish I'd added chopped apples and raisins to it like I do a regular curry. Idea for next time I guess. :) It's nice and spicy, too!

The rice and beans, by the way, are complementary proteins so this is an excellent dish for vegetarians since it provides all the necessary protein types (I used to know what those were..!) Figured I'd use that "teachable moment" for a small nutrition lesson. :)

Another meal I wish I had some naan (sp?) bread to go with!

2 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 medium-sized onion, chopped
1 tsp. canola or olive oil, divided
1/4 tsp. cumin
1/8 tsp. ground coriander
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. curry powder
1/8 tsp. turmeric
1/2 tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 tbsp. plain soy yogurt or regular plain yogurt for a non-vegan dish
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 tsp. ground ginger or 1/2 tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1/2 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
**ooh, it also called for salt but I missed that... seem to do that a lot! You won't miss it if you forget it! There are so many other wonderful flavours going on :)

Method:
1. In a medium saucepan or Dutch oven, saute the onion in 1/2 tsp. oil over medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes. Push the onions to one side of the pan and add the remaining 1/2 tsp. oil. Once the oil is hot, add the cumin and mix well. Add the coriander, curry, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Cook the spices for just a little bit and then mix them with the onions.

2. Reduce the heat and add the tomato paste, yogurt, garlic, and ginger. Stir and simmer for about 2 minutes. Mash about 1/4 of the kidney beans and add them, along with the other beans, and the water to the pan. Stir and then simmer for about 30 minutes.

3. For a thicker sauce, cook uncovered for an additional 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Serve over rice.

Reference:
I found this recipe in a cookbook one of the moms at work gave me :) So nice of her! It's a book that was compiled by the mothers in her playgroup (The San Diego North County Attachment Playgroup) so I'm sure it's not readily available but here's the information on it anyway!
Fresh Mamas: Whole Cooking for Our Whole Families (2007 Cookbook). Edited by Carol Jefferies and Jenny Kim. San Diego, CA.
Yeay! :)

"A Few of my Favourite Things" Pasta

Holy hell, this is good :) And the best part - it was super quick to make! Not sure how healthy it is with all that goat cheese but we'll just say the broccoli, beans, and whole-wheat pasta balance that out :) It's definitely full of protein so great for vegetarians!
This has so many of my favourite things in it - pasta, Kalamata olives, goat cheese, walnuts... mmm :)

Can I just say how much I do not miss meat... not at all! I might just stay vegetarian after Lent. :) Well, it is a bit of a PITA to have to cook two things every night so maybe I'll just be a once-in-a-while meat eater ;) Hee hee, I have a vegetarian cookbook - The Occasional Vegetarian, I could be "the occasional carnivore."

This made 2 very generous servings (guess what I'm having for lunch tomorrow?)

Ingredients:
4 oz. whole-wheat rotini pasta (or another pasta with ridges - penne would also work)
2 cups small broccoli florets (you could sub fresh spinach if you like)
1/2 (14.5 oz) can no salt added diced tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/8 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 (15 oz) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (you could sub black or kidney beans)
1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives, halved
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup chopped soft goat cheese, divided (feta would also work)
A small sprinkle of chopped walnuts

Method:
You just have to love 2-step meals! :) So quick and easy!
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the broccoli during the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Drain and return to the pot. **If you choose to use spinach, do not add it until the last minute! Just toss it in with the rest of the ingredients right at the end.

2. Meanwhile, cook all the remaining ingredients except the cheese in a large skillet over medium heat. It only needs about 3 minutes for the ingredients to warm through. Stir occasionally while they cook. Toss the pasta with the olive and tomato mixture as well as 3/8 cup cheese; sprinkle with the remaining 1/8 cup cheese and the walnuts. Enjoy :)

Great with a big glass of red wine; but isn't everything? :)

Reference:
Based on the Italian Pasta with Beans recipe from the Feb/March 2008 issue of Cooking Pleasures magazine.

Tomatoes Stuffed with Rice, Spinach, and Cheese

I've made stuffed tomatoes before and LOVED them but wanted a vegetarian version I can eat now... the others had turkey. These were so tasty. I started with a recipe from a vegetarian cookbook and tweaked a couple things.
Here's what I changed:
*Brown rice in place of white rice
*Spinach in place of Swiss chard
*Goat cheese in place of cheddar (if you use cheddar, sprinkle it on the tomatoes after they cook instead of mixing it in. Raise the temperature to broil and give them a couple minutes under the broiler. Watch them! The cheese will burn quickly).
*Walnuts in place of pine nuts
*Onion in place of shallots
*I also added some sun-dried tomatoes

*Argh! These were so pretty! I didn't get any decent photos... :( Oh well, you sort of get the idea!

Makes 6 stuffed tomatoes (I only made two but the measurements would be all wonky if I started dividing everything by 3 and posting it here!)

Ingredients:
6 medium-large sized tomatoes
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup onion, chopped
1 cup washed, chopped spinach
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp. chopped walnuts
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped soft goat cheese
1/8 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cut a 1/2-inch slice from the top of each tomato. Scoop out the seeds and pulp carefully (I ran a knife around the inside like you would a grapefruit). Leave the shell intact. If you'd like, you can sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with a little salt (I totally missed this - shows how much I pay attention to recipes! - and didn't miss the salt... I really don't think you need it). Turn the tomatoes upside down on some paper towels or a plate to drain while you prepare the stuffing.

3. Heat a wok or skillet over high heat for one minute. Add the oil and onions, reduce the heat to low. Saute until the onion is soft, 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and saute until wilted, 2-3 minutes more. Remove from the heat and mix the rice, spinach mixture, soy sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts, goat cheese, and oregano together.

4. Stuff the tomatoes with the spinach and rice mixture and place them in a shallow greased baking dish. Leave a little space in between them.

5. Bake, uncovered, until the tomatoes are cooked through, 10-12 minutes (I think mine had more like 15). Serve immediately.

**I really wanted mine with some sauteed zucchini but my zucchini wasn't any good anymore :( I did made some roasted red potatoes which were equally yummy! Hello starch overload, though! lol :)

Reference:
Based on the Tomatoes Stuffed with Swiss Chard, Rice, and Cheese recipe from The Occasional Vegetarian by Karen Lee.