Chickpea Salad for Maria – Insalata di Ceci Maria

 

With my daughter Maria and her family coming over this evening for a Mediterranean dinner, I had to come up with one more dish to complement the others I had. Those other dishes included marinated roasted kebabs, of Turkish origin, Ratatouille, the Provençal medley of summer vegetables, and rice. Still having fresh herbs in my garden, I opened a can of chickpeas and highlighted them, salad style, with olive oil, wine vinegar, fresh parsley and basil, black olives, tomato, garlic and sea salt.

 

All of those ingredients are common in Italy, where Maria often teaches ceramics both through the University of Georgia art program in Cortona, in Tuscany, and as part of a women’s cooperative clay studio in the same city. Chickpeas as a major food item go back to at least Etruscan times in central Italy, well before the Romans took over. Chickpea salads are made in various parts of the Mediterranean, including Italy. So this convenient, easy to make, dish seemed to fit geographically and historically, as well as culinarily, into what I needed to balance tonight’s meal. I’ll serve it from a ceramic bowl Maria made.

 

The recipe serves four to six as a side dish.

 

1 (14-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed twice

1 small tomato, cored and cut in narrow wedges

12 pitted black olives (such as Kalamata), halved crosswise

1 medium large clove garlic, finely minced

3 sprigs fresh parsley, leaves coarsely chopped

8 medium-large leaves fresh basil, coarsely chopped (or 1/2 tsp dry oregano)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons wine vinegar, white or red

1/2 teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

 

In a mixing bowl, combine the chickpeas with the remaining ingredients. Stir well. Allow the mixture to sit for at least half an hour, mixing it occasionally. Taste and add salt and/or a little more vinegar to your taste.

 

Serve in a shallow bowl.

 

Basil-braised Baby Potatoes

 

 

I was sort of aware of baby golden potatoes, but hadn’t really cooked with them. That is, until one of our daughters this summer gave us half bag of them, along with other perishable loose ends, to use up as she and her family headed off on vacation. Now I’m trying to figure which preparation with them is my favorite.

 

While Italian-type basil still flourishes in my garden, braised baby potatoes with basil is my new go-to easy side dish. It nicely accompanies other dishes and doesn’t need any gravy or sauce. Maybe in winter some other version will emerge, since these potatoes are so simple to prepare and so delightful.

 

The recipe serves 4-6 as part of a dinner meal. The potatoes can be cooked fresh before dinner or prepared ahead and quickly re-fried to serve.

 

3/4 pound (12 ounces) baby golden potatoes

1 small shallot or 1/4 of an onion

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Small pinch nutmeg

Small pinch cayenne

10 medium-sized fresh basil leaves, sliced

 

Rinse but do not peel potatoes, rubbing the outsides well. Cut potatoes into halves then each halt across into half. Peel and finely chop the shallot or onion. Have the other ingredients ready.

 

Heat to medium hot a heavy frying pan or sauce pan that has a lid. Add the olive oil and potatoes. Stirring very frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan with metal spatula, fry for 2 minutes.

 

Add water, shallot or onion, salt, spices and sliced basil leaves. Stir then fry 2 minutes, covered, then stir and scrape again. Cover and fry another 2 minutes. Continue the alternating frying and stirring until the potato is tender when tested with a toothpick. If potatoes are drying add a tablespoon of water as needed. Taste and if needed add a little salt.

 

Keep warm if to be eaten soon, or cool, refrigerate, then re-fry to heat for serving.

 

Roasted Beet Salad

 

 

Roasting beets whole concentrates their sugars, color, nutrition and delightful taste. Then turning those roasted beets into a salad with a little onion, parsley, sugar and vinegar produces a beautiful as well as delightful dish that is part of many traditions. Such a salad adds a “wow” to the dinner. 

Roasted beet salad is particularly associated with Greek and Turkish cooking (where it is often topped with yogurt or feta cheese). But the salad can also be made without dairy. Toasted walnuts are optional, but they enhance the contrasts as well as the protein value.

 

Beet salad can also be made with boiled or microwaved beets, or even canned beets. But it lacks intensity, and can be insipid, in my view. Roasting the beets takes some time, but it’s time in the oven while the cook can be working on other things.

 

Here’s a delightful roasted beet salad in the vegan tradition. The recipe serves six or more, but extra salad is great as a leftover.

 

1 pound fresh whole red beets, preferably all about the same size

A little vegetable or olive oil to moisten the surfaces

1 tablespoon very thinly sliced onion (lengthwise, “julienne” style)

2 sprigs fresh parsley, preferably flat “Italian” type, leaves coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons cider or wine vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon sea salt

3 tablespoons toasted walnuts, coarsely chopped (optional)

 

Rub the whole beets with a little oil or spray with baker’s spray. Place on a baking sheet and roast at 375 degrees until tender when pierced with a toothpick. That will take 40-60 minutes, depending on size of the beets. Let cool.

 

With sharp knife, peel and scrape off skin from the beets (a little messy, an apron is suggested). Slice beets 1/8-inch thick. Stack slices a few at a time and cut into 1/2-inch strips. Place in mixing bowl.

 

Add onion, parsley, vinegar, sugar and salt and mix well. Let rest ten minutes, then mix well again. Taste a piece of beet and a little of the accumulated juice. If preferred, add a little more vinegar and/or sugar and/or salt, to taste.

 

This can be served now, after a final mixing, or chilled and served later. Serve in a shallow bowl or on a platter. If desired, top with coarsely chopped toasted walnuts.

 

 

Quinoa Pilaf -- Easy

 

 

I’m a recent convert to quinoa. I’m not sure quite why it took me so long. Probably because the grain had such a cultish following, and because I loved rice so much in so many forms.

 

But trying to get more iron into the diets of several family members and cooking occasionally for several people dealing with diabetes or pre-diabetes, have both encouraged me to try more dishes with quinoa. The grain (technically a seed) is highly nutritious and has a relatively low glycemic index.

 

What I have learned is that quinoa is easy to cook, is fairly flexible in the variety of dishes that can be prepared with it, and (most important to me) I find I like quinoa. I’ll still cook and love rice, potatoes, grits/polenta, and pasta, but now I’ve expanded my repertoire for side dishes.

 

Raw quinoa has a negative feature that needs to be dealt with for best flavor. The seeds have a light coating of naturally occurring, bitter, soap-like saponins, which apparently give the plant protection from grazing animals and microbial organisms. This should be removed by washing the grains before cooking. (Some quinoa is already washed before it is sold, in which case further washing is not necessary.)

 

Here’s a pilaf-style dish I made using red quinoa, which is very attractive. White, black or tri-colored quinoa would also work. I used a rice cooker, but also suggest how to cook the dish on the stove-top instead.

 

The recipe serves six as a side dish.

 

1 1/2 cups quinoa, red or mixed color for attractiveness

1/2 small onion, finely diced

1 small Roma-type tomato, cored and finely diced

3 bay leaves

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme or a medium pinch of dry thyme

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Pinch of cayenne

2 2/3 cups vegetable broth, or water

Minced parsley for garnish, optional

 

Place quinoa in the rice cooker container or the pot in which it will be cooked. Add plenty of cool water, then rub the grains between your hands for a minute or so. Drain off the water through a sieve and rinse well with running water. Drain, then return rinsed quinoa to the rice cooker container or cooking pot.

 

Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well.

 

Rice cooker method: Cover and turn on rice cooker. Let cook through its full cycle, then rest, unopened, for ten minutes after the light switches from cook to “keep warm.” After 10 minutes, open cooker and fluff quinoa with a rice paddle or fork to mix well. Remove the bay leaves as you see them. Cover and keep warm until served.

 

Stove-top method: Keeping pot uncovered, bring contents to a boil. Stir, cover pot, and reduce heat to the lowest setting. Set timer for 20 minutes. At 20 minutes, keep pot covered but turn off the heat and let rest 10 minutes. Open and fluff quinoa with a rice paddle or fork to mix well. Remove bay leaves as you see them. Cover again until served.

 

If quinoa cools off, or there is some left over, it’s easy to reheat in a microwave oven in a covered casserole, fluffing a time or two during reheating.

 

Serve in a shallow bowl, dusting the top with a little minced parsley, if desired.

 

 

Spicy Pinto Beans

 

 

Here’s an easily made pinto bean dish of the sort that goes well as an ingredient in tacos, fajitas, nachos, enchiladas, quesadillas, and burritos. Alternatively, the beans go well with rice as a lunch or snack.

 

The recipe serves six people as a light meal, or serves more people if used as an ingredient in one of the Tex-Mex dishes mentioned above.

 

1 small green bell pepper or 1/2 a medium one

1 medium jalapeño pepper

1 small onion or 1/2 a medium one

1 clove garlic

3 tablespoons olive oil

4 (14-ounce) cans pinto beans

1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder, if available, or 1 extra teaspoon regular chili powder

1 teaspoon regular chili powder, or 2 teaspoons if chipotle chili powder not used

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/3 teaspoon cayenne

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 cup water

Coarsely chopped cilantro for garnish, if desired

 

Core the bell pepper and cut it in chunks. Cut the stem off the jalapeño, and cut the jalapeño in half, keeping the seeds. Peel the onion and the garlic clove. Chop all four vegetables very finely in a food processor, or on a cutting board with a chef’s knife. Place vegetable mixture in a heavy pot with the olive oil. Set aside.

 

Open the cans of beans, and holding their lids on, drain off as uch liquid as you can, but do not rinse. Add 1 cup of water to one of the cans of beans. Measure the salt and dry seasonings and put them in a small bowl or cup.

 

Place the pot with the chopped vegetables and olive oil on the stove, and fry, stirring very frequently, until the vegetables are softened, but not browned. Add the beans and their water plus the spices to the pot. Heat, simmering for about ten minutes, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pot, so that the beans don’t stick.

 

Remove from the heat. Taste, and add salt if needed.

 

Use a a lunch dish with rice, sprinkled with chopped parsley, or use as an ingredient on nachos, quesadillas, enchiladas, tacos, fajitas or burritos.

 

 

Rice Pilaf with Peaches and Rosemary

 

With peaches coming in strong here in Georgia, I enjoy cooking savory dishes with them, as well as enjoy them as fruit. Rosemary, which is year-round here, makes a nice foil to the peach flavor, at least if used sparingly.

 

“Pilaf” historically applies to rice cooked with a seasoned broth and added meat, seafood, vegetables or fruits and nuts. Here’s a version using seasonal peaches. Rosemary and a few whole spices add delicate flavor highlights.  The dish will go well with grilled food or a savory braised dish.

 

The recipe serves six.

 

1 1/2 cups Basmati or other long grained rice

2 large or three medium peaches

2 tablespoons white wine

Water (see instructions below)

1 medium shallot or 1/2 small onion, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar (optional)

18 individual leaves taken off a sprig of rosemary

6 whole peppercorns

2 whole cloves

Minced fresh parsley for garnish

 

Rinse rice several times and drain well. Set aside to “dry” somewhat.

 

Peel peaches. Chop flesh coarsely. Place in large (4-cup) measuring cup with the wine. Add enough water to bring the volume up to 2-3/4 cups.

 

Mince shallot or onion. Heat a heavy pot and fry onion in olive oil, stirring frequently, until onion is limp and beginning to become golden. Add drained (and somewhat dried) rice and stir and fry one minute.

 

Add peaches and liquid mixture plus salt, sugar if used, rosemary, peppercorns and cloves. Stir.

 

Bring to a boil, without stirring until after rice is fully cooked. Reduce heat to low, cover pot. Simmer, covered without opening, 20 minutes. Do not lift lid, but turn off heat and let sit 10 minutes.

 

Remove visible rosemary leaves and whole spices from the surface. Fluff rice with a fork.

 

Serve, sprinkled with minced parsley.

 

Louisiana-Style “Dirty Rice” made with Mushrooms

 

 “Dirty Rice” is a Louisiana-Cajun sort of rice pilaf in which the rice was traditionally cooked with finely chopped chicken livers, ground meat or sausage, plus seasonings. But it can be made well fully Vegan. I prefer it made with chopped dark mushrooms rather than chicken giblets. That idea came from having the wonderful Riz Djon-Djon in Haiti, a specialty rice dish enriched as well as colored a rich brown by local hill-side black mushrooms. I use Basmati or other long-grained rice, but in Louisiana cooking medium-grained rice, from Louisiana or Arkansas, is more typical.

Dirty Rice in Louisiana is frequently served with stewed red beans. It makes a good side for a number of savory braised or stewed dishes.

 

The recipe serves six to eight as part of dinner.

 

1 1/2 cups Basmati or other long-grained rice

1 medium-small onion

1/4 large green bell pepper

1/2 stick celery

1/4 pound (4 ounces) baby Bella or Portobello mushrooms

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tomato ketchup

1 1/2 teaspoons Cajun Seasoning (or 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp paprika, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/4 tsp celery salt, 1/4 tsp garlic salt, 1/4 tsp cayenne)

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2 bay leaves

2 1/4 cups low sodium vegetable broth

Coarsely chopped parsley or thinly cross-cut green onion tops for garnish

 

Rinse and drain rice twice to remove excess starch, and set aside to dry. Finely chop together in a food processor the onion, bell pepper, celery and mushrooms, or finely mince them on a cutting board with a chef’s knife.

 

In heavy cooking pot in which the rice will be cooked, fry together the minced vegetables and olive oil. Stir frequently, scraping the bottom of the pot. When the mixture is becoming softer and darker, add the ketchup, dry seasonings, and bay leaves. Add the drained rice and stir well. Add broth and stir briefly. Then do not stir again until cooking is done. Bring pot to the boil, uncovered. When boiling, without stirring, cover tightly and turn heat to lowest setting. Set timer for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off heat and allow to rest without opening the pot for 10 more minutes.

 

Open pot, remove bay leaves, and fluff gently with a fork. Cover and keep warm until served. When serving, sprinkle lightly with chopped parsley or sliced green onion tops.

 

An alternative cooking method can be used with a rice cooker. Put drained rice in rice cooker. Fry vegetables and the olive oil in a pan until color has changed. Add this mixture to the rice in the rice cooker. Add the ketchup, dry seasonings, bay leaves and broth. Stir briefly. Cover and cook as usual without opening the cover. When heat goes off, again without uncovering, let rest 10 more minutes. Then remove bay leaves, and fluff the rice with a fork. Keep warm until served. Sprinkle with the parsley or green onion garnish when serving.