Spicy Chickpeas and Greens - Greenslove Blog Hop

Greens of some sort make a daily appearance in the meals served at our house. I'm in the midst of planning my garden, and next to tomatoes, greens will have the largest presence. Right now we are planning what to plant where in the beds, trying to decide the best material to use to build them, and starting seeds. I'm so excited to have a garden again! I'll share pictures once we get things rolling.

Being a co-host of the #greenslove blog hop, I've got a virtual cookbook showcasing some of the most drool-worthy recipes from some of the best bloggers right at my fingertips.  And so do you.  That's a pretty cool thing, if you ask me. Be sure to check out the bloghop going on beneath this recipe to add to your collection of healthy greens based recipes.

In Spicy Chickpeas and Greens, nutty chickpeas mix with fresh greens in a spicy tomato sauce and are served over a bed of brown rice.  Yum!

Spinach is my favorite green to use when making this dish, but chard works well, too.  You may notice in the photo that this time I used collard greens because that's what I had on hand.  While it was still tasty, I don't really suggest using collard greens because they were a little more bitter than what works well with the spices.  If you decide to use chard, be sure to cut out the stems and use only the leaves.

Spicy Chickpeas and Greens
serves 5-6

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups) *you can use the same amount of purchased chopped tomatoes
• 3 c cooked chickpeas
• 4-5 c fresh spinach or chard, roughly chopped
• 1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 1/2 c cooked brown rice
• Crumbled feta cheese and lemon wedges for garnish, if desired

In a large deep skillet or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium high heat.  Saute the onion for about 10 minutes or until tender.

Stir in the lemon zest, cumin, chili flakes, salt and pepper.  Heat for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.

Add the tomatoes and chickpeas. Cook for about 2 minutes more, stirring occasionally.

Mix in the spinach or chard.

Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and simmer for 8-12 minutes, or until greens are wilted and sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the lemon juice and adjust salt accordingly.

Serve over brown rice. Top with feta and more lemon juice, if desired.

March is #greenslove month!

Please join in the #greenslove fun by linking up any leafy green recipe from the month of March 2012.  Don't forget to link back to this post so that your readers know to come by the #greenslove event!  The twitter hashtag is #greenslove.

Check out the #greenslove co-hosts!

Al Dente Gourmet ~ Aldy ~ @AlDenteGourmet

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan

Badger Girl Learns to Cook ~ Kimberly ~ @BdgrGrl

Baking and Cooking, A Tale of Two Loves ~ Becky Higgins

BigFatBaker ~ Erin ~ @BigFatBaker

Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth

CafeTerraBlog ~ Terra ~ @CafeTerraBlog

Cake Duchess ~ Lora ~ @cakeduchess

Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz

Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies

Georgiecakes ~ Georgie ~ @georgiecakes

Kitchen Belleicious ~ Jessica ~ @kbelleicious

Mis Pensamientos ~ Junia ~ @juniakk

My Twisted Recipe ~ Dudot ~ @mytwistedrecipe  

No One Likes Crumbley Cookies ~ TR ~ @TRCrumbley

Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Queen's Notebook ~ Elizabeth ~ @Mango_Queen  

Rico sin Azucar ~ Helena ~ @ricosinazucar

Savoring Every Bite ~ Linda ~ @Spicegirlfla

Simply Reem ~ Reem ~ @simplyreem

Soni's Food for Thought ~ Soni ~ @sonisfood 

Sprint 2 the Table ~ Laura ~ @Sprint2theTable

Teaspoon of Spice ~ Deanna ~ @tspbasil 

That Skinny Chick Can Bake ~ Liz ~ @Thatskinnychick

The Art of Cooking Real Food ~ Laura ~@TAofCRF

The Spicy RD ~ EA ~ @thespicyrd 

The Wimpy Vegetarian ~ Susan ~ @wimpyvegetarian

Vegan Yack Attack! ~ Jackie ~ @veganyackattack

Vegetarian Mamma  ~ Cindy ~ @VegetarianMamma

Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

Lo Mein, Chow Fun, Moo Shu, General Tso, Fried Rice, Hot and Sour Soup, spring rolls...Ahhh!  I love the Americanized Chinese fast food!  Sweet and savory sauces over crisp vegetables - I get hungry just thinking about it.

However, it really doesn't like me.  Headaches and bloating always seem to follow a take-out meal from a Chinese food joint.  And sometimes it all starts during the meal (ever need to loosen your pants during a meal even though your portions are small?  Yeah.  That kind of bloating.).  Then, of course, there's the problem of being hungry again about an hour later. So why was this style of fast food the hardest for us to give up?

Because it tasted the best. Because it was fast.  Because it was the only take-out I can think of where a hefty portion of vegetables were included in the meal.  Because there was always a ton of food for not a lot of money.  And because it wasn't pizza...again.

Let's face it; we like the sweetness of the sauces because the corn syrup hits our blood stream and shoots right to our brains.  And the MSG heightens all of the flavors in much the same manner so we just want to eat everything on the table in a crazy hurry because it just tastes so darn good.  At least, that was the problem for me.  I'm sure there are more issues with ingredients (not the least of which are quality and origin), but those two seem to be the triggers for me.

So, in an effort to try to avoid all of those nasties, I've been trying for years to reproduce the dishes we like best at home.  But it's hard to compete with those ingredients.  And I'm not Chinese, so I have no family recipes handed down to me to help me understand how this cuisine is created (and I doubt they'd taste the same as the American Chinese food, anyway).  Yes, I can follow a cookbook recipe, but they just don't compare to the Chinese restaurant versions of the same dishes.  What's an Irish-German-Swedish-French-American gal supposed to do?

Trial and error.  Lots of trial and error.  A bunch of sog and a bit of crunch, all with crappy sauces.

But finally, finally I was able to create a Broccoli with Garlic Sauce (my personal favorite) that my whole family loves.  And guess what - they like it better than the Chinese joint's Broccoli with Garlic Sauce!  And I do, too; it has a ton of flavor, and I feel good about all of the ingredients.  Win!

With regards to the recipe, you can choose to saute the garlic with the vegetables if you'd like, but I like it best in the sauce because it tends to burn for me otherwise.  The place from where we used to like to order uses mushrooms, water chestnuts, and celery in theirs, so if you like those things, go ahead and add them if you'd like (I don't); if you keep the total combined additions to equal about one cup, you won't need extra sauce. To make the sauce, I like to put everything into a large measuring cup.  After adding the broth, each liquid addition raises the next level by how much you put into the cup, so there is no need to measure again (just be sure to add the garlic and ginger last).  Also, it's easy to prep the veggies and the sauce ahead of time and store it separately in the fridge until you're ready to use it, which makes for a super fast and easy dinner (aside from the time it takes to make the rice).


Broccoli with Garlic Sauce
serves 4

• 1 1/2 c vegetable broth
• 1/4 c organic tamari (soy sauce)
• 1/4 c raw honey
• 1 head garlic (about 10-14 cloves), peeled and minced
• 1 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced
• 1/2 - 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (depending upon how hot you prefer)
• 1 1/2 Tbs non-GMO cornstarch, such as Rumford
• 4c broccoli florets, cut into bite size pieces
• 1 c red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch chunks 
• 1 c pea pods or asparagus, seasonal (cut asparagus into 2-inch chunks)
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced on the diagonal
• 4-5 green onions, sliced into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1-3 Tbs quality canola oil, or other quality high-heat oil of your choice
• 2 cups hot cooked brown rice 
• 4-6 Tbs chopped peanuts, optional

In a large measuring cup or small bowl, mix together the broth, tamari, honey, garlic, ginger, pepper flakes, and cornstarch.  Set aside.

Combine the broccoli, bell pepper, pea pods or asaparagus, carrot and green onions in a large bowl.

Heat wok or large skillet over medium high heat. Pour 1 Tbs oil into wok or skillet, then quickly begin to saute the vegetables in batches for about 2-3 minutes, adding 1 Tbs more oil for each new batch.

Replace all the vegetables to the wok or pan.  Stir the broth mixture well and pour it over the vegetables.  Stir to incorporate and simmer uncovered for 3-5 minutes or until sauce thickens and vegetables are just tender.

Serve over hot cooked brown rice. Top with chopped peanuts, if desired.

This recipe has been shared on the Recipe Lion Favorite Spring Recipes Blog Hop!
 

Squash and Mushrooms with Black Japonica Rice

Every time a I make a meal, I feed not only my daughter, myself, and the two men in my own family, but also 3 other adult men.  Because my daughter and I are so severely outnumbered, once the cool weather sets in, I find myself making more meat based stews and casseroles and such. Well, today I felt I really needed to get back to my vegetarian heart and make something hearty, but a little less heavy.

Enter black japonica rice (and that butternut squash that has been sitting on my counter for almost two months).  The other day I bought a mixture of black and mahogany japonica rice thinking it might work out well with my aging butternut squash, and then I bought some mushrooms (because rice always tastes great with mushrooms).  With very few other ingredients (garlic, onions, celery...), that rice and that butternut squash became a delicious, filling meal that even the men raved about.

According to the few articles I could find on the internet, black japonica rice originated in China, but is also grown here, in the US.  While I understand that wild rice (which is also black in color) is actually a grass, japonica rice is still a rice, thus, still a grain.  It has an earthy but mildly sweet flavor.  At first, I thought the dish I had in mind might benefit from toasted walnuts on top, but the rice kind of held its own in the "nutty" department as well, and the walnuts didn't work.   Parmesan worked extremely well, but just a small amount was all it took.  I still think a smoked cheese, just a bit, might work, too, but not a soft cheese such as gouda or even provolone.

The original recipe that inspired this dish was a recipe from Real Simple for Tortellini with Butternut Squash, Mushrooms and Fontina, which I haven't actually tried yet.  It just looked so good to me for at least the past week that I was determined to make that squash/mushroom/sage bit sooner than later.  Well, it finally landed on top of the black japonica rice, and it rocked.  The sweetness of the squash and the earthiness of the mushrooms (and the sheer grooviness of the sage when combined with those two vegetables) just enhanced the same sort of flavors that the japonica rice already offered, only the rice's flavors were much more mild.

Also, the package of rice I bought suggested a rice to water ratio of 1:2.  I found that by using two cups of water, the rice was still very wet at the end of cooking and resting time, so I've modified the recipe below to allow for the moisture in the onions and celery because I don't like mushy  rice.

All in all, any time my husband says to me, "Hey, this is really good - is there bacon in this?  Is there more?", and it's vegetarian,  I win.

Squash with Mushrooms and Black Japonica Rice
serves 4-5

For the rice:

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 stalk celery, diced
• 1/2 c chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 c black japonica rice (or mixture of black and mahogany japonica rice)
• 1 3/4 c water
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the Squash and Mushrooms:

• 1 2lb butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and chopped into 1" chunks
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, cleaned, stems trimmed, halved or quartered if large
• 1/4 c fresh sage leaves, torn or roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, pressed
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

• Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 450F.

Heat 1 Tbs olive oil in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat.  Add celery, onion, and garlic.  

Saute for 5 minutes.  Stir in rice.  

Saute for 1 more minute.  Add water and salt; stir again.  Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer.  

Simmer for 45-50 minutes, or until water is absorbed.  Remove from heat and let rest about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the squash, mushrooms, sage, garlic, oil, salt (I used about 3/4 tsp) and freshly ground black pepper in a large bowl.  Mix well to coat.

Turn the vegetable mixture out onto two 15x10" pans.  Roast in preheated oven 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway through.

Divide rice between plates.  Top with roasted squash and mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese, if desired.


Be sure to check out the #cookielove blog hop going on all of December for some of the best cookie recipes in the blogosphere!

Mujaddara

Here is a meal that is all at once ridiculously economical, easy, vegetarian, tasty, filling comfort food.  It doesn't look like much, I'll give it that, but the flavor it packs is amazing. The earthiness of the lentils work so nicely with the sweetness of the onions, and then to top it off with the tang of the yogurt...it's just crazy that from such meager ingredients can come such brilliant flavor.  And it's literally impossible to mess up; if you burn the onions a bit, well that's just extra flavor, or if you boil the water out of the lentils and rice mixture, just add some more (ask me how I know these things).  Oh, and it tastes good cold, too.  Nice.

Along with a chunk of pita bread, this humble dish pairs well with sides such as baked sweet potatoes or squash in the cooler months, and peasant-type salads in the spring and summer.

It's kind of hard to beat, isn't it?  I guess that's why it's been around and much loved since the Medieval times.

Mujaddara
serves 5-6

• 1 1/2 c green or brown lentils
• 1 c long grain brown rice
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 c water
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 2 1/2 c roughly chopped onion
• Lemon wedges
• Greek yogurt or sour cream

Combine lentils, rice, cumin, salt, pepper, and water.
Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to simmer, and cook for 40-45 minutes, or until rice and lentils are cooked.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add onions.

Cook onions about 15 minutes or until golden and tender, stirring occasionally.  Turn the heat off.

Stir half of the onions into the lentil and rice mixture.

Top each serving with a portion of the remaining onions, a squeeze of lemon, and a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream.