Red Lentil and Swiss Chard Stew

       Oh, stew. How you warm my heat. Sunday was day light savings (Spring is slowly coming to Canada) so amazingly, we actually ate dinner in daylight....though it was more of a lupper, seeing as we had brunch at 12.30. Anyways, we wanted some comfort food, so we decided on a hearty red lentil soup. Ryan wanted a soup, but I prefer stew, and it just happened that the pot wasn't big enough for him to add anymore liquid, so I won the soup vs. stew battle and we settled on a robust red stew with buttery drop biscuits.

       Also just to give you guys a heads up, I'm going to be offline for the next two weeks and will return on the 21st of March for a my birthday post (oh the options!). Two weeks four projects and four papers. Its going to be a very busy next couple of weeks. But don't worry, just because I'm not publishing recipes, doesn't mean I'n not making new recipes or testing old ones. A girl's got to eat after all.

       But anyways, back to the stew.... This stew is inspired by Indian dhal, and so uses some warm spices, like cumin and turmeric, but also some more floral spices like thyme and oregano. This stew is hearty enough that it doesn't need an accompaniment, but if you, like myself, enjoy dipping bread or biscuits into your stews and soups, give my vegan drop biscuit recipe a try.


Serves: 6-8
Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 2 medium-large carrots, sliced into rounds or semi-circles
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• I bunch red or rainbow swiss chard, stems separated from greens, stems chopped, greens chiffonaded
• 2 cups red lentils (dry)
• 1/4 cup white wine (or 2 tbsp white or red wine vinegar)
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 cups water
• 1 can or jar tomato puree, or alternatively diced tomatoes
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1-1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 3 medium white or red potatoes, chucked 
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Preparation

1. In a large soup or stock pot, heat olive oil on medium heat. Sauté onions, carrots, garlic and chopped swiss chard stems for about 3 minutes or until onions are translucent. 
2. Add lentils, stir and let toast for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and let the alcohol burn off for an additional two minutes.
3. Add broth, water, tomato products and spices. Cover, bring to a boil on high heat, and then reduce and let simmer for 10 minutes. The lentils will absorb a lot of liquid so add more water as needed.
4. Add chopped potatoes, and simmer for an additional 15 minutes on medium heat.
5. When the potatoes are starting to get tender, add the swiss chard greens, slowly while stirring the soup to avoid greens from clumping together. Let simmer for an additional 5-10 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired.
6.  Remove from heat, and stir in lemon juice. 
7. Serve with biscuits or garlicky toasts and enjoy.

Toasted Walnut and Beet Salad

     Beets are one of those vegetables that I don't often get to cook at home (mostly because I'm too lazy to clean them) but that I commonly eat when I am visiting my parents'. I've been in North Bay for just over a week and I think that we've had beetroots five times. So needless to say, we all love beets. 

     Beets are a carb-loaded winter vegetable that can be enjoyed boiled or roasted, hot or cold, plain or dressed. This salad isn't too sweet, and has a lot of zing! and crunch, walnuts are great for crunch.This salad can be made with roasted or boiled beets, it's completely up to you. If you are making a big batch of beets, you can also use plain leftover beets to make this salad.

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

• 6-8 medium beets, stems and ends removed
• 3/4-1 cup (3 oz) walnuts, roughly chopped
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp dijon mustard, coarse or smooth
• 1/4 tsp thyme
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Cook beetroot; while cooking you can prepare steps 3 and 5.
• Roasted: wrap in tinfoil and bake at 400°F for about 60 minutes or until tender.
• Boiled: cook beets in boiling water for about 60 minutes.
2. Let the beets cool, then peel and cut into thick slices.
3. Toast walnuts in the oven at 400°F for about 8 minutes on a baking sheet (or in a pan on low heat for 5 minutes).
4. Slice onions and place in a small bowl to marinate for 10 minutes in the 3 Tbsp red or white wine vinegar.
5. To prepare the dressing, whisk together all other ingredients in a small bowl. 
6. When all ingredients are prepared, mixed together the beets, walnuts, onions (you can also add the leftover vinegar), and the dressing. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
7. Serve cool or at room temperature along side your favourite main, I served mine with veggie pot pie. 

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

     Christmas eve baking anyone? Why not some super moist ginger molasses cookies? 
I baked up a batch of these yesterday, along with a myriad of other goodies, and the house smelled wonderful! These molasses cookies have all the zestfulness they need, with all the chewiness you want. They are made with fresh ginger which really gives them a surprising zing and a real freshness. 

     There's really not much more I can say about these cookies. They're delicious, they stay soft and chewy for days, and I always eat them way too fast. I suggest making a double batch.


Serves: 24 cookies

Ingredients

• 2 cups of flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg

• 1/2 cup margarine
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger, packed + 1 Tbsp water

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and baking soda, and spices.
3. In a small mixing bowl, cream together the margarine, sugar, molasses, ginger and water.
4. Slowly incorporate the wet mixture into the dry until you've formed a crumbly mixture.
5. Spoon out packed tablespoon-size portions of cookie dough and roll into balls.
6. Roll the balls in sugar and place on your baking sheet.
7. Bake for 10-15 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet before transferring to a wire rack.

Enjoy with a warm beverage next to warm fire (dreaming just a bit).

Veggie Pot Pie

Veggie pot pie is one of my favourite go-to recipes for every holiday: christmas, thanksgiving, easter, So I thought it was about time to share with the world my delicious pie recipe. It's a veggie pot pie, stuffed with all the classics: potatoes, carrots, tofu, mushrooms, greens... Delicious.
I've featured this pie at at many holidays and everyone enjoys it, vegetarians and meat-eaters alike.

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

Pie Crust

• 2 1/2 cups white flour (you can use a bit of whole wheat if you like)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
• 3/4 cup cold margarine, cut into cubes
• 1/4-1/2 cup ice water

Pie

• 1 block of firm or extra firm tofu*, rinsed, patted dry and cubed
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, diluted with 2 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp olive oil to pan fry
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp thyme

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup, or 2 medium-small onions, diced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup, or 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 cup, or 2 medium-large carrots, diced
• 1 cup, or 3 medium potatoes, diced
• 8-10 sliced crimini mushrooms
• 1/2 cup chopped kale, spinach, green cabbage or napa cabbage
• 2 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/8-1/4 cup water
• 1 cup frozen or fresh green peas

*To get a more "chicken-like" texture, try cutting the tofu the night before, then thawing it in the morning

Gravy

• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp oregano and/or thyme
• 1/4 freshly ground pepper, or to taste

Preparation

Pie Crust

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and salt.
2. Cut the shortening into the flour mixture then add the cubed margarine and mix until you get a crumbly mixture, like a coarse corn meal.
3. Slowly incorporate the ice water, until the mixture comes together as a dough. Start with a quarter cup and only add more if the dough is too dry.
4. Form the dough into a ball, then cut into two halves, one roughly larger than the other.
5. With plastic wrap, cover each ball and refrigerate until you are prepared to start filling the pie, at least 20 minutes.

Pie

1. In a vary large pan or wok, coat with the olive oil and heat on medium.
2. Drizzle the soy sauce mixture over the cut tofu, then add it to the pan.
3. Fry the tofu, rotating it to so that most sides of the cubes are golden brown.
4. In a medium bowl, mix nutritional yeast, flour, garlic powder and thyme.
5. When the tofu is cooked, coat it in the mixture and set aside. Whatever doesn't stick to the tofu can be added the gravy later.
6. In the same pan you used for the tofu, sauté onions, garlic and celery in the olive oil until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
7. Add the carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes before adding the cabbage or greens.
8. Add the soy sauce and water to the mixture, cover and steam until all the veggies are al dente, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile you can start the gravy (see below).
9. Add the tofu and peas to the veggie mix and combine, then remove it from the heat.

Gravy

1. In a small pot or sauce pan, toast the nutritional yeast and flour until aromatic.
2. Add the olive oil and whisk until smooth.
3. Slowly incorporate the water into the gravy, stirring until thickened.
4. Stir in the soy sauce and seasoning.
5. Remove from heat

1. Roll out the larger portion of the dough onto a floured surface to about an 1/8". Place the dough in a 9" pie plate, leaving edges uncut.
2. Mix the gravy in with the vegetable-tofu mixture, then pour onto the bottom pie dough, it will be heaping.
3. Roll out the rest of the dough large enough to cover your pie.
4. Roll the pastry onto the pie, and curl up the edges, crimping them with a fork or your fingers, removing any excess dough.
5. Prick the top with a fork or knife.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, uncovered, until the top is golden.
7. Let the pot pie cool 10 minutes before cutting into it.

Serve with your favourite fall or winter side dishes and enjoy!

A Side of Rustic Roots

Man, the aroma of this dish in the oven is amazing! These fall/ winter vegetables are perfect baked in a duch oven, but I've also baked them in a Pyrex dish for more caramelized roots.
Did I mention that all you have to do is cut a few vegetables, toss with olive oil and spice and cook? One of those dishes that you can throw in the oven while you work on something else, in my case it was studying for nutrition class.

Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

3 medium large carrots, scrubbed clean and chunked
20 fingerling or baby potatoes, scrubbed clean
10 crimini or button mushrooms, washed
1 large onion, chopped into large wedges or 5 peeled shallots
1 head of garlic, whole cloves crushed
Olive oil to coat
3 tsp French herbes, or a blend of your favourite
1/4 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Preparation

Place all vegetables in your ditch oven, coat with olive oil and add seasoning. Mix until well combined.
Place lid on Dutch oven and place in oven.
Turn oven on to 400 deg.F.
Bake for about 40 minutes.
Like I said, you're going to smell it.