Chickpeas & Chard with Pan-Roasted Tomatoes

I've had a string of bad luck with recipes lately. Well, not really "bad," but I've made a few things over the last week or so that were disappointingly bland and not worth blogging about. I will share some pictures, though, because they were both kind of pretty! The first one was this Kerala-style edamame curry recipe from Vegetarian Times. I was so excited to make it, but it ended up having very little flavor.

The other one was this eggplant compote tossed with pasta and topped with a poached egg. I think this recipe came from Bon Appetit? It was also disappointing because it just tasted kind of boring. (I always love a poached egg, though.)

These recipes were both kind of complicated in their own ways. The curry had a lot of whole spices going on, and the pasta dish involved poaching eggs (something neither Joe nor I have managed to quite master). So last night I was just kind of fed up and felt like making something really simple that wasn't going to be spectacular in any way but that was just going to taste good. Not crazy good, but plain and satisfying good. I ended up throwing together this simple recipe from (appropriately enough) Real Simple magazine, and it fit the bill pretty well. Simple flavors, fresh ingredients, unfussy preparation. Sometimes that's just what you need.

Chickpeas & Chard with Pan-Roasted Tomatoes
Paraphrased from Real Simple

• 1 cup brown rice
• 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided (if you're using a nonstick pan -- use more if using a regular pan)
• 4 plum tomatoes, halved lengthwise
• One bunch chard, washed thoroughly, thick stems removed, leaves torn
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• One 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Cook the rice according to package instructions. In the meantime, heat one teaspoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a nonstick pan. (Use more oil if not using a nonstick pan.) Add the tomato halves, cut side down, and cook 3-5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally, until starting to brown. Flip tomatoes onto their "backs" and cook 1 more minute. Remove to a plate. Add the other teaspoon of oil to the pan and lower heat to medium. Add the chard, garlic, raisins, 2 tablespoons water, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and a few pinches of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the chard wilts, about 3 minutes. Add the chickpeas and lemon juice and heat through until warm. Adjust the salt and pepper as needed. Serve with the rice and tomatoes.

Pickled Peppers & Eggplant

A guest post by the wonderful Joe Fray...

Recently, Becky and I found a fun, delicious hobby. We've begun to pickle. Becky found an article in one of her plethora of food mags with what appeared to be simple pickle recipes. We made a batch of pickled cucumbers and carrots. It took twenty minutes, they were ready the next day, and they were delicious. We got a little more daring and pickled some brussel sprouts and sweet peppers. Both came out perfectly again. After that we were hooked.

I've taken the lead on doing most of the pickling because I get some sort of dorky pleasure out of it, and I'm painstakingly precise in my measurements, often to Becky's annoyance. So, for Christmas Becky got me a pickling recipe book (from which the two recipes below were taken), and our pickling has since reached new and interesting levels. We've pickled onions (excellent with bread and a sharp cheddar), cauliflower (one batch was yellow, the other pink), watermelon rinds (probably won't be making those again), and eggs (surprisingly good, though I need a better method for peeling hard boiled eggs). I've also just started my first batch of fermented pickles (sour through natural fermentation in saltwater rather than from vinegar), but I'll have to update you later on how those turn out.

Pickling is as simple as mixing a fresh or very lightly cooked vegetable with seasoning and vinegar.  That's it. All you need is the ingredients and a jar.  The jars are easy to find; we have a mix of screw top jars from Sur La Table and flip tops from Ikea and the Container Store.

The two recipes below are incredibly easy and are definitely our favorites so far (batch two of the peppers is just about gone).

Refrigerator Pickled Peppers

From The Joy of Pickling

• 1 pound bell peppers, preferably of mixed colors, cut into strips
• Half a celery stalk with leaves, chopped
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 1 1/2 teaspoons whole fennel seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 3/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pickling salt (a.k.a. fine sea salt) (if using kosher salt, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon -- do not use iodized table salt)

In a large bowl, toss the peppers with the celery, garlic, and fennel. Pack the vegetables and seeds with the bay leaf into a quart sized jar. Combine the water and vinegar, and dissolve the salt in the liquid. Pour the brine over the vegetables. Close and refrigerate the jar. The peppers will be ready in a week. Refrigerated, they will keep well for 6 to 8 weeks. 

Quick Pickled Eggplant with Basil

From The Joy of Pickling

• 1 quart water
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon pickling salt (a.k.a. fine sea salt) (if using kosher salt, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon -- do not use iodized table salt)
• 2 medium-large eggplants (about 3 1/4 pounds), cut into 3/4-inch cubes
• 1/2 cup white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh basil
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1/4 cup olive oil

In a saucepan, bring the water and 1 tablespoon salt to a boil. Add half the eggplant cubes and simmer them for about 5 minutes, until they are tender. Put them in a colander and cook the remaining eggplant cubes in the same way. Add them to the colander and rinse and drain all of the eggplant. In a quart sized jar, mix the cooked eggplant cubes with the vinegar, basil, pepper, garlic, and the remaining 1 teaspoon salt. (There will not be enough liquid in the jar to cover all the eggplant, but that's okay -- just shake the jar around whenever you get a chance.) Cover the jar and refrigerate it for at least 8 hours. The eggplant will keep for about 1 week in the refrigerator. Just before serving, stir in the olive oil.

Banana and Yam Stew

Two summers ago I had the amazing opportunity to go on a wildlife-viewing safari in Tanzania with my mom. Going to Africa to see the animals was one of her lifelong dreams, so it was a pretty unforgettable experience for her as well as for me. We saw some incredible things and I got the chance to take some great photos.

While we were there, we also had a great time talking to our guide during the long car rides between the Tanzanian national parks. He and all the other guides we met were so nice and always willing to tell us about everything we wanted to know, from Swahili words to Tanzanian history lessons to tidbits on Maasai culture.

While we were in the central Serengeti we spent a couple nights at a private camp where we could hear the wildlife moving about outside our tent. The last night at the camp, we asked the guides to cook us a traditional Tanzanian meal. They made a huge feast for us, but the thing I remember best was a coconut milk-based stew with yams and green bananas and all sorts of spices.

This recipe, from one of my favorite vegetarian cookbooks, is really similar to that stew. I don't know if it's exactly the same, but it's really good and brings back great memories.

Banana and Yam Stew
From Linda McCartney on Tour

• 2 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, divided
• 2 pounds yams or sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 medium red onion, chopped
• 1 large tomato, chopped roughly
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon each ground cloves, cumin, and turmeric
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/4 cups coconut milk
• 1 quart vegetable stock, plus another cup of water if you prefer
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
• 2 green bananas, sliced

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add the yams or sweet potatoes and cook until slightly browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove to a plate or bowl. In the same pot, heat the other tablespoon of oil over medium heat and add the jalapeno, cilantro, onion, tomato, carrot, garlic, and spices. Cook, stirring, about 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and stock and bring to a boil. Add the bay leaves and lower the heat to a simmer. Stir in the cornstarch mixture. Add the bananas and yams/sweet potatoes. Cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

Serves 4-6.

Asian Vegetable-Rice Bowl with Fried Eggs

There's a definite division of cooking labor in our apartment. While I handle most food preparation tasks, Joe is the go-to guy for anything involving eggs: scrambling, frying, hard-boiling, even pickling. That's not to say that I can't cook an egg, or that Joe isn't great at cooking all sorts of other things (he is); it's just that he has a comparative advantage in the egg preparation category.

So last night I did most of the legwork for this very yummy meal: manning the rice cooker, prepping veggies, mixing up a sweet-spicy Thai chili sauce. But I saved the very last task for when Joe got home from work -- frying four eggs, which he did to the perfect degree of doneness. And then our meal felt like a collaborative joint effort, which added to the deliciousness in an intangible, but definitely real, way.

Asian Vegetable-Rice Bowl with Fried Eggs and Chili Sauce
From Real Simple

• 1 cup short-grain brown rice
• 1/3 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
• 3-4 teaspoons Sriracha or Asian chili-garlic sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 bunch broccoli, florets broken apart and stalks sliced thinly
• 2 red or yellow bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into thin sticks
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vegetable/canola oil
• 4 eggs

Cook the rice according to package instructions. In a small bowl, combine the sweet chili sauce, Sriracha, sesame oil, and vinegar; set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 450 F. After the rice has been cooking for about 20 minutes, place the broccoli, bell peppers, and carrots on a large rimmed baking sheet; toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Crack the eggs into the skillet and cook, covered, 2 to 3 minutes for slightly runny yolks. Serve the vegetables and eggs over the rice and drizzle with the sauce.

Lemony Chard Stuffed Shells

This is one of my favorite veggie Italian dinners. It's got everything a great meal needs: pasta, protein, leafy greens, tomato sauce, a lemony zip... Plus, people tend to be kind of impressed by stuffed shells even though they're not very hard to make.

The last time I made these, I served them with some spaghetti squash, which was great because it goes so well with tomato sauce. This time, my grocery store was out of the squash, so I just cooked up a quick side of zucchini sauteed with lots of garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, a squeeze of lemon juice, and some fresh basil. As you can see from the picture, it's not the most beautiful meal I've ever assembled, but it definitely hit the spot anyway.

Lemony Chard Stuffed Shells
From One Dish Vegetarian Meals

• 12 large pasta shells
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup minced shallots
• 1 bunch Swiss chard, washed well and coarsely chopped
• 1 block of firm tofu, blotted dry and crumbled
• Juice and zest of one lemon
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan or soy Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cups tomato sauce, homemade or store-bought cans

Preheat oven to 350 F. Cook the pasta shells according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until softened, about 3-4 minutes. Add the chard and cook until wilted, about another 5 minutes. Place this cooked mixture into a bowl and add the tofu, lemon zest and juice, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

Using a teaspoon, stuff the cooked pasta shells with the filling until well packed. Spread a layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, arrange the shells on top of the sauce, and pour the remaining sauce over and around the shells.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes or until hot.

Variations: Add 1 cup of chopped mushrooms, if you're into that kind of thing (yuck). Just add them to the pan at the same time as the chard.