New, yummy food from the weekend

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of receiving a wonderful new cookbook in the mail!  I rarely buy cookbooks anymore - I find I don't really use them too much!  But I have been a follower of the wonderful Smitten Kitchen blog for a couple years now, and she put out this lovely thing just recently.  I love her style of cooking and writing and will save an email about her newest post from her blog for last in the morning.  So I can savor it and enjoy it!

I made two different things from it on Sunday, after a whole bunch of cooking on Saturday.  Saturday I made the red lentil sauce and greens and beans that I previously gave the recipes for, and also cooked some dried chickpeas- in anticipation of making of Crispy Cumin Chickpeas.  I also was totally intrigued by the idea of using spaghetti squash in a taco.  Weird sounding, I know, but it was divine!!  

Fantastic book- many vegetarian options in here, plus wonderful baking recipes.

Spaghetti squash and Black Bean tacos

Start off by cooking a spaghetti squash, either in the oven or like I did for 10 minutes in the micro.  Make sure you pierce the squash with a knife in several places.

After it is soft, let it cool for a little while- 15 minutes or so, cut in half and scoop out the seeds.  Then shred the squash into strands.

Mix together the juice of one lime, and chili powder, cumin, coriander, and salt.  Add to the squash.

Rinse and drain a can of black beans

Assemble the taco- a spoon or two of squash, 2 tablespoons of beans, a sprinkle of feta and chopped onion.  I sprinkled mine with cayenne pepper, you could also use taco sauce.

The lime and spice infused spaghetti squash is so good!! It is a real surprise. Next time, I would add the cayenne to the squash, I wanted a little more spice.

Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos

3 lbs. Spaghetti squash

2 Tablespoons lime juice (juice of one lime)

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp coarse ground salt

pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper

Corn tortillas or wraps

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

feta cheese or queso fresco

diced onion

Cook the Spaghetti squash in the oven or in the microwave.

Let cool briefly, split, seed and remove flesh from skin.  Discard skin

Mix lime juice with spices, mix into spaghetti squash, set aside

Heat the tortillas or wraps.  Add 2 Tablespoons of squash to wrap, 2 Tablespoons of black beans, sprinkle with cheese and onion.

Of course add other stuff as you want- tomato, lettuce, taco sauce, etc.  SO GOOD!

SO

As I was reading through the cookbook and came across a recipe that had these crispy chickpeas as a garnish and knew I wanted to try them out.  It was included in an eggplant recipe, and I'm sorry, but our grocery store has nasty huge eggplants.  I just can't.  I will look for good little ones when i get out of town.  In the mean while, I will snack on these little gems.  Next time I will add chili powder.

Calorie count- LESS THAN 100 calories for one taco, if you use a low carb wrap!!  WINNER!!!  DINGDINGDINGDING!!!!

CRISPY CHICKPEAS

I prepared dried chickpeas previous to this.

2 cups of chickpeas
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
ground pepper

Preheat oven to 450
Combine chickpeas that have been patted dry with the oil and spices.  Pour onto a baking sheet, and bake for 30 - 40 min. Roll them around occasionally and check for crispiness.

These are really good too, and I will probably put them on top of something, if they last through my snacking!  HA!

I haven't figured out the calories for this yet- I'd guess about 1/4 cup is around 100 calories

Until next time- be a joy giver!

Red Lentil Sauce- NEW recipe of awesomeness, plus the recipe for a great Vegan Banana Bread

I found a new vegetarian website, the Everyday Vegetarian ( http://www.everyday-vegetarian-recipes.com/index.html) and a great recipe to try!  I really like lentils, they are fast to make and the red ones are so pretty.  They are more orange than red, but you get the drift!

I am always looking for fast recipes to make after school or on the weekends.  I need ideas!!  Anyway, here is a good one. So far I have had it on quinoa and in a wrap.  It was actually listed as a spaghetti sauce, so that is another possibility.  I have some in the freezer, too!  

Almost all of the ingredients I used for this first batch were either organic or from my garden.  Which means they are organic, as well....  

lentils, cinnamon, olive oil, onion, tomatoes, garlic, carrots

Dice the vegetables

saute

Cinnamon is a different flavor profile for garlic

saute the cinnamon and garlic after the vegetables are soft

Add tomatoes and lentils and water or broth

Cook down the sauce

Fresh basil

Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

1 diced onion

½ cup carrots, diced

2 – 3 garlic cloves

¼ - ½ tsp cinnamon

2 cups diced tomatoes

1 cup red lentils (any color will work)

1 ½ cups vegetable broth or water

3 Tablespoons fresh basil or 1 tsp drybasil

Saute onion and carrots in Olive oil,about 5 min. Add cinnamon and crushed garlic cloves. Stir overmedium heat about 30 seconds, until you can smell the garlic.

Add tomatoes (canned or fresh), lentilsand water or broth. Add dried basil here if using it. Cook overmedium low heat about 15 minutes, or until lentils are done. Addfresh basil just before serving.

OPTIONS AND NOTES:

You can add in any vegetable you like! Either raw, by adding with the onion and carrots, or cooked by addingthem with the tomatoes.

You could use any color lentil or splitpeas that you have.

Maybe a touch of white or red winewould be tasty!

If you don't think you'll like thesomewhat sweet taste of cinnamon, leave it out and add some chilis ororegano or thyme. I sort of love the combo of garlic and cinnamon-it was a pleasant surprise!!

I plan to make this again and freeze itfor quick sauces.

I cooked some quinoa and had a very tasty dinner!

Calorie count for the sauce:
143 for 1/6th of the recipe, with 22 gm of carb, 2.3 fat and 7.2 gm of protein  YUM!

Additionally:
I made a fab Banana Bread that happens to be Vegan.  My sister is coming here for the weekend (wedding weekend, people!!!) and she happens to be unable to have milk products of any sort.  SO, I thought it would be nice to make something she could have.  I found this recipe online, and it is fantastic!  And because there are no eggs, you can have a few fingers full of the batter from the empty bowl and not worry about salmonella!!  :)  WIN!!

I did not have the energy to take pix, tho, so you will have to take my word for it, it is divine.  You would have no idea it is anything but regular banana bread. Yes it does have oil, but not a ton.  And it has almond or soy milk in it- which is why the consistency is so good.

EDIT:

I did take a pix with my phone!!!  Who knew!

 VeganBanana Bread

Ingredients:

2cups all-purpose flour

3/4cups white granulated sugar (I prefer unrefined cane sugar)

1/2cup dark brown sugar, packed

3/4t. baking soda

3/4t. salt

3/4t. cinnamon

1/2cup plain soy milk or almond milk

1t. apple cider vinegar

2cups mashed banana, from about 4 large very ripe bananas

1/4cup canola oil

2T. maple syrup

1t. vanilla extract

Walnuts(optional)

Preparation:

1.Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly oil a 9"x5" loaf pan andset aside.

2.In a medium-sized mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugars,baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

3.In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the soy milk and cider vinegarand let stand for 2 minutes. Add the mashed banana, canola oil, maplesyrup, and vanilla extract, whisking until well combined. Add the dryingredients to the wet, mixing until just combined (do not overmix!).Fold in the walnuts if using and pour the batter into the preparedloaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted intothe center emerges clean. Allow the bread to cool on a wire coolingrack for 20 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at roomtemperature.

Thisrecipe came from about.com/dairyfreecooking

So, this was a pretty productive day- got lots done.....  makes me think I should do a wedding count down post!!  

Hmmmm.....  

Until that time- be a joy giver!