Quinoa with Summer Roasted Vegetables and Harissa Marinade and a Giveaway

I thought quinoa was going to be the grain that finally defeated me.  I have tried to cook with it several times and never managed to get rid of the soapy taste.  When I saw this recipe in "At home in the wholefood kitchen- celebrating the art of eating well" I thought I'd give it another chance and I'm so glad that I did as this recipe for Quinoa with Summer Roasted Vegetables and Harissa Marinade was packed with flavours and none of them were soap!


The Blurb
With her love of whole food and expertise as a chef, Amy Chaplin has written a book to entice everyone to eat well every meal, every day. She provides all the know how for creating delicious, healthy dishes based on unprocessed, unrefined food - from the basics of good eating to preparing seasonal feasts all year round.

About the Author: Amy Chaplin has worked as a vegetarian chef for over twenty years. She is the former executive chef of New York’s renowned vegan restaurant Angelica Kitchen, a recipe developer, a teacher, and a private chef whose clients include Natalie Portman and Liv Tyler. Amy’s delicious vegan and vegetarian cuisine has appeared in numerous publications, including Martha Stewart Living, Vogue, the Wall Street Journal, New York magazine, the Guardian, the Vegetarian Times, Oprah magazine and the Washington Post. A native of Australia, over the last two decades Chaplin has worked as a chef in Amsterdam, London, Sydney, and New York. She currently resides in New York City. Find more of her original recipes at amychaplin.com.

What's in the book?
This is a large book and something of a wholefood primer.  My own introduction to wholefoods came about in the late 1970s and it was Gail Duff who influenced my interest in whole and healthy foods.  Amy Chaplin had the benefit of growing up on a community farm by parents who cooked and ate the food that they grew there. After Amy's introduction and biography, you move on to The Pantry, which for Amy includes vegetables and fruits that sit out on the kitchen worktop. Amy introduces us to whole grains, beans and pulses, nuts and seeds, superfoods such as goji berries and help seeds; oils, vinegars, seasoning and condiments.  But it doesn't stop there, we learn about seaweeds, spices, pantry vegetables and a feast of ingredients for the fridge and freezer.  Natural sweeteners, bottled and canned items and I doubt if the pantry door will close!

Amy then gives us a run down on equipment we should aim to have in our kitchen, although she does recommend slowly collecting good-quality pans to last a lifetime.  Two luxury items are included which Amy uses daily, a pressure cooker and a Vitamix blender.

Cooking from the Pantry, this section is divided into Grains, Beans, Nuts and Seeds and Roasting Vegetables.  Before you start cooking any of the recipes, each chapter has detailed instructions on how to prepare and the ingredients. Here are a few of the recipes I liked: Simple Quinoa (this was the basic recipe I followed for the featured recipe), Lemony Marinated Lentils sounds delicious, Tamari Toasted Seeds are bound to be a hit for snacking or sprinkling on salads.  The Roasted Vegetables are prepared with coconut oil and fresh herbs.

Pantry Recipes takes these basics a little further with a range of creative dishes such as Steamed Greens with zesty flaxseed dressing, Wholewheat fettucine with kale, caramelised onions and marinated goat's cheese, Dijon mustard marinated tempeh and garlic tamari-braised tofu. There are some really great Make-Ahead Condiments including the harissa, I made for my recipe, tahini sauce and toasted almond butter.

We are just about half way through 'At home in the whole food kitchen' and we are just starting with breakfast.  I wouldn't refuse spelt almond waffles, blackberry cornmeal muffins or pumpkin bread with toasted walnut cinnamon swirl or coconut and quinoa pancakes.

Soup is easy to make and easy to keep healthy and whole food, I really must make pea and courgette (zuchinni) soup with dill.  Miso soup was one of our 70's stand bys, Amy makes a hearty winter miso soup with adzuki beans, squash and ginger and I love the sound of the luscious spicy carrot soup with Kaffir lime leaves and coconut.

Salads doesn't herbed spelt berry salad with peas and feta sound good?  As does shaved fennel beetroot salad with blood orange and crushed hazelnuts and, of  course, the quinoa with roasted summer vegtables and harissa marinade (recipe below).

Everyone loves snacks, nibbles and drinks and this chapter doesn't disappoint, rustic pea spread, roasted red pepper macadamia pate, black sesame rice crackers and to wash it down rhubarb rose infusion or turmeric lemonade.

We are by no means finished yet, Whole Meals serves up dill roasted plum tomato tart with pine nut crust, tempeh portobello burgers, butternut squash lasagne with wholewheat noodles and sage tofu ricotta and heirloom bean bourguignon with celeriac mash.

Desserts can be whole food too, there is a range of tarts including fresh peach with walnut crust, coconut custard tart with toasted coconut crust, date pistachio praline tart and dark chocolate truffle tart with Brazil nut crust. Other sweet treats include apricot coconut bars, pistachio sultana cookies with cardamom and earl grey fruit cake.

At home in the whole food kitchen  finishes with a little essay on tea, in all it's forms, Amy's thoughts on cleansing and healing with whole foods, some guidelines and menu suggestions and finally why we should eat organic foods.


Who is it for?
This book would suit both the novice whole foodie and experienced vegetarian and vegan cooks.  The extensive information about ingredients, and how to prepare them, is well written and, so far, the recipes have worked for me.  The recipes themselves are interesting and varied, with some rather different combinations of ingredients to satisfy the most adventurous cook.

Pros
Well written recipes including instructions on how to prepare various pantry ingredients.  Lots of well styled clear photographs.

Cons
It is a big heavy tome of a book, certainly not for reading in bed!  When I first looked at the recipes I was a bit put off by some of the ingredients, but on closer inspection most are easily available and there are only a few that I would struggle to source.

The Verdict
If you want to eat more healthily or simply explore some different recipes, then this is a great place to start.  You will learn the how and why of whole foods as well as having recipes to follow, allowing you to create your own healthy vegetarian and vegan recipes.  I was so impressed by the recipe, not only was the quinoa perfectly cooked, the harissa was the best I've ever tasted with the combination of the ingredients making a fabulous meal.


Quinoa with Summer Roasted Vegetables and Harissa Marinade
Serves 4 - 6

2 courgettes (zucchinis), roll cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
2 red peppers (capsicums), deseeded and cut into 2.5cm (1in) pieces
300g (10 1/2 oz/2cups) cherry tomatoes, large ones cut in half
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt
1 red onion cut into 1.2 com (1/2 in) wedges
720g (1lb 9oz/4 cups) cooked quinoa, cooled (see below)
80ml (3fl oz/1/2 cup) homemade harissa (see below)
40g (1 1/2 oz/1 cup) chopped flat-leaf parsley
140g (5oz) goat's milk feta, drained and crumbled
Olives, to garnish

Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark.  Line 2 baking trays with baking parchment. Place courgette (zucchini), peppers (capsicum) and cherry tomatoes in a bowl and toss with 3 tbsp of the olive oil and 1/2 tsp salt.  Divide vegetables between baking trays and spread out in a single layer.  Roast for 25 minutes.  Gently stir vegetables, rotate trays and roast 10 minutes more or until browning, Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Warm remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat.  Add red onion and saute for 5 minutes. Lower heat a little and cook for 15 minutes longer, stirring every minute or so, until soft and caramelised.  Stir in a pinch of salt remove from heat and set aside to cool.

Transfer quinoa to a large bowl, fluff with a fork, add harissa and mix well.  Add roasted vegetables, caramelised onions and parsley; toss gently to combine and season to taste with additional salt. Crumble feta over top and serve garnished with olives.


Harissa
Makes about 80ml (3fl oz/1/3 cup)

1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp coriander seeds
2 tsp ground paprika
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/8 tsp sea salt
 60ml (2 fl oz/1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Warm a small to medium frying pan over medium heat.  Add cumin, coriander and caraway seeds, toast seeds, stirring continuously, for 2 minutes or until fragrant.  Transfer to an electric spice grinder and grind until fine.  Place ground spices in a bowl then add paprika, cayenne, garlic, salt, olive oil and lemon juice.  Stir until smooth.  Store in a  sealed glass jar in the fridge for up to two months, or as mentioned above leave out the lemon for storing indefinitely.

Simple Quinoa
Makes 720g (1lb 9oz/4 cups) cooked quinoa

170g (6oz/1 cup) quinoa
240ml (8fl oz/ 1 cup) filtered water, plus more for soaking
pinch of sea salt

Wash and soak the quinoa in at least 720ml (24fl oz /3 cups) water for 8 to 24 hours.  Drain and rinse the quinoa.  Place in a 2 litre (3 1/2 pint) pan and add filtered water and salt.  Bring to the boil over high heat, cover pan, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.  Remove from heat and set aside, covered, for 5 - 10 minutes before fluffing with a fork and serving.  Once cool, quinoa can be stored n the fridge for up to  four days.

At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen Celebrating the Art of Eating Well by Amy Chaplin

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Labels: amy chaplin, at home in the whole food kitchen, cook, cookbook review, Harissa, quinoa, review, roasted vegetables, Vegan, Vegetables, vegetarian, whole food

posted by Janice @ 20:26 98 Comments

Sweet Potato and Greens Burger - Greens 24/7

Jessica Nadel's blog, cupcakesandkale and Facebook page  will be well known to vegetarian and vegan cooks and now Jessica has had a book published,  Greens 24/7: Delicious Recipes for Green Veg at Every Meal.

Greens 24/7 has more than 100 quick and easy recipes for turning leafy greens into delicious vegan meals, snacks, smoothers and cakes as well as nutritional information, and helpful ingredient factfiles.


About the Author
Jessica Nadel is a freelance writer and blogger at Cupcakes and Kale, she is also the owner and baker at Oh My Bakeshop, a natural organic bakery.

Introducing Greens - Jessica admits, that like most kids she didn't really like greens, however she changed her mind once she was shopping and cooking for herself and found creative ways to cook and serve them. Jessica is on a mission to get us cooking and eating some of the more unusual greens as well as those we are familiar with.

Green Fact Files - Here you learn all about the different greens, which vitamins and minerals they contain and a mini index of recipes in the book containing each different type of green vegetable. The most popular greens get a little 'recipe card' style entry and then there are a couple of pages information about  'other greens'. This is followed by a sort of glossary of other ingredients used in the book with which you may not be familiar.

Typical Day Green Menu Plan - Jessica has helpfully put together some menus using the recipes in the book, each day has a recipe for breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert.

And so to the recipes...

Smoothies and Breakfasts presents a wide range of smoothies including Chocolate Superfood Smoothie, Lemon Ginger and Parsley Smoothie and Hello Sunshine Smoothie. I really liked the sound of Cinnamon and Courgette Waffles, Kale and Herb Cornbread Muffins and Breakfast Sandwich with Avocado and Rocket.

Green Sides and Small Bites contains some really fun, simple to make recipes including Cucumber Pesto Canapes, Pesto Polenta Fries with Aioli, Dandelion Colcannon, Spicy Garlic Bok Choy and Kale and Walnut Pesto (which seems to feature in quite a few other recipes).

Green Soups and Salads is full of creative ideas for this tradtional home of green things.  Soups such as Mexican Tortilla Soup, Raw Summer Soup and Curried Dahl with Chard.  In the Salad bowl you will find Beetroot Greens, Pear and Maple Walnut Salad, Kale Waldorf Salad with Avocado Astoria Dressing and  Rocket Watercress and Stone Fruit Salad with Jalapeno Dressing

Green Main Meals is absolutely packed full of great ideas for green dinners, the following recipes particularly caught my attention. Spicy Peanut Noodle Bowl, Orichette with Chard, Sundried Tomatoes and Toasted Almonds, Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli, Swiss Chard and Hummus and Sweet Potato and Greens Burger which I chose to make for this review.

Green Cakes and Desserts, who knew there were so many ways to green up the sweet stuff?  You can feast on Chocolate Dipped Kale Crisps, Chocolate Hazelnut and Avocado Tart, Avocado and Kiwi Iced Birthday Cake, Lemon and Parsley Olive Oil Cake and Vanilla Mint 'Cheesecake'. There are a couple of beverages to wash down all this green goodness Sage and Lavender Tea and Dandelion Mimosas.

Who is it for? Vegetarians, vegans and anyone who wants to eat less meat and more green vegetables.

Pros
The recipes are interesting and varied, they are also well laid out with the ingredients on the left and instructions on the right.  I liked that each recipe included nutritional information, very nicely done. The photographs are good although not every recipe is accompanied by a photo, I was more attracted to read the recipes that did have a photo.

Cons - this is one of those very annoying books which won't sit open flat.  I  used my cook book stand to hold it open when I was cooking, but I can see that the spine wouldn't last long as you are forcing it to lie flat.  Many of the greens are easily available but I felt this book would be more useful in late spring and summer when most green things (other than cabbage and kale) are in season.

The Verdict
The jury is out on this book, I'm not Vegan or Vegetarian although I do enjoy meat free recipes and I really like greens, I think what is holding me back here is the availability of different types of greens so I'm going to hang on to the book and have another go when the weather is warmer and there is more variety of green things for me to use in the recipes.



Sweet Potato and Greens Burger
Serves 4 (Prep 40 minutes, Cook 100 minutes)

1 large sweet potato
170g (5 3/4 oz) cooked pinto beans, drained and rinsed if canned
50g (1 1/2 oz) greens (beetroot greens, radish greens, turnip greens, chard etc) chopped
2 green onions, diced
50g (1 3/4 oz) rolled oats
1 1/2 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp umeboshi vinegar
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp tamari
juice of a lemon
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 burger buns to serve
sprouts of fresh rocket, to serve

1. Preheat the oven to 200C (400F).  Skewer the potato with afork several times and place in a suitable dish.  Bake for an hour or until fork-tender.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before peeling and mashing the potato in a large bowl.
2. Add the pinto beans to the bowl and mash them in too, then add the greens, onions, oats Worcestershire sauce, umeboshi viengar and seasoning and mix to combine. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Reheat the oven to 200C (400F). Form the mixture inot four burgers, place on a baking sheet and cook for 0 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 15 minutes.  If desired you can then pan fry them for 2-3 mintues on each side.
4. Whisk together the tahini, tamari, lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt until smotth. Thin out with a little water to the desired consistency, if necessary. Serve the burgers on the buns, topped with the lmon tahini suace and sprouts or rocket.

Farmersgirl Kitchen Tips

• Microwave the sweet potatoes to save on fuel
• I couldn't get the greens mentioned in January, so used kale but wilted it with a little water before chopping. 

Greens 24/7 by Jessica Nadel
Published by Apple Press, 8th January 2015
RRP £14.99

I have one copy of Greens 24/7 to give away, follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget to enter.


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Labels: Burgers, Cupcakes and Kale, giveaway, Greens, Jessica Nadel, Kale, Vegan, vegetarian

posted by Janice @ 07:03 42 Comments

7-a-day Slow Cooker Challenge Round Up

It seems that packing 7 fruits or vegetables into a slow cooker recipe was quite a challenge as, other than my own, I only had two excellent entries which I will share with you.

First up was Pravina from Indo-Global Food with a simple vegetable curry: Aloo-Palak (Potato and Spinach) Curry which can be eaten with rice, naan, roti or paratha.

 My own dish was Chicken with 7-a-day Mediterranean Vegetables a great one pot meal best served with something that will soak up the delicious juices.

Natalie at The Tofu Diaries brought a Vegan dimension to the Slow Cooker Challenge.  Regular readers may have noticed I have a real love of paprika, so this Sweet Potato and Three Bean Paprikash is going on my recipe wish list.

Many thanks to Natalie and Pravina for taking part in the Slow Cooker Challenge.  I hope you will join me on 1st of May to find out what we will be making in our Slow Cookers as we move towards the warmer weather.

 Woo hoo!  I must have left the linky open longer than I though and the lovely Sarah of Tales from the Kitchen Shed has snuck in at the last minute with a delicious Vegetable Biryani and what a gorgeous vibrant photograph.

Labels: 7-a-day, beans, Biryani, potoates, Round Up, Slow Cooker Challenge, spinach, Sweet Potato, Vegan, Vegetables

posted by Janice @ 21:29 16 Comments

Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble - Mouthwatering Vegan Review

About the book
Mouthwatering Vegan is promoted as a book of vegan recipes for everone's favourite comfort foods.  Miriam challenges herself to replicate dishes that are usually impossible to include in a vegan diet and opens up the scope for what vegan eating can be.  Included in the book are recipes for vegan cheese, cream and mayonnaise; Chilli Con 'Carne', Shepherd's Pie, Mince and Ale Pie, Stroganoff Supreme and the Perfect Roast.

I was rather surprised by this approach to vegan cooking, surely the point of being vegan is not to eat or use products from any living thing?  So why would you want to recreate recipes which are based on meat and dairy?  Many of the recipes use substitutes for meat and dairy products such as vegan bacon, vegan ground meat substitute, vegan burgers, vegan beef strips or textured vegetable protein (TVP) it is perhaps a matter of semantics but it still seems a little strange to me.

The Chapters
The Introduction tells you a little about the author and her reasons for choosing a Vegan diet.
Vegan Nutrition and The Vegan Pantry are very well laid out and would be extremely useful for anyone starting out as a vegan.
Breakfast, Juices and Smoothies includes Blackberry Muffins, Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms, Sizzle-Sozzle Sausages, Banana Oat and Cinnamon Smoothie and Rose Coconut and Cardamom Smoothie.
Appetisers and Sides includes Moroccan Smoked Eggplant Dip, Pecan and Cognac Pate, Chilli, Olive, Garlic and Rosemary bruschetta and Mouthwatering Vegan Pastizzi.
Soups and Salads includes Greek 'Chicken' and Lemon Soup, Creamy Coconut Broccoli Soup, Cherry Tomato Soup, Cherry Tomato, Chickpea and Orange Pepper Salad and Rainbow Rice Salad.
Pasta, Pizza and Burgers includes Five Perfect Pesto Variations, Nutty Ragu Bolognese, Cheesy Cauliflower Pasta Bake, State-of-the-Art Lasagne, Stir-fried veggies with Cashews and Noodles, Fast Layered Tomato Cheese Burgers and Wacky Hot Dogs.
Curries includes Fastest Thai Curry ever, Orange and Chocolate Knockout Curry,  Sweet Potato Fusion Curry and Tandoori Kofta Masala.
Mouthwatering Mains includes Chilli Con "Carne", Greek Garlic Bean Stew, Spicy Rice and Quinoa Bake, Juicy Portobello Steaks in a Peppered Cognac Sauce, Lemon Spiced Dolmades, Sweet Potato Moussaka, Cornish Style Sausage Pie, Mince and Ale Pie and The Perfect Christmas Roast.
Desserts, Cakes and Treats includes Raw Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Balls, Maltese Date and Fig Bars, Chocolate, Kahlua and Orange Trifle, Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble (see recipe below), Double Chocolate Coke Cake and Bountiful Coconut Chocolate Bars.
Decadent Cheese and Dairy Alternatives includes Happy Milk, Vegan Mozzarella, Mature Cheddar "Cheese", Nutty Parmesan and Bechamel Sauce.

The final chapter is "Why Vegan?" where Miriam explores the ethical, dietary and environmental reasons for being vegan.

There are over 130 recipes and I found myself drawn toward the Appetisers, Salads and the Desserts and any recipes which didn't use substitutes.

I had bookmarked the Cherry Tomato, Chickpea and Orange Pepper Salad but in the end decided to make the Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble


Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble 
serves 4
1 1/2 lb (750g) fresh strawberries, washed and sliced into 3-4 slices each (I used frozen strawberries, which I baked from frozen and left whole, it worked perfectly well.)
2 tsp (10ml) turbinado or raw sugar
2 tbsp (30ml) maple syrup
1 cup (250ml) unbleached all purpose or wholewheat flour, or a combination
1 1/2 tbsp (22.5ml) rolled oats
3 tbsp (45ml) vegan white sugar or turbinado sugar
3 tbsp (45ml) vegan margarine
1/2 tsp (2ml) almond extract

1. Distribute the strawberries evenly in a 9 x 13 inch (3.5L) greased casserole dish, then cover with the sugar and pour the maple syrup over the top.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)
3. Place the flour, oats and sugar in a food processor and process until crumbs are formed.
4. Add the margarine and almond extract and process for a few moments.
5. Tip the mixture into a large bowl and continue to crumble by hand.  You should be left with a crumble mixture, not a dough, it if over thickens, add a little more flour to dry it out.
6. Distribute the crumble as evenly as possible on top of the strawberry filling, cover in aluminium foil and bake for 20 minutes (baking covered helps the filling to cook and yield its nectar).
7. Uncover and cook for another 15 minutes, until the crumble turns golden.  Serve hot.


This is an excellent recipe and very forgiving.  I did the first 20 minutes with the foil lid earlier in the day when I had the oven on anyway, then reheated the crumble for 15 minutes to crisp up the crumble.  The frozen strawberries worked really well, I don't usually freeze strawberries, but they were given to me on a day I had already bought some strawberries and didn't have time to use the for anything else. 

I served the Ruby Red Strawberry Crumble with vanilla icecream on the first night and then with custard the second time I served it.  I can thoroughly recommend this crumble, it's the first time I've used strawberries in a crumble and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.  There is no overwhelming taste from the Maple syrup nor is the fruit too sweet. The crumble is not very crisp but I know from experience that that is the oats in it, but it is quite light and not cloying at all.  I got five generous helpings from the dish, so I think it could easily stretch to six.

Pros
There are many interesting and varied recipes in Mouthwatering Vegan, each recipe has a page to itself with a bit of introduction, ingredients on the left and instructions on the right. The photographs are excellent and really do make your mouth water.

Cons
I definitely struggled with the concept of meat and dairy style recipes, but as I said at the beginning, I'm not a vegan and as Miriam says "each of us should take responsibility for our food choices" so each to their own.  My only other comment is that the book does not sit open easily, it's a large paperback and I think the spine would eventually break from pressing it open. 

The Verdict
If you are a vegan or are interested in becoming a vegan, I would suggest you start with Miriam's blog and if you like her style of cooking then you will love having all the recipes organised into a book.  I'll certainly make some of the  recipes, at least those which don't use processed substitutes, as that is my choice.

Mouthwatering Vegan by Miriam Sorrell
Published by Appetite by Random House
A special US import distributed by Turnaround
RRP £19.99

Labels: cookery book review, Miriam Sorrell, Mouthwatering Vegan, Random House, Strawberry Crumble, Turnaround, Vegan, vegetarian

posted by Janice @ 08:19 2 Comments