North African Chickpeas and Vegetables

Let me start by saying, yes, I know how gross this looks.  And no, I did not know that it was going to look like this.  And yes, it tastes a LOT better than it looks.  Definitely not date food.  It’s brown and gross looking and it has 6 cloves of garlic.

This is from the Forks Over Knives cookbook.  It’s a cookbook for a plant-based diet.  I have no interest in being vegan, but I am trying to follow Michael Pollan’s adage, “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.”  Slightly modified for me at the moment as, “Eat less, mostly plants.”  So, plants it is tonight.

This meal is a good candidate for the odds and ends in the vegetable drawer.  I think carrots would have been good.  Sweet potatoes.  Not Brussels sprouts.  The original has a pretty summery bend to it – zucchini, summer squash, eggplant.  I try to limit the out of season things I buy, particularly when there are reasonable seasonal substitutes.  You’ll see I hung on to the red bell pepper, and good thing.  You need some sweetness in the vegetables to balance the very lemony chermoula.

This recipe took longer to come together than I expected.  I roasted the broccoli, onions, and cauliflower.  An added step, but I think the added flavor, especially in the cauliflower is worth it.  And that stuff can be roasting while you’re chopping everything else and making the sauce so you’re not adding a ton of time.  The recipe for the chermoula calls for you to chop and mince the ingredients.  That’s silly.  You’re supposed to puree it in a blender.  No idea why you’d bother chopping the ingredients.  So that’s a time saver.  Sauteing the other vegetables takes about 10 minutes.  And then 10 more to put everything together.  Add a few minutes for starting the couscous in there. All in, I think it took me 45-50 minutes.

The roasting and sauteing vegetables you get.  You might be interested to know that the recipe calls for no oil.  You’re just supposed to add a little water while the vegetables cook so they don’t stick.  Now, let’s talk about this chermoula.  This is the North African part of the dish.  It’s an interesting combination of things, but in the end I mostly tasted the lemon and the cumin.  The tartness of the lemon kind of smacks you in the face and then the earthiness of the cumin follows.  It’s good, but it was a surprise.  I genuinely had no idea what this was going to be.  Certainly I had no idea what color it was going to be!

Here’s what you need:

For the vegetables:  use what you have, but make sure you have a few things on the sweet side. I used red bell pepper, sweet onion, broccoli slaw, broccoli crowns, and cauliflower.  And don’t forget the can of chickpeas.  Good protein.

For the chermoula:

• 8-10 grape tomatoes
• 1/2 C pitted kalamata olives
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 6 cloves garlic
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 1/2 lemons
• 1 T paprika
• 2 t ground cumin
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded

Put everything in a blender. Process until smooth.  Yep, that’s what it looks like.

Here’s what you do:

• Roast broccoli, onions, cauliflower (20 minutes at 400 degrees)
• Saute red bell pepper and broccoli slaw 5 minutes
• Add the chickpeas.  Saute 10 minutes.
• Add 1-2 T water as needed to keep the vegetables from sticking
• Add roasted vegetables.  Saute 5 minutes.
• Add chermoula.  Saute 5 more minutes.
• Serve with rice or couscous.

 

Green Turkey Chili with Corn Two Ways

I’m back!  I’ve been traveling for work (again).  I ate out 21 meals in a row.  I did pretty well with my choices for the first few days.  The last half of the week was a dietary train wreck.  Now I’m at home and starting my “do over.”  I need something to fill a few requirements:  1)  low fat, low calorie, low WW points; 2) enough leftovers to eat a few times this week; 3)  something to help my fight the polar vortex that’s about to descend on central Virginia.  Turkey chili!

I know that a lot of people lighten up their regular red beef chili by substituting ground turkey for ground beef.  To me, turkey chili is white chili.  No tomatoes.  If I want tomato chili I’d rather combine beef with veggie crumbles than abandon the beef.  This is green chili because I use a bunch of diced green chilis and a jalapeno instead of red chili powder.  It looks a tiny bit green.

Want to make really green chili for fun?  Add some of the green chilis and a bunch of cilantro to your bean puree.  A tip about the bean puree.  Most recipes will tell you to put all the beans in the pot and cook them with the rest of the chili.  Then you have to spoon a bunch out, add a little liquid, and puree.  I spend a lot of time chasing beans around the pot and picking out the other stuff.  I get it.  If you do it that way the bean puree has the same flavor as the rest of the pot and you won’t have to adjust the seasonings much.  But it’s kind a pain.  It’s much easier to just save some of the beans out from the beginning.  Besides, this way, if you’ve over-seasoned, you have a chance to use the bean puree to correct that.  Never a bad idea to give yourself an out like that.

Is bean puree the only way to thicken this chili?  Nope.  You could make a slurry of masa or ground corn and water.  Let it sit a little while before you add it, but that should work.  A regular corn starch slurry would work too.  Just remember to bring the pot to a boil if you’re using corn starch.  Otherwise it won’t thicken.

So, what’s with this corn two ways thing?  I add hominy and white corn.  What is hominy?  It’s just corn kernels that have been soaked in an alkali solution.  The solution removes the hull and puffs up the kernel.  You start with field corn, which is different than the sweet corn you buy to eat as is.  The hominy adds heft and just a hint of corn flavor, more like masa or ground corn than like kernels.  And the kernels add sweetness.  Normally I’d use frozen corn.  It keeps its texture a little better than canned.  Today I could only find the white corn in a can.  Feel free to use yellow corn instead.  I just prefer the look of the chili with the white corn in it.

There are lots of options for topping this chili too.  It’s great with sour cream and a squeeze of lime juice.  If it’s not chili for you until you add the cheese, add some grated pepper jack.  Add some diced avocado and chopped cilantro or a dollop of guacamole.  And don’t forget the pickled jalapenos and green Tabasco for folks who need some extra heat. Or make a whole bar of toppings and let everyone dress their own!    Great addition to your Super Bowl party next weekend!

“This sounds amazing, but I’m a vegetarian!”  No worries.  There’s enough stuff in here you won’t even miss the turkey if you leave it out.  Add an extra can of beans and use vegetable stock instead of chicken.  Or throw in some tempeh to add another texture.

Here’s what you need: serves 4-6

• 1 1/2 T canola oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 cans white beans, drained (cannellini or great northern)
• 3 C chicken stock
• 1/2 bag frozen pearl onions
• 1 can white hominy, drained
• 2 small cans diced green chiles
• 1 can white corn, drained
• ground cumin and salt to taste
• cliantro, sour cream, pepper jack, avocado, limes for garnish

Here’s what you do:

• Heat the oil in a heavy soup pot
• Add the onions, garlic, and jalapenos.
• Saute until they begin to soften, stirring constantly.  Do not brown.
• Add the turkey.  Break it up with a wooden spoon as it browns.

• Add the beans, reserving 1/3 of a can for the puree
• Add the stock, reserving 1/8 C for the puree
• Add the onions and the hominy

• Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered 1 hour, stirring occasionally
• Season with cumin and salt
• Puree the reserved beans and stock

• Add to the pot
• Adjust seasonings to tastee
• Add the corn
• Simmer 15 more minutes

• Serve with toppings