Category: Fall

by Veggie Sutra

Warm Meditteranean-style Kabocha Squash Salad

When I first moved to California, I was so taken in by all the beautiful stone fruit that ripen in summer.  Peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums!   Oh what a bounty of drupes!   I couldn’t stop making jams and tarts and pies, especially when friends and neighbors freely shared their crop.  But that feeling jaded after a couple of summers and I discovered the exotic beauty of fall fruit like figs, persimmons and pomegranates.

 

 

Aren’t pomegranates the sexiest of all fruit?  Our little tree pomegranate tree had a healthy crop this year.  So, being the nice neighbors that we are, we offered some to our next door neighbors.  No, they said.  “We really don’t care for pomegranate”!   What???!!   That completely floored me.  How could someone not like the sweet, tart taste of this juicy, sexy glam fruit that appears in ancient myths and legends?

I finally figured it out!  They either didn’t know how to, or didn’t want to take the effort to peel the pomegranate to extract the seeds.  I must admit I find it a bit cumbersome myself.

Once my uncle cut open a pomegranate and said like a magician, “Now watch”. He then proceeded to whack the pomegranate over a bowl with a flat ladle.  Pretty soon he had gently extracted all the seeds in to the bowl.  I tried that technique myself and ended up with a pink shirt, a pink counter top and pink walls, like a carnage had just occurred at the scene.

So yeah, now I do it manually, one layer at a time.   It is worth it!

 

 

I saved some of the fruit from our fall crop in the refrigerator and fortunately it has kept well.  I love using pomegranate in salads like this Quinoa Salad.  Today, I used it in a Mediterranean-style Kabocha Squash Salad.

I call it Mediterranean style because of the ingredients and spices I used that came together very well.  I would have loved to use more herbs but this late in to winter, most of the herbs in my garden were gone.  I only managed to find a few sprigs of mint.    Feel free to generously use mint, parsley and other herbs you have on hand.

Here is the recipe.

Mediterranean-Style Kabocha Squash Salad with Chick Peas and Pomegranate

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 4 as a meal

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup dried chickpeas or garbanzo beans (or use 1 15oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed)
  • 1 medium kabocha squash, washed
  • Seeds extracted from 1 medium pomegranate
  • 1/2 cup + 4 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 medium lemon, squeezed, yielding about 6 Tbsp juice
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced fine
  • 1/4 tsp cumin powder
  • 1/2 tsp sumac
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • Roasted walnuts and any herbs like mint for garnish

Method:

Prepare the Chickpeas (Skip this step if you are using canned chickpeas):

  • Soak the chickpeas in lukewarm water overnight or up to 2 days, changing water once or twice.  The chickpeas will double in size, so leave enough room and add enough water for soaking
  • Drain the soaked chickpeas
  • Boil 4-5 cups of water in a large saucepan, add the soaked chickpeas, and bring to a boil again.  Then lower the heat all the way down, add a pinch of salt if you like, then cover with a lid and cook for 60-90 mins until the chickpeas are soft.
  • Pro-tip:  Cooking the soaked chickpeas in a pressure cooker makes the process a lot faster.  I also hear from friends that the Instant Pot is awesome for this.
  • Once the chickpeas are cooked, drain any excess water and spread it out on a kitchen towel so it can dry a bit

Roast the Kabocha Squash:

  • Preheat over to 425F
  • Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil
  • Wash and scrub the kabocha squash.  You do not need to peel it.
  • With a steady hand, using a good chef knife, cut it in to halves and remove the seeds. Then cut it in to wedges and finally in to bite-sized pieces.
  • In a bowl, toss the kabocha squash with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, salt and black pepper
  • Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for around 20 mins until the squash is soft, and remove from oven

Roast the chickpeas:

  • Reduce the oven heat to 350F
  • Line another baking sheet with aluminum foil
  • In a bowl, toss the chickpeas with 2 Tbsp of olive oil, cumin powder and sumac.  Also add salt if the chickpeas were not cooked with salt.
  • Spread evenly on the baking sheet and bake for 10 mins
  • If you need to roast the walnuts, do it at the same time.  Spread the walnuts on another baking sheet, and roast at 350F for 10 mins on the top rack of the oven taking care to not let it burn as walnuts burn easily.

Prepare the dressing:

  • Whisk together 1/2 cup olive oil, 6 Tbsp lemon juice, pinch salt and crushed garlic

Prepare the salad:

  • Toss the kabocha squash, chickpeas, pomegranate seeds with as much dressing as you want per taste.  Garnish with toasted walnuts and mint leaves and serve.

 

 

This is a very satisfying salad for a meal but can also be served as a side.  It is also a very pretty dish to serve at parties.

by Veggie Sutra

Poached Pears in Red Wine with Spices

Every year during the holiday season I get in to the baking-and-giving mood. I bake cookies, cakes, fruit breads and desserts and I share it with neighbors and friends.  V also relaxes his sugar rules and digs in to the desserts and sweets with gusto.   The whole house smells of vanilla and spices and everything is perfectly festive.

 

 

V and I also cooked a bunch of stews and curries this weekend to store for later in the week.  When amma is visiting, we get freshly cooked food every single day, but when we are alone, we simply do not have the energy.  So we cook big batches and freeze/refrigerate in airtight containers to consume later.  I recently had an argument with my cousin about this.  She simply could not understand how I could consume something that is not fresh off the stove.  To which my answer is, I would rather do this than eat processed foods or take out from restaurants.  She does have a point though.  Freezing and refrigerating foods is considered taboo in many cultures even today.  Pickling is perhaps the only accepted way of preserving foods.

I expect some research student badly wanting a PhD will soon do a study on the effects of eating precooked and refrigerated food pretty soon!   In the meantime, we will continue following our known health rules like being mindful of the Dirty Dozen.  Today’s featured produce on our Dirty Dozen series is pears.  Apples and pears are #4 and #6 respectively on EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.  Terribly unfortunate as both of them are such great fruits to snack on.

When I turned on the oven today for baking my holiday goodies, I also wanted to make a simple dessert for dinner.  What is simpler than a dessert that incorporates the natural sweetness of fruit.   Like the chia seed pudding with blueberry compote dessert, this dessert with pears is also easy to make and can be made a day ahead.

 

 

Recipe for Poached Pears in Red Wine with Spices

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 5 – one each

Ingredients:

  • 5 short squat organic pears like comice pears (you could use any pear you want but pick ones with stem attached)
  • 1 cup of full-bodied red wine
  • 1/2 cup orange juice from 2 large oranges
  • 2 Tbsp sugar + 1 Tbsp
  • 2 sticks cinnamon, broken
  • Around 5 whole cloves
  • 1-2 cardamom pods (optional)
  • 2-3 thick slices of lemon
  • Optional: Ice cream for serving

Method:

  • Preheat oven to 350F
  • Peel the pears with stems intact. Then slice the bottom off a bit so it can stand up
  • In a shallow casserole just large enough to hold 5 pears, place the red wine, orange juice, and 2 Tbsps of sugar and stir a bit to dissolve
  • Place the pears in the dish.  Add the cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardamom (if using) and lemon slices and cover with aluminum foil
  • Bake for around 45 mins.  If the liquid does not completely cover the pears, open the oven once or twice to turn the pears on their sides to that the liquid evenly seeps through.  I had to do this twice
  • Once the pears are tender, but not falling apart, switch off the oven and remove the pears on to a serving dish and refrigerate
  • Now strain the liquid in to a sauce pan and throw away the spices and lemon slices.  Place it on low heat on the stove, add a tablespoon of sugar and simmer until the liquid has reduced to less than half its volume and takes on a syrupy consistency
  • Refrigerate the syrup separately from the pears
  • While serving, place one pear on each plate.  Spoon some of the red wine syrup on top.  Serve with a side of ice cream optionally.

 

 

This dessert is perfect for the holidays.  First, it is very festive looking and perfect for a small holiday dinner get-together.  Secondly, the process of making it makes the whole house smell of spiced cider and mulled wine which puts everyone in a holiday mood.  And finally, it is a very light, and not overly sugary dessert.  Don’t we get enough sugar during the holiday season anyway?  Of course, if you want more sweetness, like we did today, you could serve it with vanilla ice cream.

 

by Veggie Sutra

Roasted Potato and Brussels Sprouts with Wilted Spinach

Lo and behold, winter is upon us here in Northern California.  And with it, the hectic holiday season.  It is probably not very PC of me to say this, but I am not a big fan of this time of the year just because it gets so crazy.  There is a lot of shopping madness and social calendars get too jam packed to be enjoyable.   Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy some aspects of it….  like lighting up the porch and walking around the neighborhood to gaze at the lovely Christmas lighting.   I love turning on the oven to bake cookies….  in fact, bake anything.  I love the smell of pies and mulled cider and poached pears wafting through the house and all the great food.  Indeed the holiday season is the time of entertaining and I am always on the lookout for easy-to-make crowd-pleasers to serve at dinner parties.

 

 

Potatoes are certainly up there when it comes to being crowd pleasers.   They are very versatile, and ubiquitous throughout the year, served cold as potato salads at summer picnics and served warm as mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving tables.    I may not have met anyone so far who doesn’t like potatoes.  Alas, as discussed before in our Dirty Dozen series, the humble spud is up there when it comes to pesticide residue and is currently at #12 on EWG’s Dirty Dozen list.

In the Dirty Dozen roundup post, I talked about several measures one can take to avoid pesticides in the food we eat everyday.   One of them is to grow the offending produce ourselves.   Surprisingly, potatoes are really easy to grow even in a pot!   I learnt this while volunteering at a local community farm and the farmer taught me that if you cover the top of the soil with hay, the potatoes just appear in the hay and do not even need to be washed.  I haven’t been successful in growing it that way, but I can vouch that nothing is more satisfying than to plunge one’s hand in to the mud and pull out an enormous potato!   So go ahead and give it a try!   If not, try to buy organic or at least wash the potato and peel before cooking it.

 

 

Today’s recipe features a couple of my favorite ingredients to roast – potatoes and brussels sprouts.  As with all vegetables, brussels sprouts lose their bitterness when roasted and take on a super smooth caramelized flavor, as in this other Caramelized Brussels Sprouts recipe.   This super-simple side dish is a great hit on holiday tables.

 

Recipe for Roasted Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts with Wilted Spinach

[Printable Recipe]

Serves 6 as a side dish

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups brussels sprouts, washed and halved or quartered in to bite-sized cubes
  • 2 cups organic baby potatoes (red and white) washed and cut in to bite-sized cubes
  • 4 tablespoons white truffle flavored olive oil
  • A couple of generous pinches of salt
  • A couple of generous pinches of pepper
  • A couple of generous shakes of dried garlic or garlic powder (you can use freshly minced garlic if you wish)
  • 1 cup spinach leaves, washed and chopped
  • A squeeze of lemon juice

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 425F
  • You will need 2 cookie sheets, one for the sprouts and one for the potatoes
  • In a large bowl, combine the brussels sprouts with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, pepper and a dash of garlic.  Spread on a cookie sheet and place it on the top shelf of the oven
  • In the same bowl, combine the potatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a generous pinch of salt, pepper and a dash of garlic.  Spread on a cookie sheet and place it on the bottom shelf of the oven
  • Set the cook time to 45 mins
  • After 20 mins, check the potatoes by piercing with a knife.  If it pierces easily, remove from the oven and move the brussels sprouts to the bottom shelf.  If not wait another 10 mins and do the same
  • Check if the brussels sprouts have charred slightly and caramelized after 45 mins
  • Remove the potatoes and brussels sprouts to a serving bowl.  Add the spinach while warm so the spinach wilts immediately
  • Adjust salt and pepper, squeeze some lemon juice to taste
  • Serve warm

 

 

The holiday season should be about friends and family and of course good food and not about stress.  Keep your cooking as simple and hands off as possible by serving dishes like this!

by Veggie Sutra

Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

Oh, what a perfect fall day walking around out midtown Sacramento enjoying the beautiful Victorians this past weekend.  We had lunch at a new vegetarian restaurant called Veg in midtown and also visited the newly renovated Sacramento Natural Foods Co-op.   The co-op has been around for ever – even before Whole Foods came to Sacramento and fosters a real sense of community.   It made me really nostalgic to go there.  This is the place where I first learnt about the real implications of organic and locally sourced foods, how to make natural cleaners using stuff like vinegar, to eschew plastic bags and carry my own bags, and everything important in life!

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We got lucky with the weather in Sacramento, but this fall in California has been weird – the weather’s been alternating between too hot and too cold with intermittent showers in between to mix it up.  The effects of the drought seems to be lingering and as I have done for the last 4 years, I hope fervently for a wet winter.  On the bright side, fall produce like squashes have started appearing in the markets.  (In fact, at Veg in Sacramento, I had a yummy curry with sweet potato and kabocha squash in coconut milk.)  Fall fruits like figs and persimmons and pomegranates are also here.   Last time around, I made a vegan banana bread topped with fresh figs.  This weekend I made a really bright salad with pomegranate seeds.

Aren’t pomegranates just about the most exotic and sexy of fruits?   No wonder in many ancient cultures they were seen as a symbol of fertility.   Pomegranates grow rather well in California due to the Mediterranean climate with dry summers and winter rainfall.  Apparently they were brought here by Spanish settlers originally, but the young tree in our backyard was brought to us by a friend who is an expert at propagating fruit trees.  He considers all the baby trees his own babies and so it was a relief to him (and us) that our tree has survived and thrived, and had its first produce this year.  We were quite pleased with the deep red sweet seeds and look forward to many years of fruitful growth.

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Here’s the super simple, yet delicious recipe for a quinoa salad with pomegranate seeds and parsley.

Quinoa Salad with Pomegranate Seeds and Parsley

[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cooked quinoa (about 1 1/4 cup uncooked)
  • 1 cup pomegranate seeds (from 1 large pomegranate)
  • 1 large bunch parsley, washed and chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 cups shredded cabbage and carrots
  • 1/2 cup lightly roasted walnut pieces for garnish
    For dressing:
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (1 medium orange)
  • 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
Method:
  • Toss all the salad ingredients except walnuts together
  • To make dressing, place all the ingredients in a bottle, close the lid and shake until emulsified
  • Drizzle dressing over salad and toss lightly
  • Before serving, garnish with walnuts and serve

This was the perfect fall meal sitting outside in warm sunshine, trying not to think about having to put away our patio furniture for the winter just yet!

quinoa-salad-with-pomegranate-2-2

by Veggie Sutra

Vegan Banana Bread with Fresh Figs

I have the best ever banana bread recipe!  A friend of mine typed it and printed it out for me years back and it is one of my most-prized recipes.  Dog-eared and creased as it is from years of handling, it has never ever failed me and makes the most perfect 2 loaves of bread in a jiffy!   Unfortunately it is not vegan!     Finally I think I have found a way to veganize it and make it sugar-free without compromising texture or taste.

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Did I tell you about my current obsession with figs?  Fall in California brings exotic, sexy fruits like persimmons, figs and pomegranates to the local markets.  I have a strange (imaginary?) allergy to persimmons but I happily gorge on both figs and pomegranates freely at this time of year.

You already know how I love cooking with dried figs, like the No-bake Fig Energy Balls and the Fig and Oat Bars.   This time I used fresh ripe seasonal figs in my recipe.  The purple California Smyrna figs are so pretty that I could not just bury them inside the batter.  I wanted to show off their seedy beauty and hence decided to place them cut-side up on top of the bread.

Banana Bread with Fresh FigsHere’s the veganized version of my favorite banana bread recipe with fresh figs.  It also does not have any added sugar and is sweetened entirely with fresh and dried fruits.

My stained dog-eared copy of the original recipe (not vegan).  Credit: My friend K

Recipe for Vegan Banana Bread with Fresh Figs

[Printable Recipe]

Equipment:
  • Hand mixer
  • Blender
  • 2 loaf pans (I have 2 Pyrex 9″x5″ loaf pans that I love and have used for ever)
  • Convection Oven
 Ingredients:

Dry:

  • 1 cup whole wheat flour (almond flour would work well if you want to go gluten free) + about a tablespoon for the pans
  • 1 cup golden flax meal
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
  • 2 Tbsp of brown sugar (or turbinado) (optional)
Wet:
  • 5 dates and 4 dried apricots or figs, rinsed and soaked in warm water for 1/2 hour
  • 1 large apple  (Or 1/2 cup apple sauce)
  • 1/2 cup avocado oil (you can use any vegetable oil or coconut oil)
  • 3 very ripe bananas
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • About 20 small figs or 10 large ones
  • A little coconut oil for coating the pans
Method:
  • Preheat over to 350F
  • Grease the pans with coconut oil and dust with flour
  • Combine all the dry ingredients except walnuts in a large bowl
  • Puree the soaked dates and apricots with about 1/4 cup of the soaking water
  • Peel and cut the apple and puree in a blender (or use apple sauce)
  • Peel and mash the ripe bananas
  • Add the wet ingredients to the bowl and use a hand mixer to mix thoroughly
  • Mix in the walnuts
  • Scoop in to the prepared loaf pans and shake to even the surface
  • Cut off the stems of the figs and cut them vertically in to halves
  • Press in to the batter, cut side facing up
  • Bake in oven for around 45 mins to an hour until a toothpick or knife inserted comes out clean
  • Optional step:  About 5 minutes before the end of the baking cycle, sprinkle about a tablespoon of brown sugar or turbinado on top of the figs in each loaf pan and continue to bake
  • Place on a cooling rack to cool, slice and enjoy

Since it is sweetened entirely with fruit we have it for breakfast or an afternoon pick me snack.

 

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Do you have other recipes to satisfy my fig cravings?  Do share!

by Veggie Sutra

No-Bake Fig Energy Balls

I currently have my teeth sunk in to a meaty book called Meathooked – The history and science of our 2.5 million year obsession with meat by Marta Zaraska.   So far, the book has presented a very balanced view of why humans started eating meat and continue to do so despite other sources of sustenance.  It also shows that many arguments on both sides (from the “paleo” diet proselytizers as well as from the vegetarian diet proponents) have merit.  So far, the book has not taken any sides.  I am waiting for the punch line!

In the meantime, my obsession with dried figs continues.  A lot of the no-sugar recipes call for using dates or date sugar to add sweetness. I think figs would work just as deliciously.   
No Bake Fig Energy Balls
Last weekend was a sweltering one again and I did not wait to turn on the oven.  So I decided to make some no bake energy balls sweetened just with figs.  The inspiration for the recipe came from several sources online for “bliss balls” but I totally made this one up as I went along.
No Bake Fig Energy Balls

Recipe for No-Bake Fig Energy Balls
Makes around 15 balls
Ingredients:
  • 8 oz (around 10) dried California figs (I picked up a bag from Costco)
  • 4 oz (around 1 cup) quick cooking oats (opt for gluten-free if sensitive)
  • 4 oz (around 2 cups) dried coconut flakes (I got this from the bins at Whole Foods)
  • 4 Tbsp almond butter (~2 oz)
  • 4 Tbsp raw cacao powder for dusting
Method:
  • Soak the dried figs in enough warm water to cover for around 15 mins
  • Dry roast the oats in a pan on low heat until it smells nutty and fragrant
  • Dry roast the coconut flakes on low heat for around 5 minutes until fragrant
  • In a food processor, grind the oats and coconut flakes together to a not-too-fine powder
  • Drain the water from the figs, chop roughly and add to the food processor
  • Add the almond butter and 2 tablespoons of cacao powder to the food processor 
  • Pulse until it forms an uniform mass and remove from the food processor
  • Roll in to balls and dust with remaining cacao powder
  • Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator

No-Bake Fig Energy Balls

You won’t be able to stop popping these delicious balls in to your mouth.  They are so sweet you won’t beleive there is no sugar in them!    We have been having them for breakfast every morning with a boiled egg, some home-made sauerkraut and a few slices of avocado.

No-bake Fig Energy Balls

(I apologize for the appearance of the blog.  I am working on getting a new cleaner look and have somehow managed to mess things up.   I promise to fix it soon!   In the meantime, I could not resist posting this recipe!)

by Veggie Sutra

Fig and Oat Bars with No Added Sugar

Here in Northern California, it has been a sweltering Memorial Day weekend with more heat in store for the week ahead.  We spent most of the weekend hunkered down inside the house except for a day trip to Folsom to see our dear friends.  We both love Folsom and the heat did not deter us from having a lovely lunch at Karen’s Bakery by the river.  The food was amazing, the service was gracious and as always the people in Folsom, very friendly.

Fig and Oat Bars

Very rarely do we stay home for a long weekend, but it gave me a chance to catch up on blogging as I have missed a couple of weeks recently.  I also have been looking for a couple of new designs for the blog to make it more user-friendly.  Wait and watch for the changes!

Speaking of the heat in California, everyone’s yard in Folsom is dry and brown but the fruit trees as laden with delicious apricots and plums.  I came back from Folsom with a handful of golden yellow apricots from someone’s yard.  Figs, I believe would start ripening around end of June, but I got some dried ones from Costco which I decided to put to good use when I have been hanging out at home this weekend.

Fig and Oat Bars

V loved the low-carb grain-free coconut and multi-seed bars I had made a couple of months back, so I decided to try a new recipe.  Now that he has eased off his low-carb diet, I was free to use some grains as well.  But I avoided sugar or any artificial sweeteners altogether and instead used ripe bananas to provide sweetness.

Fig and Oat Bars

Recipe for Home-made Fig and Oat Bars with No Added Sugar
[Printable Recipe]

Wet Ingredients:

  • 8 oz (around 12) dried figs
  • 4 Tbsp ground flax seeds
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil
  • 3 medium very ripe frozen bananas, thawed and mashed up
  • warm water

Dry Ingredients:

  • 2 cups quick-cooking rolled oats (look for gluten-free if you are sensitive)
  • 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder
  • 1 tsp maca powder (optional)
  • 1/4 cup Costco Super Smoothie protein mix (optional)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 Tbsp raw hemp seeds
  • 1/2 cup dried coconut flakes

Method:

  • Pre-heat oven to 350C
  • Dot a 9×13 inch pan with coconut oil and line with parchment paper
  • Soak the dried figs in warm water to cover for around 15 minutes
  • Make the flax “egg” by mixing the ground flax seeds with 1/2 cup warm water.  Set aside for around 10 mins
  • Mix the dry ingredients thoroughly in a large bowl
  • Fold in the flax “egg”, coconut oil and mashed bananas until well-combined
  • Discard the water and chop the soaked figs roughly and add to the mix
  • Pat the mixture in to the pan and smoothen the surface with fingers or a flat spatula
  • Bake for 20 minutes
  • When it has cooled a bit, scour in to bars.  Let cool completely and store in an airtight container
Fig and Oat Bars
The bars turned out pretty sweet and the figs were a great addition as they provided a lot of texture. It would make a perfect addition to our breakfast this week! 
by Veggie Sutra

A Vegetarian Entree for Thanksgiving: Mushroom-Walnut-Cheese Loaf

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is a time to celebrate family, friends and everything we are grateful for.   We are truly thankful for our friends, as most of our family is in far away places. Oh, and Thanksgiving is also about food and sharing that abundance.

These days V prefers to go out to a restaurant for Thanksgiving as he does not want me slaving in the kitchen, nor does he want to.   But until a few years back, I loved to have friends over for all-vegetarian Thanksgiving dinners, and one of the entrees I loved to feature was a scrumptious vegetarian nut loaf.

I had almost forgotten about the recipe, but life is full of coincidences!  A dear friend of mine who had enjoyed the dish a long, long time back, was doing her fall cleaning and found the recipe with a hand-written note from me!

 

 

Of course I had to make it again this year!  I modified it quite a bit to cut down the amount of cheese and nuts, and increase the amount of mushrooms.  I also cooked the rice in a herbal broth instead of plain water to give it a lovely aroma.  It ended up tasting just as delicious as I remembered it!

 

 

Recipe for Mushroom-Walnut-Cheese Loaf: A Vegetarian Thanksgiving Entree
Adapted from Cheese and Nut Loaf recipe on MarthaStewart.com
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

  • 1 generous bunch rosemary and 1 bunch thyme
  • 1 cup brown rice, washed and soaked overnight
  • 2 Tbsp butter or ghee + more for greasing a casserole dish
  • 1 medium onion, minced fine
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced fine
  • 12 oz shiitake mushrooms, chopped small
  • 4 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup cottage cheese
  • 6 oz gruyere cheese, grated
  • 1 cup parsley, chopped and packed tightly
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Cook the rice the day before or at least a few hours before:

  • Bring 2 cups of water to a boil and add the rosemary and thyme bunches.  Let it simmer for more than an hour until it reduces to about 1.5 cups.  Strain out the rosemary and thyme and discard.
  • Cook the soaked rice with 1.5 cups of the broth instead of plain water
Prepare to make the loaf:
  • Preheat the oven to 350F.
  • Spread butter on a 9″ x 4.5″ casserole dish and set aside
  • In a saute pan, melt the butter or ghee and add the onions and garlic.  When soft, add the mushrooms and cook for 10 mins until the mushrooms are fully cooked
  • Lightly beat 4 eggs and set aside

Assemble the ingredients:

  • Mix the cooked rice, saute’d veggies, eggs, cottage cheese, gruyere cheese, parsley, and walnuts.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
  • Pack in to the casserole dish
Bake the loaf:
  • Bake the loaf for 1 hour until it is firm to touch.  Let it sit for 20 mins to cool.
  • Slice and serve with your favorite sides!
Here’s wishing you and your family a happy Thanksgiving, and do share what your favorite dishes are, and what you are thankful for!My favorite sides for Thanksgiving are caramelized brussels sprouts with stone-ground mustard (yum! I have to find that recipe!), roasted butternut squash with sage, and Waldorf salad with spinach, apples and walnuts.   Dessert has to be pie, my favorite being pecan and pumpkin!
by Veggie Sutra

A Perfect Fall Soup: Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Yam Soup

We had our first chilly fall weekend in Northern California today!  It felt like the perfect weather for a warming fall soup and I found just the one I wanted to make in Mildreds: The Vegetarian Cookbook, a gift from V.  The book contains recipes from the London restaurant of the same name and it is a complete treat to browse through.  A couple of weekends back, I made the stuffed baby eggplants from the same book, and it turned out very nice!  For today’s lunch, I picked the brightly-colored roasted red pepper soup.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Yam Soup

Lemon and other citrus trees are a standard part of the landscape in most Bay Area backyards and even some front yards.  Even though we use the lemons for everything from cooking to cleaning, I have never made use of the leaves from the tree. This recipe intrigued me also because it makes use of lemon leaves.

Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Yam Soup

Recipe for Roasted Red Pepper and Yam Soup
Adapted from Mildreds: The Vegetarian Cookbook‘s recipe for Thai-spiced Roasted Red Pepper, Sweet Potato, Ginger & Coconut Milk Soup
[Printable Recipe]

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium red bell peppers
  • 2 small or 1 large purple yam
  • 2 Tbsp coconut oil
  • 1 tsp Fennel Seed (you can find this at your local ethnic Indian grocery store)
  • 2-3 Thai chili peppers or serrano peppers, chopped (Thai chili peppers are spicier, use serrano or jalapeno peppers if you want a milder taste.  Alternately use 2 more chilies if you like it spicy.)
  • 4-5 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 4-5 lemon or lime leaves, ribs removed and finely sliced
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 inch piece ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • A pinch cumin powder
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
Roast the red pepper and yam simultaneously in the oven while you saute the remaining ingredients for the soup.  Instructions given separately below for each, but the timings will overlap, so read through first.
  • Roast the red bell peppers:
    • Pre-heat over to 400F
    • Brush the outside of the bell pepper generously and thoroughly with olive oil or coconut oil and place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil
    • Bake for around 20 mins on the lower rack closest to the coils turning the bell pepper once or twice to char evenly (You may need to bake for a little longer as some of the instructions call for as long as 40 mins, but mine was done at 20 mins)
    • Pull the tray out using oven mitts and take the peppers out carefully with a pair of tongs and place inside a brown paper bag placed on top of a plate and close the bag tightly by folding the ends 
    • Let it sit for 30 mins or so while you saute the onions etc.  
    • After 30 mins or so, tear the paper bag open, and make sure the peppers are cool enough to touch.  Discard the paper bag and set the peppers back on the plate
    • It should be very easy to peel away the skin now.  Also, get rid of as many seeds as possible from inside the pepper. You will be left with just the flesh and a bit of liquid on the plate
  • Roast the yams:
    • Cut the yam in to 2 inch chunks and place on a baking sheet 
    • While roasting the red bell pepper on the bottom rack, place the yam on the top rack
    • After 20 mins insert a knife and check if the yam is mushy, if not bake for 10 more minutes on the bottom rack 
    • Cool and peel the yam
  • Saute the other ingredients:
    • Heat 2 Tbsp of coconut oil in a pan on medium or low heat
    • When hot, add the fennel seeds
    • When fragrant, add the green chilies, garlic, and lemon leaves
    • After 2-3 mins when the garlic is fragrant, add the chopped onion and saute for 6-7 mins on medium heat until the onion is soft and translucent
    • Add the ginger and coconut milk and heat through for a couple of minutes and switch off
Roasted and peeled red peppers in the blender,waiting for the yam to cool
  • Blend the soup:
    • Puree all ingredients until smooth adding cumin powder, salt and pepper to taste.  I used my Blendtec but any high-powered blender or immersion blender will do the job
    • Serve with a side of crusty garlic bread
Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Yam Soup
If you find the soup to be too sweet for your taste, try using Yukon Gold potatoes instead of yams. The lemon leaves added a fresh citrus-y scent to the soup without the tartness.  I have to find more recipes which make use of the leaves.   
Oh by the way, did you notice the beautiful soup spoons with the peacock pattern?  They are a gift from V’s sister.  Aren’t they lovely?
Soup spoons with peacock pattern, a gift from V’s sister
On our long hike on one of the many Bay Area mountains this weekend, it felt cool and comfortable throughout, and finally it felt like the Goldilocks weather than the Bay Area is known for is back. Now keeping fingers and toes crossed for rains to come soon.   I bet all our lemon trees could use a good sprinkling this season!