Chickpea and Spinach Stew from Food and Wine

This is a recipe for a tasty chickpea stew that was riffed off a Food and Wine recipe. I added a couple tablespoons tomato paste and a couple cups chicken stock. It was simmered uncovered for a while to let the flavors marry. We served it over rice cooked in chicken stock.

Chickpea and Spinach Stew from Food and Wine

 Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 10 ounces leaf spinach 
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• Kosher salt
• Pinch of saffron threads
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• Pinch of ground cloves
• Pinch of freshly ground pepper
• Two 15-ounce cans chickpeas with their liquid
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 large tomato—peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 cup golden raisins 
• 2-3 tbl spoons tomato paste
• rice
• 1 cup (+ whatever is needed for rice) chicken stock

Process
1. Prepare the rice and cook, according to instructions, in chicken stock in place of water.
2. Pour the water into a large deep skillet and bring to a boil. 
3. Add the spinach leaves and cook over high heat, stirring frequently, until wilted. (~2 minutes)
4. Drain the spinach in a colander and press to extract the liquid. 
5. Coarsely chop the spinach. 
6. Take the mashed garlic and mix it with the salt and saffron. Mix into a paste.  
7. Transfer paste to a small bowl. Add the paprika, cumin, cloves and black pepper and mash together until thoroughly combined. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chickpea liquid. 
8. Wipe out the skillet. Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet and heat until shimmering. 
9. Add the onion and tomato and cook over medium high heat. Stir occasionally until softened (~3 minutes). 
10. Add the garlic mash to the skillet and cook for 1 minute. 
11. Add the chickpeas to the skillet. 
12. Add the raisins and bring to a boil over medium high heat. 
13. Add 2-3 tomato paste to thicken.
14. Add the spinach and reduce heat to medium and SIMMER for 15 minutes. 
15. Add chicken stock to achieve desired saucy-ness.  
16. Lay out serving dishes and fill with the rice cooked in chicken stock. Add chickpea stew to bowls. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and serve.

Warm Lentil and Carrot Salad with Feta dressing from Food and Wine

This recipe from Food and Wine is fantastic and I am so happy to have found it as it will be a frequent flyer at our dinner table. With only six ingredients, it is quick to prep, cook, and assemble.

Ingredients

1 pound carrots—peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into 3-inch pieces
7 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 cup  green  lentils
1 cup chopped cucumber
1/4 cup chopped dill
Kosher salt
Pepper
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 

Process

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. 
2. On a baking sheet, toss the carrots with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and roast until tender, about 30 minutes. Scrape into a large serving bowl.
3. While the carrots are roasting, in a small saucepan of boiling water, cook the lentils until al dente, about 15 minutes. Drain well.
4. Add the lentils to the carrots along with the cucumber, dill and 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
5. In a blender, puree the feta with 2 tablespoons of water (or perhaps a little yogurt)  and the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil until smooth. Season with salt. 
6. Spoon the dressing over the lentil salad and serve.

 

Zucchini Bread

I didn't realize until today that there is no zucchini bread recipe on my blog. Here's one  from Food and Wine.
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/zucchini-bread

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 pound zucchini, coarsely shredded

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Butter an 8 1/2-by-4 1/2-inch loaf pan and coat it with sugar. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. In a medium bowl, whisk the canola oil with the eggs, sugar and vanilla. Add the shredded zucchini. Stir the zucchini batter into the dry ingredients.
2. Pour the zucchini bread batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the zucchini bread cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Make Ahead

The zucchini bread can be frozen for up to 2 months or refrigerated for up to 5 days.

Shumai

Shumai are open-topped dumpling,s stuffed with tasty ground meat and vegetable filling, then steamed. Tonight I will be making these with the first batch  of our own ground pork. I will likely close them and give them a quick pan sear for a seal and extra flavor before steaming. 

Ingredients

1 pound ground chicken (or pork)

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1/4 cup coarsely shredded carrot

2 Thai chilis, minced

2 Tablespoons chopped basil

2 Tablespoons Asian fish sauce

2 Tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1 garlic clove, minced

1 large egg beaten

1 small shallot, minced

1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

40 wonton wrappers

Green leaf lettuce leaves for steaming

special equipment: bamboo steamers

Soy sauce and Sriracha chili sauce, for serving

Process

1. In large bowl, combine the ground chicken with the coconut milk, carrot, chiles, basil, fish sauce, sugar, lime juice, garlic, egg, shallot, ginger, salt and pepper. Using your hands mixed thoroughly.

2. Follow the directions on the wrappers, create your shumai dumplings in the wonton wrappers. Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers and filling. 

 

 

3. Fill a wok or a very large skillet with 2 inches of water and bring to a boil.

4. Line a double tiered bamboo steamer with lettuce leaves and arrange the shumai in the steamer without crowding.

5. Cover and steam over moderate heat until cooked through, about 10 minutes.

6. Repeat with the remaining shumai. You may also choose to pan fry them for extra crisp after the steam or even skip the steam all together. Yummy versatile and great for the whole family!

Serve immediately with the sauces.

Shu Mai

It looks like this recipe MAY have originated from a Food and Wine magazine. I found a nearly identical recipe here: Chicken and Coconut Shumai